The 12th BP Rally, organised by the Light Car Club of Australia, was held from May 6 to 11. The Directors were Tony Theiler and Graham Hoinville, with the ever present assistance of John Pryce.
A Dusty Ford Whitewash
Ian Vaughan and Bob Forsyth broke through for a resounding victory, following Vaughan’s third outright and first Australian home in the recent epic 1968 London to Sydney Marathon, again in a Ford Falcon GT.
An unchanged directing team planned a Trial route entirely within Victoria, and anticipating wet conditions, so it turned out a little easier when the rain did not eventuate, much to the disappointment of Director Tony Theiler. In response to the changing rally environment, service crews were catered for with their own instructions. Fourteen crews took up the offer.
Six SA crews started from Adelaide, nine NSW crews from Wodonga and the remaining 24, including one from Tasmania, from Melbourne on a 500 mile Assembly Stage that converged at Warracknabeal, then to Stawell.
The 1555 mile Trial Stage consisted of six Divisions, departing Stawell at 10 am Thursday 8 May via Hopetoun to Swan Hill for an overnight break (depart 9 am Friday), Wangaratta (depart 7 pm), back to Wangaratta (depart midnight, Bright (depart midday Saturday), Mt Buller for an overnight break (depart 9 am Sunday), BP Village Green, Glen Waverley (depart 3 pm to Chadstone).
The first section out of Stawell south of Dadswells Bridge created great controversy when crews came to a gate on what they thought was a private road that did not have a rally entry marker on it. The organisers reckoned that it was a public road. Forests were often gated back then as they served as stock leases as well. Only six crews emerged unscathed, and many took WDs. It drew a protest that was later dismissed.
At Swan Hill, four crews were clean, down to two at Wangaratta, Firth and Vaughan. As the field headed south-east from Swan Hill, dust became a problem in the forests alongside the Murray River. Normally hard-to-see tracks were even harder to locate in the dust haze, causing points losses for many cr
On the night loop out of Wangaratta, dust obscured the right track out of the Warby Ranges to Taminick, with Firth losing 25 and only four coming through clean. The Land Rover of Ken Moore and Tony Wunderlich was running well at this stage but they slipped off the road into a ditch and damaged their front end.
Vaughan/Forsyth were still clean second time into Wangaratta. The late night early morning took its toll through Eldorado, Indigo and Stanley, but Vaughan still led at Bright, down 6 to the little Colt Fastback of NSW crew Bond/Hope 13, and Watson/McAuliffe 15. These positions were unchanged at Mt Buller. The NSW crew of Ken Tubman and John Sproule had been running well up with the leaders until they went forest exploring and dropped a bunch of points.
On the Sunday run, the Strathbogies did not extract their normal casualties, but the drop off route chart into Wilhelmina falls saw Watson and Janson have a head on in identical Walton’s Team Renault TS16s. Peter Janson is quoted as saying that it was like hitting a mirror, but harder. Both still got to the finish.
Watson/McAuliffe still retained third outright behind Bond/Hope in the Mitsubishi and the victorious Vaughan/Forsyth.
Ford also picked up the Manufacturers Award, Teams award with first, fourth and fifth, and the Ladies Award, going to Ian Vaughan’s wife. Susie with Jenny Cash in a Cortina.
40 crews started and 28 finished.
John Bryson from NSW, finished 16th and was quite complimentary of event organisation in his write up for Racing Car News, whereas a column from Harry Firth was much sour grapes. Probably time he gave up driving and changed to team management.
