1971 Southern Cross Rally Event Story

Day One

From the midday start in central Sydney, crews meandered up to Tamworth with a pointless shows stage at Liddell. The action got underway at night with five competitive sections around Nundle. The first was a bit of a warm up across to a service point juts east of Nundle then a more competitive run over Crawney Pass where only Herrmann and Chivas were on time. The next section along Sargeants Road over Timor Gap had gates with Cowan, Ferguson and Stewart fastest down 2. Then came the challenging 35 mile run along Hunter and Barry Roads back to the service point with numerous creek crossings, some quite deep. Ferguson and Chivas were joined by Janson on 6 with Watson and Herrmann on 7. Many cars were delayed with damp ignitions, including Bond and Cowan. After the service, an easy section took crews out to what is now Thunderbolt’s Way then a transport down to Myrtle Scrub.
Two more competitives remained for the night, both using sections of the Oxley Highway. The first looped around Tobin Camp and saw Cowan show great form to drop 7, only equalled by Lang, 2 clear of Kilfoyle, Chivas and McLeod on 9. The remaining long section almost into Beechwood was cleanable but quite a few lost a minute in think dust.
So into Port Macquarie for the first break and the leaderboard was Chivas on 19, Herrmann and McLeod on 21, Kilfoyle 22, Ferguson 23, Hilton 24, Janson and Collier 26, Lang 27 with cowan and Bond rounding out the top ten on 28. Green had retired with a broken drive shaft, Watson had gearbox problems, while Stewart had an encounter with a cow.

Day Two

The second night started with three short sections northwards to a break in Coffs Harbour. The first section in Way Way Forest created some confusion and seemingly some cars unknowingly short-cut and cleaned while those following the correct route dropped 4 or more. The leaders then mostly cleaned the quick run through Newee Creek but we don’t have score for the longer section through Newry Forest.
A loop of three competitives brought crews back to Coffs for another service. The first was through Bucca Forest to Nana Glen saw Cowan on a blinder dropping only 1 with Herrmann on 2, Ferguson, Chivas and Mcleod on 4 then Bond and Hodgson on 5. Then the longest of the loop was 41 km through Wedding Bells Forest where Chivas dropped 2 ahead of Lang on 3 then Bond and McLeod on 4. The final quick run through Orara East Forest had Bond on 1 ahead of Kilfoyle, Hodgson and McLeod.
After the Coffs break were three sections down to Bowraville, the middle being the monster 88 km Horseshoe Road section where Taylor’s Kimberley was surprisingly quickest on 6 ahead of Bond, Janson and Hodgson on 9. Kilfole and Herrman 10, McLeod 11 and Lang, Chivas and Hilton 12. The section had been rough and it seemingly suited the Austin’s hydrolastic suspension.
Two more competitives remained before returning to Port Macquarie, the fisrt being a quick and easy run down to Congarinni and second a fairly direct run through Tamban Forest. Cowan was sidelined with electrical issues after a stray stone cut the wiring loom.
After two nights the leaderboard had Chivas on 49, well clear of Herrmann on 57, then Bond 58, Kilfoyle 59, Ferguson and Lang on 62, McLeod 70, Hilton tied with Arthur Jackson on 86. Collier rounded out the top ten on 89 with privateer Houghton having a great run on 91.

Day Three

While the third night was shorter and more compact than the others, it was very intense. It started with a tricky section in the Broken Bago Forest south of Wauchope, using the treacherous Rollover Road. It was here that the leader, Dog Chivas, hit a large rock that broke the Galant’s front suspension and effectively putting them out of the event. They missed many sections but were classified as a finisher. Cowan was flying and the only one to clean with Bond and Hodgson on 2, Lang, Wilkinson, Ferguson, Iwashita, Holden and Herrmann on 4.
Then came the monster 78 mile (125 km) section through Tuckybunyahbah Forest almost to Kempsey for a break. With dust a bug problem, Bond and Herrmann were down 6 and McLeod on 8, Iwashita and Houghton 11, Kilfoyle 13, Lang 14 and Jackson 16. Both Ferguson and Hilton had problems dropping 28 and 33 respectively.
From the break in Kempsey came two sections of 31 and 33 km in the Kalateenee and Ballengarra Forests. Bond and Herrmann did 5 on the first from Janson, Stewart, Iwashita and McLeod on 6. Most of the leaders dropped 4 on the second.
An easy section on shire roads back to Beechwood completed the nights competition. Back in Port oy was Bond and Herrmann tied in the lead on 75 from Kilfoyle on 87 then Lang and McLeod equal on 92, Ferguson 103, Iwashita up to seventh on 119 with Collier, Hilton and Arthur Jackson tied for eighth on 125, just ahead of Houghton on 127.

Day Four

With all the play for, the final night had over 400 km of competition, including a daylight repeat of the Rollover Road section on Sunday morning. Two sections headed to a service point at Comboyne. The first was partly a reverse of the final section on the first night and the second a steep climb up Toms Creek Road. A tricky sharp bend after a grid caught out Kilfoyle, Herrmann and McPherson. All three sent off on the same corner. All lost time but continued, with Collier dropping out of the top ten. So Bond was now in the clear lead with Kilfoyle, Herrmann, McLeod and Lang all at least 15 minutes behind, and Kilf’s Torana about to retire with diff failure.
Next were four sections through to the major break in Wingham. These traversed the Blackbutt, Landsdowne, Middle Brother and Yarratt Forests. Bond was driving sensibly, but setting solid times. Barr-Smith had his infamous brake failure at the end of the Middle Brother section while Iwashita impressed by going fastest on Yarratt.
After the Wingham break came two long sections in the Dingo Tops, the first with McLeod and Ferguson fastest, now fighting for second place, two minutes ahead of a cruising Bond. Then came short run along Padman Road and another short run over Collings Pass to the service point back at Comboyne. Then the long penultimate section through Broken Bago, Kerewong and Cowarra almost back into Port Macquarie, Somewhere in here Lang had an off and lost time, dropping to fifth. Others to falter were Hilton, Mullins, Finlay and Bell. Arthur Jackson had also lost time and fell from eight to thirteenth.
With the placings pretty much settled, and big gaps between them, the final daylight spectator section, a repeat of the Rollover section from earlier, was just a formality. McLeod had driven well to hold off a charging Barry Ferguson for second. Iwashita had impressed later in the event and climbed to sixth ahead of the impressive privateer, Peter Houghton in eighth. Only ninth, tenth and eleventh were within a minute or two of each other, with Bob Holden taking ninth, Hodgson tenth and Lloyd eleventh.

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