Rauno Aaltonen and Jeff Beaumont took the Datsun 710 SSS to victory in 1977 1977 8 – 13 OCTOBER Start: Sydney (Amaroo Park) - Finish: Sydney (Motorcade to Hyde Park) 159 PREAMBLE The 1977 event was a round of the FIA World Drivers Cup, having achieved that status after the FIA observed the event the previous year. For the first time in the event: • controls were marked by standard FIA signs; • competitors did not have to supply their own maps - whatever details that were required were provided; • route instructions included exclamation marks for cautions; • crews had to report to EVERY time and passage controls – 100% of the course had to be covered within the specified time limits to be classified as a winner. The event was shortened by 600 kilometres to that of the past few years, with most ‘horror’ roads deleted from the itinerary as; the touring section times were eased by comparison to past years indicating that the results of the event were to be determined almost solely by special stage times. Citizen electronic timing apparatus was flown in from New Zealand and timed the stages to hundredths of minutes (hence reflected in the times listed below). Penalties were applied to the second and were based on times over the time allowed. 160 SUMMARY Rauno Aaltonen on the way to a win in the 1977 Southern Cross International Rally with navigator Jeff Beaumont, in the Datsun 710 SSS 161 DATSUN WINS AT LAST! The withdrawal of the Mitsubishi factory team was not only a serious blow for the event, but it meant the absence of six time winner, Andrew Cowan. However, the Southern Cross International Rally had provided plenty of excitement and much colour over the years and 1977 was no exception, with some stirring battles being fought between Datsun and Ford. This was the truly never-to-be-forgotten (to those who witnessed it) Golden Era of Australian Rallying, with Datsun and Ford fighting each other in the Australian Rally Championship with drivers Ross Dunkerton and George Fury (Datsun) v Colin Bond and Greg Carr (Ford) – and mention must be made of their navigators of this era, Jeff Beaumont and Monty Suffern v John Dawson-Damer and Fred Gocentas. Datsun, at last, had a clear sweep of the field, winning the event for the first time in six years of officially having entered it, with Aaltonen, Kallstrom and Watson filling the first three places in Datsun 710s. However, it is fair to say that although Mitsubishi ended its direct factory involvement after 1976 following its five consecutive wins, four Lancers still finished in the top ten, headed by the semi-works driver Kenjiro Shinozuka in fourth place. Ford’s best was fifth, with Greg Carr fitting in here. However, for some time the Datsun win didn’t look too apparent as Carr, in the Ford Australia Escort RS1800 (with a 16-valve twin cam motor that was built in Boreham, England) drove brilliantly, particularly on the third night, and took a commanding lead of nine minutes. Then halfway through the final night the alternator failed and, without a spare, he had to run using batteries alone and finished fifth. His reduced speed let the Datsuns sweep through to a great victory. That’s rallying!! Colin Bond drove a Ford Escort RS2000, with the twin-cam two litre motor, but didn’t have a happy event. He rolled on a gentle bend in the long ‘Horseshoe’ stage, breaking the steering in the incident. However, with the Escorts running in the event, this was a foretaste of the magnificent tussle that was ahead in the next couple of years against the Datsun Stanzas. A significant international driver was Stig Blomqvist in a Saab, supported by local Dean Rainsford in a similar car. There was the now usual large contingent (20) of privateers from Japan, headed by Shinozuka and Iwashita. The MHDT returned in a Gemini for Wayne Bell. Entries were also received from Indonesia, Turkey and PNG. There were many fancied local privateers also, including the Gosford Dyno Tune team with Lancers for Ian Hill and for Ross Jackson. Shekhar Mehta took off seventh in the PB210; then came the Australian privateers, Ian Hill and Arthur Jackson (both Lancers), a Japanese driver (Kanno - Lancer) ninth and the top ten was rounded off by a New Zealander (Blair Robson – Lancer) This year’s event included the famous ‘Horseshoe’ stage (the course being in the shape of a horseshoe!) which ran for 236 kilometres between Bellingen and Kempsey. This was without a service break and crews had to carry out refuelling in their own time! Dean Rainsford/Graham West in the SAAB 99EMS Crews were required to report to 100% of all main controls in each division to be eligible for general classification and awards. 162 Final Placings 1 Rauno Aaltonen Jeff Beaumont Datsun 710 SSS 80.40 2 Harry Kallstrom Claes Billstam Datsun 710 SSS 87.85 3 Bob Watson Peter Godden Datsun 710 SSS 113.96 4 Kenjiro Shinozuka Gary Connelly Mitsubishi Lancer 116.24 5 Greg Carr Wayne Gregson Ford Escort RS1800 153.30 6 Shekhar Mehta Adrian Mortimer Datsun PB 210 164.32 7 Ian Hill Graham Roser Mitsubishi Lancer 196.80 8 Arthur Jackson Peter Berriman Mitsubishi Lancer 216.69 9 Shingeru Kanno Kiyoshi Kawamura Mitsubishi Lancer 236.18 10 Blair Robson Chris Porter Ford Escort RS1800 270.12 Class placings not available. VEHICLE ELIGIBILITY Vehicle eligibility based on FIA Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4, and homologated in Appendix J of the 1977 International Sporting Code: 1 – Series Production Cars: 5000 units produced within 12 consecutive months; 2 – Special Touring Cars: 1000 units produced within 12 consecutive months; 3 – Series Production Grand Touring Cars: 1000 units produced within 12 consecutive months; 4 - Special Grand Touring Cars: 500 units produced within 12 consecutive months. CAMS Group G and MANZ eligibility was dropped. • Fitting of a safety roll over bar or cage protection was compulsory for all cars; • Helmets were not compulsory; • A 0.9kg fire extinguisher to be fitted inside the vehicle. Being an FIA event there was no room for ‘non-eligible FIA’ vehicles and, as Australia was moving towards ‘almost anything’ goes (‘run what you brung’!) in its national rally scene, numerous vehicles were too modified to qualify. In a short few years, CAMS Group G changed from a required annual production (500) to “the organising committee may accept a vehicle of special construction after a review of the specifications; such vehicles must, if required, be submitted for examination seven days before the event.” (quote from CAMS Manual of Motor Sport). As from 1978 CAMS stopped the annual Australian Rally Championship Manufacturers Championship Award until Group A (at the end of Group G) took full root in 1988. Thus began the long ‘Group G saga’ that embraced the sport with so much heat for many years!!! EVENT DETAILS/ ORGANISING TEAM Event Details Division Distance Competitive Longest Comp Late Number Number Number % Time Entries Starters Finishers One 690 285 102 42 150 Two 600 350 102 58 150 Three 625 425 99 68 150 Four 770 435 236 57 150 Totals 2760 1510 56 79 69 20 • Penalty time was in excess of time allowed for each stage • 100% of the course had to be completed with the late time limits to be classified as a finisher. Organising Team Assistant Directors[ Murray Finley Committee - John Arter, Peter Barefoot, Val McKenzie, Jack Mullins Headquarters: Sandcastle Motel, Port Macquarie John Keran Tom Snooks Dan White Sponsors : Chairman SCIR General Manager SCIR Road Director TOTAL Australia Pty Ltd & & ASCC President & ASCC Secretary (Clerk of Course) Sydney ‘Daily Sun’ 163 ENTRIES Of the 79 entries 69 started. Most of those not starting competed in the London to Sydney Marathon in November. The field included 33 drivers and 28 navigators from overseas. Works Teams Datsun With five full factory cars entered, Datsun employed an enormously strong crew of international and local stars. Timo Makinen (Finland) teamed up with Henry Liddon (England) and were seeded number 1, a great advantage in dry and dusty conditions. Rauno Aaltonen (also from Finland, driving in the Southern Cross International Rally for the sixth time) with Jeff Beaumont (in those days, from Tasmania, entered for the tenth time) seeded number 3; Harry Kallstrom and Claes Billstam (Sweden) were seeded fourth, and Kenyan Shekha Mehta with Adrian Mortimer (SA) seeded fifth. Completing the works team were Victorians George Fury and Monty Suffern, seeded 6th. All were in Datsun 710s, except for Mehta/Mortimer in a lower powered 16-valve PB210, based on the 120Y, with a 1600cc motor. Two semi-works entries were under the Gerry Ball Tuning Service Team from Canberra. One was a single cam 710 for Bob Watson and Peter Godden. This entry was seeded 12th. The other 710 was for seed number seven, Ross Dunkerton/Geoff Pigram. Ford Ford’s effort was much less elaborate than the Datsun team. Two cars only were entered, a 16-valve twin ohc RS1800 fresh from Boreham for Canberra’s Greg Carr/Wayne Gregson (seed eight), and a single cam RS2000, which had competed in state and national rallies throughout the year, for Colin Bond and John Dawson-Damer. They were seeded 10th. A third car was going to be entered for Bob Riley/Brian Hope (a 230bhp BDA RS2000) but this was ineligible. Holden The Dealer Team entry was a 1600cc Gemini, which had experienced mechanical problems throughout the national series and the team was hopeful that, although underpowered, the car would put in a top ten performance in the hands of Wayne Bell and George Shepheard.