1970 Caltex North Eastern Trial

The 1970 Caltex North Eastern Trial, organised by the North Eastern Car Club, was held on October 31.

VTC Round 6 – Caltex North Eastern Trial

In a surprise result, the North Eastern Trial was won by relative newcomers, Dave Cuthbert and Andy Chapman in a Hillman Hunter. In what was a challenging event for both drivers and navigators, experienced navigator Mike Osborne guided another relative newcomer, Gil Davis, into second place in his Datsun 1000.

A full report appeared in Racing Car News.

A report also appeared in December Unicar.

Results and entry list

Some results shows fifth and sixth places swapped.

PlaceDriverNavigatorCarPoints
1Dave CuthbertAndy ChapmanHillman Hunter71
2Gil DavisMike OsborneDatsun 100073
3Richard CreedRobin SharpleyTorana GTR84
4Matt PhilipMike MitchellMitsubishi Colt87
5Mal McPhersonJeff BeaumontRenault Gordini91
6Graham AlexanderPeter HaasTorana125

Route

The event ran south from Wangaratta down the King Valley then across into the Merriang Plantation complex.  Moving north, the route then took in sections in the Ovens and Stanley Plantations with some tricky navigation near Beechworth before returning to Wangaratta for a break. The next division headed south-west to country around Greta, Tatong and Glenrowan before returning to Wangaratta. The final division headed north-east into the forests north of Beechworth.

The first two pages of the route instructions.

Other event documents