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)

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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.

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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’

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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.

Saab Saab entered two cars – a 12 valve 250bhp 99EMS for Swedes Stig Blomqvist/Hans-Erik Sylvan, and an 8-valve car for Dean Rainsford/Grahame West. Rainsford had been campaigning his car all year in Australian rallies.

Volvo Not a full works team by any means, Volvo Australia entered a 244 for Managing Director Harry Jensen (Danish Rally Champion), with Dave Johnson navigating.

New Zealand Three NZ crews entered, headed by Blair Robson/Chris Porter in an Escort RS1800; Alan Brough/Mike Galvin (back for a third try) in a Toyota Trueno; Stewart McKenzie/Patrick Grant in a Datsun 1200, for the first time.

Japanese The Japanese came in force again (20 cars), including the semi-works crew of Kenjiro Shinozuka and Gary Connelly in a Mitsubishi Lancer.

Team ‘Rallyequip Team Goro’ was headed by a leading Australian privateer, Frank Neale (Mitsubishi Lancer), and the team members consisted of many of the Japanese entries.

Indonesia A triple entry of Mitsubishi Lancers came from Indonesia. This was the first time representatives from Indonesia tackled an Australian event but they had been in some tough rallies through the jungles of their country.

Australia Last, but certainly not least, were the Australian privateers, including Ian Hill/Graham Roser (Lancer); ‘Revs’ Rowney driving a Datsun 180BSSS with Sydney-based Jean-Paul Pallandre; Frank Neale/Brian McGuirk and Ross Jackson/ Peter Berriman (both in Lancers); Gary Meehan/Martin Fell (Toyota Corolla) and Gordon Leven/Phil Bonser (Datsun 180B). Roger Bonhomme, normally a navigator and having competed in the past eleven events, entered a Datsun 1600, with navigator Paul Patterson. A host of others also entered.

In all 61 (45%) of the 136 starting crew members were from overseas, a record for the event. 164

ENTRY LIST (not list of starters) 1 Timo Makinen Finland Henry Liddon England Datsun 710SSS 2 Stig Blomqvist Sweden Hans-Erik Sylvan Sweden Saab 99EMS 3 Rauno Aaltonen Finland Jeff Beaumont Tas Datsun 710SSS 4 Harry Kallstrom Sweden Claes Billstam Sweden Datsun 710SSS 5 Shekha Mehta Uganda Adrian Mortimer SA Datsun PB210 6 George Fury Vic Monty Suffern Vic Datsun 710SSS 7 Ross Dunkerton WA Geoff Pilgrim ACT Datsun 710SSS 8 Greg Carr ACT Wayne Gregson ACT Ford Escort RS1800 9 Kenjiro Shinozuka Japan Gary Connelly Qld Mitsubishi Lancer 10 Colin Bond NSW John Dawson-Damer NSW Ford Escort RS1800 12 Bob Watson Vic Peter Godden NSW Datsun 710SSS 13 Blair Robson NZ Chris Porter NZ Ford Escort RS1800 14 Yoshio Iwashita Japan Yoshimasa Nakahara Japan Datsun Sunny (210) 15 Dean Rainsford SA Graham West SA Saab 99EMS 16 Alan Brough NZ Mike Galvin NZ Toyota Trueno 17 Aswin Nasution Indo Pontjo Sutowo Indo Mitsubishi Lancer 18 Wayne Bell NSW George Shepheard NSW Gemini PF50 19 Hanny Wiano Indo Dolly Indra Indo Mitsubishi Lancer 20 Harry Jensen NSW Dave Johnson NSW Volvo 244 GL 22 Doug Rowney NSW Jean-Paul Pallandre NSW Datsun 180B SSS 23 Ian Hill NSW Graham Roser NSW Mitsubishi Lancer 24 Peter Janson Vic Warwick Smith Vic Mitsubishi Lancer 25 Sri Wahyudi Indo Indo Mitsubishi Lancer 26 Frank Neale NSW Brian McGuirk NSW Mitsubishi Lancer 27 Ross Jackson NSW Peter Berriman NSW Mitsubishi Lancer 28 Shiguru Kanno Japan Kiyoshi Kawamura Japan Mitsubishi Lancer 29 Roger Bonhomme Vic Paul Patterson Vic Datsun 1600 31 Matsuo Ayabe Japan Shigeru Imai Japan Toyota Trueno 32 Andre Bedas New C Neugy New C Toyota Celica GT 33 Brian Hilton NSW Barry Lake NSW Peugeot 504 34 Brian Clarke NSW Bruno Ryan NSW Mitsubishi Galant GB 35 Gary Meehan NSW Martin Fell NSW Toyota Corolla Coupe 36 Yoshihiro Nakamura Japan Mashiro Yoshitake Japan Datsun 1600 37 Alan Lawson Qld P Cadell Qld Mazda 323 38 Bob Holden NSW Ian Morris NSW Peugeot 504 39 Hank Kabel Qld Simon Kabel Qld Mazda 323 40 Hisito Kunimasa Japan Mikihiko Kawai Japan Subaru 41 Jim Reddiex Qld Jeff Tremain Qld Citroen CX2400 42 Jim Sullivan NSW Rob Wilson NSW Ford Escort RS2000 43 S.Yamauchi Japan F Toshiaki Japan Mitsubishi Lancer 44 Bob Johnson NSW Steve Halloran NSW Mitsubishi Lancer 45 Hishashi Shimura Japan Kazuo Takahashi Japan Honda Civic 47 S Ishizeki Japan M Namiki Japan Toyota 48 Gary Mecak NSW Peter Brown NSW Mazda RX3 49 K Sato Japan Y Ninomlya Japan Toyota Corolla Coupe 50 Stewart McKenzie NZ Patrick Grant NZ Datsun 1200 51 T Akimoto Japan T Masapumi Japan Mitsubishi Lancer 52 Paul Bramble NSW Chris Wheatley NSW Mitsubishi Galant 53 Tony Jewels Qld David Kortland Qld Subaru 54 Gordon Leven NSW Phil Bonser NSW Datsun 180B SSS 56 Michi Nakomoto Japan Katsushita Torita Japan Datsun Sunny 210 57 Brian Nightingale NSW Ian Lincoln NSW Datsun 1600 59 Peter Nelson NSW Greg Nelson NSW Mitsubishi Lancer 60 Hideya Satoh Japan Tarao Mitsuaki Japan Subaru 61 T Emori Japan T Hosoya Japan Toyota Sprinter 62 Brian Cleverly NSW Brian Lidbury NSW Dolomite Sprint 63 Junichiro Kato Japan Masayuki Yamashita Japan Subaru 64 Graeme Taylor NSW Kevin Pearson NSW Ford Escort 1600 165

65 E Bessho Japan S Kawabe Japan Gemini PF50 66 John Stanton NSW Ron Hearne NSW Datsun 180B SSS 67 Kunihara Ujima Japan S Uchimura Japan Honda Civic 68 Brian McIlvenna NSW Barbera Ashworth NSW Ford Capri 69 M Yoneda Japan Y Yamazaki Japan Gemini PF50 70 Ruggero Rotondo NSW Enrico Zanarini NSW Alfa Aflasud Ti 71 H Yoshimoto Japan N Yasuumi Japan Subaru 72 Hans Tholstrup NSW Don Gibb NSW Saab 99EMS 73 T Sasunoda Japan Y Aoyama Japan Datsun 1600 74 Dennis Lloyd NSW Chris Brown NSW Datsun 1600 75 K Sugimoto Japan T Takegishi Japan Honda Civic 76 Stephen Taylor NSW Gregory Pepper NSW Mitsubishi Galant 77 Rex Fowler NSW Pat Roberts NSW Datsun 1600 78 Carolyn Wallace NSW Anna Smith NSW Toyota Corolla 79 John Berne NSW David Pelti ACT Datsun 1600

THE EVENT

Division One The event started at the Amaroo Park Raceway and headed north along its now traditional course, passing through Newcastle, Booral, Bulahdelah and Taree on its way to Port Macquarie – 735 kilometres of which 285 (42%) were competitive.

Stig Blomquist in the SAAB 99 EMS made his first and only mark on the event when he was fastest on the Amaroo Park special stage of 4.4 kilometres, taking in most of the bitumen track, the humpy and twisty motocross track, the bitumen hillclimb and the dirt circuit – all in all a delight for the thousands of spectators.

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Timo Makinen showing the Amaroo Park Raceway spectators what closed-road rallying looks like.

Blomqvist had but a brief time to show just how quick he could be by coming second to Makinen on the third stage of the night but then the left front steering ball joint failed (he had a couple of ‘offs’ to here, which put him back into the dust) and the uncontrollable car fell into a gutter and destroyed the rear axle. Despite getting the service crew in quickly nothing could be done within the late time limit and he was out of the event.

The other leading seeds came through the long night okay and Makinen showed his early dominance by winning six of the ten stages and second on two others, finishing the night over two minutes ahead of Carr, who also showed that he was going to be a big threat to the Datsuns, particularly as he was back in the very dusty conditions. Then followed Harry Kallstrom, Rauno Aaltonen and George Fury in the gaggle of Datsun 710s, Colin Bond (Escort), Bob Watson (Datsun 710) and Shekhar Mehta (Datsun PB 210).

Bob Watson/Peter Godden single cam Datsun 710SSS

Of the 69 starters, 13 retired, for the usual multitude of reasons. Retirements included Alan Brough’s Trueno, whose manifold gave in; the Alfasud of Ruggiero Rotondo rolled out of the event; Brian McIlvenna retired with transmission trouble with the Ford Capri; Carolyn Wallace/Anna Smith, the only all female crew, retired their Toyota Corolla with incurable electrical problems; Gary Mecak (Corolla) was sitting in control when it was rammed from behind by Yamauchi (Lancer) and both retired. 167

Stage times – times are those in excess of target time Km Time in Minutes and Hundredth of Minute 1 4.4 Blomqvist 3.67 Makinen 3.72 Kallstrom 4.78 Fury 3.78 2 13.3 31 cars cleansheeted 3 2.7 Makinen 0.43 Blomqvist 0.45 Kallstrom 0.50 Fury 0.50 4 44.0 Makinen 0 Carr 0.04 Kallstrom 0.50 Robson 0.52 5 13.3 Makinen 0 Carr 0 Kallstrom 0.02 Aaltonen 0.08 6 24.0 Kallstrom 0.20 Carr 0.55 Makinen 1.04 Fury 1.05 7 17.3 Makinen 0.05 Carr 0.36 Aaltonen 0.56 Blomqvist 0.57 8 36.2 Carr 0 Makinen 0.25 Fury 0.26 Kallstrom 0.35 9 28.2 6 cleansheeted 10 102.0 Makinen 1.90 Bond 2.20 Fury 2.56 Aaltonen 2.95

First Division Placings 1 Timo Makinen Henry Liddon Datsun 710SSS 3:67 2 Greg Carr Wayne Gregson Ford Escort RS1800 5:88 3 Harry Kallstrom Claes Billstam Datsun 710SSS 6:21 4 Rauno Aaltonen Jeff Beaumont Datsun 710SSS 6:84 5 George Fury Monty Suffern Datsun 710SSS 6:86 6 Colin Bond John Dawson-Damer Ford Escort RS1800 7:47 7 Bob Watson Peter Godden Datsun 710SSS 8:94 8 Ross Dunkerton Geoff Pilgrim Datsun 710SSS 10:49 9 Shekhar Mehta Adrian Mortimer Datsun 710SSS 14:87 10 Yoshio Iwashita Yoshimasa Nakahara Datsun Sunny (210) 15:24 68 started – 13 retired

Division Two The second night’s competition consisted of a south-western loop, taking in Taree, Wingham, Yarrowitch, Wingham again and Comboyne.

The first two stages were conducted in daylight near Wauchope, mainly for the many, many spectators prior to their leaving to go back to Sydney (this was Sunday afternoon), and Dunkerton was the big loser with distributor problems that cost him 13 minutes. Iwashita lost ten minutes when he rolled his Datsun Sunny.

At the Wingham service break most cars were okay, although Blair Robson had work to do on the car’s suspension after hitting a very large rock with his Escort. Carr had been steadily whittling back Makinen’s lead, with a few seconds here and a few seconds there. Then, on the fifth special stage he was 0.72 minutes behind the Ford driver and by the end of the 96 kilometres of competition driving he was 0.38 minutes in front, and he was to maintain the lead until into the fourth night.

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The pressure was on now, with stages of 65, 25 and 102 kilometres to the end of the division and it was on the last of these that Carr finally passed Makinen on the road when he stopped to replace a fan belt (and then left the service area the wrong way and when that was sorted out and he arrived at the stage start control he had to return to the service control after realising the official had not stamped his road card on exit!!).

Whilst the struggle between Carr and Makinen took place, the Aaltonen and Kallstrom 710s kept up a good pace, with Aaltonen, along with Carr, being quicker on the night than Makinen, due mainly to the latter’s lost time returning to the control.

At the end of the night Carr had a 40 second lead over Makinen, then less than two minutes to Aaltonen, a further two minutes plus to Kallstrom and the same to the rising Colin Bond. Fury, who spent some time off the road, was seventh fastest on the night to be in seventh place, followed by Watson while Shinozuka and Rowney moved into the top ten, split by Mehta. Dunkerton’s early problem saw him drop out of the ten. Stage times – times are those in excess of target time Km Time in Minutes and Hundredth of Minute 1 22.6 Fury 0 Aaltonen 0.14 Makinen 0.20 Kallstrom 0.25 2 22.8 Makinen 0 Aaltonen 0 Kallstrom 0 Fury 0 3 10.3 Aaltonen 0.49 Carr 0.52 Makinen 0.61 Kallstrom 0.63 4 95.0 Carr 5.56 Makinen 6.06 Aaltonen 6.11 Bond 6.75 5 65.2 17 crews cleansheeted 6 24.9 Dunkerton 1.51 Carr 1.56 Bond 1.75 Kallstrom 1.79 7 102.7 Carr 7.97 Aaltonen 8.15 Makinen 9.29 Kallstrom 9.53 8 13.3 Makinen 0.48 Aaltonen 0.62 Carr 0.64 Kallstrom 0.88 9 7.7 Makinen 0.96 Carr 1.10 Aaltonen 1.11 Fury 1.10

In the meantime, battles royal were being fought by those out of the final ten for the division.

Wayne Bell moved the Gemini up to 12th; Roger Bonhomme/Paul Patterson had a coil lead fall off the Datsun 1600 but managed to be 13th, with Hill, Peter Janson, Kanno and Jackson ready to pounce, all closely bunched 14th to 17th. In the struggle some fell by the wayside. The Escort of Robson struck disaster when a clutch mounting bolt broke after a good run (up to eighth fastest on the 96 kilometre stage) and 76 minutes were lost replacing the unit; Frank Neale’s Lancer faltered on the seventh stage of the night when the lines to the oil cooler fell off and repairs took almost 50 minutes (and the fault reoccurred later in the event and led to the motor eventually blowing) Gary Mecak’s Mazda RX3 was suffering from an intermittent miss, traced nearly two divisions later to a loose main jet!

Ten cars dropped by the wayside during the night and these included the Lancer of Bob Johnson/Steve Halloran which rolled heavily; Bob Holden’s Peugeot retired after a steering ball joint failed and there was no spare; Iwashita was out with head gasket failure after a rollover earlier in the night. Fastest ten drivers on the night: 1 Carr 17:61 2 Aaltonen 18:62 3 Makinen 20.22 4 Kallstrom 21:70 5 Bond 22:97 6 Watson 26:34 7 Fury 28:07 8 Shinozuka 28:20 9 Mehta 30:43 10 Rowney 31:01

Second Division Placings 1 Greg Carr Wayne Gregson Ford Escort RS1800 23:49 2 Timo Makinen Henry Liddon Datsun 710SSS 23:89 3 Rauno Aaltonen Jeff Beaumont Datsun 710SSS 25:46 4 Harry Kallstrom Claes Billstam Datsun 710SSS 27:91 5 Colin Bond John Dawson-Damer Ford Escort RS1800 30:44 6 George Fury Monty Suffern Datsun 710SSS 34:93 7 Bob Watson Peter Godden Datsun 710SSS 35:30 8 Kenjiro Shinozuka Gary Connelly Mitsubishi Lancer 45:02 9 Shekhar Mehta Adrian Mortimer Datsun 710SSS 45:10 10 Ross Dunkerton Geoff Pigram Datsun 710SSS 51:86

55 started – 10 retired in division 2 169

Restart from outside the Sandcastle Motor Inn

Division Three Heading north from Port Macquarie, the 635 kilometre third division took competitors through Kempsey, Bellbrook, Bellingen, Bowraville, Collombatti and Kempsey again.

Carr made full use of the dust free, number one position on the road to extend his lead; along with others he clean- sheeted the first two daylight stages near Port Macquarie and was quickest on the next six stages of the night, picking up minutes over Aaltonen, Kallstom and Makinen. Overall, he was almost SEVEN minutes quicker than Aaltonen (second fastest on five of the six stages and third fastest on the other one), 11 minutes over Makinen and just short of 15 minutes over Kallstrom.

Oblivious to the troubles being experienced behind him, Carr drove brilliantly and it was one of the best drives of any Southern Cross International Rally, and at division’s end this effort gave him more than an eight minute lead over second-placegetter Aaltonen.

The awaited battle between Carr and Makinen didn’t take place as the latter had an off in the third stage which cost him some ten minutes (it could have been much longer if George Fury hadn’t sportingly pulled him back to the road), and navigator Henry Liddon found trouble finding the correct roads, losing valuable seconds.

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Peter Janson/Warwick Smith – Mitsubishi Lancer

Many withdrawals allowed Wayne Bell/George Shepheard in the HDT Holden Gemini to move into the top ten.

Eleven crews retired on this third night – Dunkerton with a failed differential; Rainsford whose Saab was having a variety of problems finally gave up to a smashed battery; Roger Bonhomme ran out of late time trying to fix water losses; Brian Nightingale retired the Datsun 1600 due to a blown gearbox; Brian Clarke’s Galant’s blew its engine; a number of Japanese retired due to mechanical problems that couldn’t be fixed within the late time limit.

Stage times – times are those in excess of target time Km Time in Minutes and Hundredth of Minute 1 18.3 Makinen 0 Kallstrom 0 Fury 0 Carr 0 2 35.2 7 cars cleaned 3 44.8 Carr 0 Aaltonen 0.64 Kallstrom 0.87 Dunkerton 0.92 4 82.7 Carr 1.55 Makinen 2.55 Aaltonen 2.77 Fury 3.30 5 99.1 Carr 4.06 Aaltonen 5.95 Makinen 8.04 Fury 10.25 6 63.8 Carr 3.62 Aaltonen 5.28 Kallstrom 6.15 Bond 6.63 7 6.1 Carr 0.76 Aaltonen 0.79 Makinen 0.84 Kallstrom 0.95 8 76.0 Carr 2.77 Aaltonen 3.97 Fury 4.03 Bond 4.20

Fastest ten drivers on the night: 1 Carr 12:76 2 Aaltonen 19:35 3 Makinen 23:73 4 Kallstrom 27:04 5 Bond 27:81 6 Watson 34:14 7 Fury 35:21 8 Shinozuka 36:74 9 Mehta 38:27 10 Rowney 40:93

Third Division Placings 1 Greg Carr Wayne Gregson Ford Escort RS1800 36:25 2 Rauno Aaltonen Jeff Beaumont Datsun 710SSS 44:81 3 Harry Kallstrom Claes Billstam Datsun 710SSS 51:64 4 Colin Bond John Dawson-Damer Ford Escort RS1800 58:25 5 Timo Makinen Henry Liddon Datsun 710SSS 60:63 6 George Fury Monty Suffern Datsun 710SSS 62:77 7 Bob Watson Peter Godden Datsun 710SSS 73:57 8 Kenjiro Shinozuka Gary Connelly Mitsubishi Lancer 79:16 9 Shekhar Mehta Adrian Mortimer Datsun 710SSS 80:31 10 Wayne Bell George Shepheard Holden Izuzu 104.78

45 started – 11 retired in division 3

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Division Four This division headed north again from Port Macquarie on a 735 kilometre course which passed through Kempsey, Missabotti, Bellingen (and for the first time, the Gordonville Ford was included in a special stage), Dorrigo, back towards ‘Timbertown’ in Wauchope, where the crews rested for several hours before tackling the last ‘Silver Jubilee’ stage and heading into Port Macquarie for the last morning finish.

The main threat looming for competitors and their strategic thinking was the 236 kilometre special stage between Bellingen and Kempsey.

The most common question at the start of the last night was not could the Datsuns catch the Escort, as it had already proved its pedigree, but would the Ford have problems?

The front of the field stayed intact until after the Gordonville Crossing of the Bellingen River (fourth stage of the night), with one exception - Makinen’s run was over prior to here when he split the 710s sump.

Carr’s electrics failed, cutting the fuel pump and he was stranded for 50 minutes before Blair Robson (an auto electrician) stopped and assisted him on his way. Even so, his progress was painfully slow as he conserved all possible light.

Then came the long 236 kilometre stage which was really to deplete the field!!

Carr arrived at the midway emergency service point driving by torchlight and he was out of outright contention; Bell’s Gemini never made it due to ominous engine rattles; a battle of nerves between Shinozuka and Mehta climaxed at the refuelling point, to see if one of the other would stop to take on fuel, as most crews were doing. Shinozuka, in the lead, shot through without refuelling and Mehta, just behind, slowed and when advised of Shinozuka’s action, he also continued without stopping – but then ran out of fuel five kilometres from the end and was assisted by, of all competitors, Ian Hill. This cost Hill sixth place which went to ...... Mehta!!!

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Shekhar Mehta/Adrian Mortimer in 1977 Southern Cross International Rally in a Datsun PB210. They finished sixth outright.

With 70 kilometres to go in the stage all appeared well with the leaders as they passed a spectator point, but just beyond there something failed in the steering of Bond’s Escort and it hit a bank and flipped onto its lid, and was outed. A little further on a tricky right-hand kink caught Fury and he rolled the 710 three times completely and only his warning triangles saved some following crews from repeating the exercise.

So, by ‘Timbertown’ it looked a foregone conclusion with three Datsun 710s in the lead – Aaltonen, Kallstrom, Watson – with Shinozuka (who got through the long stage without refuelling) fourth, and Greg Carr fifth, with Mehta sixth.

On the last ‘Silver Jubilee’ section Watson took fastest time, Aaltonen drove the last few kilometres on a flat tyre, and both Kallstrom and Mehta had to stop to change tyres early in the stage.

In the 1977 Southern Cross International Rally Colin Bond’s Escort RS 2000 was down on power compared to Greg Carr’s RS 1800 but he still set some blistering stage times; here with John Dawson-Damer.

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Bell’s Gemini retired when eighth with oil pump failure.

Stage times – times are those in excess of target time Km Time in Minutes and Hundredth of Minute 1 19.3 Carr 0.68 Kallstrom 0.87 Aaltonen 1.23 Mehta 1.25 2 26.3 Aaltonen 1.58 Kallstrom 1.58 Carr 18.83 Mehta 2.25 3 42.1 Not available 4 25.2 Aaltonen 0 Kallstrom 0 Mehta 0 Carr 0 5 14.4 Carr 0.80 Aaltonen 1.02 Kallstrom 1.37 Mehta 1.51 6 48.3 Aaltonen 2.70 Kallstrom 4.49 Watson 4.68 Shinozuka 4.74 7 236.6 Shinozuka 15.90 Watson 15.96 Kallstrom 18.11 Aaltonen 20.69 8 23.7 Watson 0.18 Aaltonen 0.56 Shinozuka 0,73 Jewels 0.81

Fastest 10 on night: 1 Aaltonen 35:59 2 Shinozuka 37:26 3 Kallstrom 39:21 4 Watson 40:39 5 Jackson 69:11 6 Robson 69:81 7 Hill 76:67 8 Kanno 79:63 9 Mehta 84:01 10 Kumimasa 88:04

Fourth Division (Final) Placings 1 Rauno Aaltonen Jeff Beaumont Datsun 710 80.40 2 Harry Kallstrom Claes Billstam Datsun 710 87.85 3 Bob Watson Peter Godden Datsun 710 113.96 4 Kenjiro Shinozuka Gary Connelly Mitsubishi Lancer 116.24 5 Greg Carr Wayne Gregson Ford Escort RS 1800 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 RS 1800 270.12 34 started – 15 retired in Division 4

Just outside the top ten were: Jim Sullivan (who with Murray Finlay and Mary Boddy convinced the Newcastle television station – NBN3 – to cover the event since 1973 and provided footage Australia-wide) retired when the Escort’s piston rings collapsed; Rowney was out after his Datsun 180B SSS ‘fell’ into a hole and rolled badly; whilst the Datsun of Nakamura was outed after hitting a service vehicle on the narrow road to Missabotti; Peter Janson’s Lancer had a blown head gasket; Gary Mecak’s RX3 differential failed.

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EVENT SIDELINES

Hippies Protest Drama occurred on the third night near Bellingen when crews of the leading cars found themselves targets of protests from a community of hippies, wanting to draw attention to the state of their shire road. No harm was done and in fact, some of the group helped a Japanese crew with car problems.

The Datsun PB210s The Datsun PB210s were fitted with a 1600 16-valve engine and had four wheel discs. One was driven by Shekhar Mehta/Adrian Mortimer; another was on loan to the Gerry Ball Rally Team and was driven by Ross Dunkerton. Another PB210 was driven by regular Japanese visitor, Yoshio Iwashita, the same car he used in the 1976 event; it blew a head gasket after a rollover early in Division Three.

Bob Watson’s Record Bob Watson’s third place, and first Australian home, was his best result in the Southern Cross International Rally. He drove the Datsun 710SSS which was on loan from Nissan to the Canberra-based Gerry Ball Rally Team.

Datsun Team Servicing During the break between divisions two and three (halfway mark) cars were permitted out of parc ferme for an hour’s servicing. This was later in the parc ferme period in order that crews could arrange for any parts to be secured (even flown from Sydney). The Datsun team rostered six mechanics per car and in the hour they changed front struts, gearboxes, rear suspension (complete with differential) and miscellaneous other work, taking some 35 minutes per car. There was divided opinion on whether so much servicing should be permitted as it was considered that the event was a trial of driving, ‘navigating’, and car reliability. However, if less time was allowed then privateers would be struggling to stay in the event.

Ford Team Servicing Other than miscellaneous servicing, the Ford Team only changed a new trailing arm on Carr’s Escort, having run the last four stages with a broken arm.

Carr’s Alternator Problem Unknown to any but the Ford Team, Carr, who had a lead of 8:56 minutes, struck trouble just before entering the parc ferme at the end of the third night. The Escorts super-special alternator blew between the final service and the parc ferme area at the Sandcastle Motel. On checking, it was found that Ford UK had not sent a spare to suit – the wiring was different, as was the pulley. So plans were laid to keep this information as quiet as possible and to change batteries at every possible point throughout the night. There were now three 12v batteries in the car – one for the lights, one for the ignition and one for the fuel pump. But, in the end it was to no avail and finally the batteries went flat. However, Carr kept going once the service crew fixed him and he finished a credible fifth outright. The 1977 Southern Cross Rally proved beyond doubt that Greg Carr was a world class rally driver. His performance against Timo Makinen, one of the world’s best drivers, was outstanding and only cruel luck with electrical problems prevented him from winning his first Southern Cross International Rally.

‘Friends of the Earth’ ‘Friends of the Earth’ residents in the Bellingen area erected barricades on the course which smashed the front lights of Greg Carr’s Escort (being first on the road). The stupidity and thoughtlessness of these hippies was amazing. Rocks, logs and mud bombs were also part of the strategy of the ‘friends’ and Watson/Godden received a big splattering of mud and flour.

There was some acrimony between Aaltonen and Carr when the latter took off in a great hurry after mending his lights just as Aaltonen came up on him, with the Datsun driver accusing him of having failed to pull over when flashed with an overtaking signal. However, when he learnt of the truth of the matter Aaltonen withdrew his comments and apologised to Carr and stated that he behaved entirely correctly.

Enlarging the Service Area Communities always welcomed service breaks in their area. The size of the following of the event always meant good income from providing refreshments. At Missabotti, in the backlots of Nambucca Heads, the locals had excelled themselves, providing tables with linen cloths, knives and forks and really good steak and salad. When it became obvious that the area was too small they merely cut through the fence leading into the neighbouring farmer’s paddock!!

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Sydney International Airport The ‘new’ terminal was completed in the early 1970s just as the first ‘jumbos’ started to land in Sydney; therefore there was plenty of space for some years before passenger traffic built up to take it all up. A Southern Cross International Rally Club Night/Briefing was held at the terminal, in the upstairs lounge area, on the Thursday prior to the event and the night included a short film of the highly successful 1976 event. The gala presentation of awards was held at the same location a week later.

An Organisers Human Touch! The crew to finish last in this year’s event – Rex Fowler/Pat Roberts in a Datsun 1600 – were 5.25 minutes outside their late time limit, but were granted six minutes by the organisers for stopping at the scene of Bond’s inversion!!

George Fury/Monty Suffern Datsun 710SSS at the famous Gordonville Ford crossing

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