1971 VSCC Blue Ribbon

The Blue Ribbon was held on 1st May.

1971 VTC Round 2 – VSCC Blue Ribbon Rally

 

Jeff Beaumont tells the story…

Ken Harper’s Ford Escorts and Cortina were certainly out in force, filling the podium in the second round of the Victorian Trials Championship, the Blue Ribbon Rally.

The Blue Ribbon was well directed by Ian Douglas, and ran in the Gippsland region, with the finish at Noojee.

The early rally leaders were Peter Robertson / Jeff Beaumont in the Escort Twin Cam, until they wrong slotted down Tanjil Bren Road. In their haste to get back on to the correct route, they slipped off the road, which required winching back on.  This handed the lead to John Dixon / Chris Jessup also in a Ford Escort.

Despite their relative lack of power, Bruce Wilson’s Datsun 1200, and Graham Horsfield’s Corolla were running well in the very slippery conditions through the Loch Valley plantations.

The Cortinas of Gil Davis / Peter Haas and George Fury / Monty Suffern were also in the leading group.

But it was Dicko who was charging hard just in front and scoring a well deserved victory for the Ford marque.

This put three Fords in the top three places in the Victorian Championship, after two rounds, with The Experts being the next round.

A full report appeared in Racing Car News.

A report on the event was published the following Saturday in The Age.

Results and entry list

Entry List

PlaceDriverNavigatorCarPoints
1John DixonChris JessupEscort 1600107
2Peter RobertsonJeff BeaumontEscort Twin Cam111
3Gil DavisPeter HaasCortina Twin Cam117
4Len McKayBrian AlleryEscort 1300120
5David CuthbertAndy ChapmanHunter129
6Jon LeightonJohn BegelholeDatsun156
7Graham HorsfieldGarry SpenceCorolla159
8Len ShawTony WunderlichEscort164
9Brian AmeyG.FaulknerPeugeot178
10Geoff LawsonWarwick SmithMazda R100208

Complete Results

Other Event Documents

Final instructions