The Otway Trial, organised by the Western District Car Club, was held on July 31 and August 1.
While not a championship event, the Otway attracted some experienced crews including some works cars from Ford, Holden and VW. The event followed the traditional format of two days of daylight running from Geelong to an overnight stop in Apollo Bay and back to Geelong on the Sunday.
The provisional results showed Lunn/Price as winners with Watson/McAuliffe second with a loss of 30 points, assumed to be a missed passage or wrong direction. A protest subsequently gave the win to the Holden crew.
| Place | Driver | Naviagtor(s) | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Watson | Jim McAuliffe/ J. Fitzgerald | Holden X2 | 0 |
| 2 | Rex Lunn | Neville Price/ C. Tippett | Cortina GT | 10 |
| 3 | Martin Hartigan | Bill Hartigan | VW 1500 S | 35 |
| 4 | Bruce Woodfull | Bob Forsyth | Cortina GT | |
| 5 | Trethowan | Ford | Ford Anglia | |
| 6 | Norm Beckman | Peter Davidson | Skoda | |
| 7 | Tony Roberts | Peter Haas | Holden Viva | |
| 8 | Mal McPherson | Ian Home | Holden |
According to the report in Unicar, the Saturday afternoon run from Geelong to Apollo Bay was dominated by muddy lanes and slippery mountain tracks. Sunday included Skenes Creek and Turtons Track, then headed north to stony volcanic terrain south-west of Lake Corangamite with lunch at the Koala Motel (at Pirron Yallock west of Colac?) before finishing at the WDCC clubrooms.
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