1975 CAMS AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP THE EVENTS The 1975 CAMS Australian Rally Championship: 1 Mazda House 1000 New South Wales Fury/Bonhomme 2 Toms Tyres 1600 West Australia West Australian Car Club Dunkerton/Large 3 Akademos Rally Victoria Melbourne University Car Club Dunkerton/Large 4 Bega Valley Rally New South Wales Australian Sporting Car Club Bond/Shepheard 5 Warana Rally Queensland Brisbane Sporting Car Club Dunkerton/Large 6 Walker Trophy Rally South Australia Rainsford/West 7 Alpine Rally Victoria Light Car Club of Australia McLeod/Mortimer FINAL POINTS 1 Ross Dunkerton WA 37.5 1 John Large WA 37.5 2 Stewart McLeod SA 30.5 2 Adrian Mortimer SA 30.5 3 George Fury Vic 13 3 George Shepheard NSW 15 4 Colin Bond NSW 12 =4 Graham West SA 10 =5 Ed Mulligan NSW 10 =4 Fred Gocentas ACT 10 =5 Dean Rainsford SA 10 6 Roger Bonhomme Vic 9 7 Robert Jackson NSW 9 7 Ian Richards Vic 7 Manufacturers Award Nissan Motor Co Australia (Datsun) 1975 Australian Rally Champions – Ross Dunkerton/John Large/Datsun 240Z Image from Racing Car News December 1975 58 SUMMARY If ever proof was needed that competition improves the breed, then the CAMS Australian Rally Champions for 1975, Ross Dunkerton and John large, both from Western Australia, were living proof. Two years previously, despite being West Australian Champions, they were largely unknown on the East Coast and, while obviously competent, they did not stack up against the top Australian combinations. At the end of 1973 the pair ran in the Southern Cross Rally and came home 11th outright without over-impressing. During 1974 they contested most of the Australian championship rounds and as a result improved rapidly and a number of good placings saw them take third place in the series. Finally, in 1975 they put it all together and took their Datsun 260Z to a resounding and well-deserved title win. On the way they won two of the seven rounds and shared victory in a third. Second overall place-getters were South Australian champions Stewart McLeod and Adrian Mortimer in their Datsun 260Z. This crew were national runner-ups for the third time and seemed destined never to quite get to the number one spot. The championship was a worthwhile series run over seven events in five states and at one time or another attracted most of the country’s top rally crews. Among the more competitive of the regular crews was Ed Mulligan (Holden Torana L34) who ran in six rounds and took three minor placings but found the L34 not quite reliable enough. Doug Stewart ran in four rounds in the Mitsubishi Lancer with mixed success. 1974 Champions Colin Bond and George Shepheard did not debut the new L34 until the third round and dropped out of the series after the car had gearbox problems in the Queensland round and this put them out of contention for another title. Dean Rainsford and Graham West had a mixed year, winning the South Australian round but otherwise only picking up one point in their Porsche. Ford Motor Company imported a works Ford Escort Mk 1 BDA for Bob Watson/Jeff Beaumont. Dust entered the engine during the car’s first ARC event (the Akademos) necessitating an engine rebuild after which the car was well down on power and not as competitive as expected. Very successful appearances were put in by various Datsun variants. George Fury won the opening round in the works 710 but then only competed in two further rounds, including the Bega Valley Rally where he retired with suspension failure when heading the field comfortably on the second night. Fury’s bad luck was Dave Morrow’s good luck as he inherited the lead in his much-modified Datsun 180B SSS with its 2.4 litre motor but was not eligible for championship points. Greg Carr, also not eligible, had a comfortable win in the Alpine Rally in his Datsun 180B SSS. As in 1974 all rounds were competitive and well organised. Promotors of the series made strenuous efforts to raise prizemoney and gain increased spectator involvement and media interest. Vehicle Eligibility Vehicle eligibility was based on CAMS Group C – Australian Touring Cars Championship Point-scoring 1st = 9, 2nd = 6, 3rd = 4, 4th = 3, 5th = 2, 6th = 1 ROUND ONE: MAZDA HOUSE 1000 – New South Wales 1 A field of 44 entries, of which 16 were contesting the championship, gathered for the first round which started and finished at Forster, near Taree. Following some daylight spectator stages the course moved to the mountains north of Taree. The event presented George Fury of Victoria with his first major rally success as he and navigator Roger Bonhomme booted their works Datsun 710 to a convincing win. Equal second place went to West Australia’s Ross Dunkerton and John Large in their Datsun 260Z, and Mitsubishi team captain Doug Stewart, with Brian Hope, (both from New South Wales) in their Mitsubishi Lancer. Queenslanders who impressed in 1974, Adrian Taylor/John Suominen took their Honda Civic to fourth place and South Australians took out fifth and sixth places – Stewart McLeod/Adrian Mortimer(Datsun 260Z) and Dean Rainsford/Graham West (Porsche 911S). So five states were represented in the first six placings. At the halfway mark Fury held the lead, on 25 points from Stewart and Dunkerton on 26, Rainsford 28 and Taylor and Wayne Bell 29. McLeod (on 37) was slowed by carburetion problems and Ed Mulligan/Neil Faulkner found the Torana L34 needed more development. Immediately after the restart Dunkerton forged into the lead by taking fastest time on several stages but Fury was not to be outdone however, and as the rally wound its way south towards the Forster finish he strung together an impressive list of times to regain the lead. In the meantime, Rainsford ran off the road and then suffered a broken throttle cable to drop back through the field. Dunkerton, slowing, managed to keep Stewart at bay and the pair finished equal second on 39 points, five behind Fury. Mulligan ran off the road on a transport section and drove into a swamp. In the Open category Ross Jackson put in a fine performance to win and also finish fifth outright. Other Open crews were Greg Carr/Wayne Gregson, Ross Jackson, Ossie Jackson and Gary Bevan/John MacDonald – all in Datsun 1600s. 59 George Fury/Roger Bonhomme roll into control in the Datsun 710 Dean Rainsford/Graham West had some problems with their glamourous Porsche and finished sixth The Mazda House 1000 was an event well up to championship standard and the level of competition gave warning of better things to come during the year. 21 crews finished, 19 completing the full course. As is often the case at the start of a season, mechanical problems caused most downfalls. 1 George Fury Roger Bonhomme Datsun 710 34 pts =2 Ross Dunkerton John Large Datsun 260Z 39 =2 Doug Stewart Brian Hope Mitsubishi Lancer GSR 39 4 Adrian Taylor John Suominen Honda Civic 48 5 Stewart McLeod Adrian Mortimer Datsun 260Z 51 6 Dean Rainsford Graham West Porsche 911S 64 ROUND TWO: TOMS TYRES 1600 – Western Australia Ross Dunkerton and John Large, revelling in their own territory in West Australia took the lead of the Tom Tyres Rally right from the start and never relinquished it, and proved they were of a crew of national standing. Their win was the first in an Australian Rally Championship series by a Western Australian crew. Ross Dunkerton/John Large took their Datsun 260Z to the first win in an ARC event by West Australians 60 Conditions were perfect for rallying as it had rained for two days just before it was conducted, bringing to an end a record dry spell of over two months, so there was no dust or water or mud, just firm moist gravel roads. The rally, with 36 entries of which 20 were contesting the championship, was run over two long nights in the forests south of Perth and the principal drama on the first night was Ed Mulligan, with George Shepheard, in the Holden Torana L34, colliding with a tree across the road, after he unwittingly passed the course setting crew. This dropped him well down the field and virtually out of contention for a win. Ed Mulligan/George Shepheard in the Holden Torana L34 Scores after the first night were Dunkerton 19, Doug Stewart/Rod van der Straaten (Mitsubishi Lancer) 22, Adrian Taylor/John Suominen (Honda Civic) 25, John Edwards/Bill Philip (Datsun 260Z) and Clive Slater/Andy van Kann (Toyota Corolla) 26 and Mulligan on 30. There was more drama on the second night when Taylor retired when the little Honda caught fire and burnt to the ground and was completely gutted. Next in trouble was Stewart when the Lancer broke a steering arm and he lost over an hour. Stewart McLeod/Adrian Mortimer (Datsun 260Z) were putting in a valiant effort after losing time with a clutch failure which cost him time and steadily moved back up the field to get within one second of second place. However, over the last few stages Edwards was his match and grimly held on to his highly creditable second place. Stewart McLeod/Adrian Mortimer came third in the Datsun 260Z Dunkerton/Large (44 points) cruised home to their first major win and found themselves with a handy lead in the championship. Edwards finished second on 63, McLeod third with 64, and Mulligan recovered from his crash to be fourth (67). Locals John Neal/Dave Manners (Holden Torana XU-1) and Alan Stean/Lyn Mathews (Datsun 240Z) took fifth and sixth placings with 92 and 104 points respectively.