The North Eastern was held on 7 October.
VCS Round 5 – 1972 NECC North Eastern Rally
Jeff Beaumont tells the story…
Whilst the North Eastern Rally was a full open event, the main interest was focused on the fiercely contested Victorian Clubman Series. In placing third outright in the Rally, Rex Muldoon and Bruce Norton scored maximum Clubman points in this penultimate round of the 1972 Series.
The rally started and finished in Wangaratta, with two night time loops of 166 miles and 108 miles.
Most of the field cleaned the long run south towards Whitfield, tight sections through Edi Upper and on to Merriang Plantation, where Rex Muldoon set the pace and opened up a narrow lead.
The director had supplied an accurate map of the area, which aided navigators and provided drivers with a consistent blast.
On the straight forward run towards Slaughteryard Creek, Gil Davis, Rex Muldoon and Piazza were quickest. However, Muldoon broke a tie rod, losing vital time making repairs.
At the end of Division 1, Davis / Haas led narrowly from Whitten / Parkinson, Shaw / McAuliffe, Bird / Newman and Bill Strownix / Geoff O’Donnell.
Division 2 commenced with a run from Everton to Buckland Gap, followed by a route chart into Stanley Plantation, where a number of sections looped from a central control.
The Ovens Plantation was the scene for the final six sections, where the maze of roads caused a bit of confusion for many crews.
After his repairs, Rex Muldoon put up a string of fastest times and impressively ended up with a fine Clubman victory, with Ballarat’s Bill Strownix and Geoff O’Donnell in a strong second place.
In the Open category Gil Davis / Peter Haas won from Len Shaw / Jim McAuliffe, both in Torana XU-1s.
Another newspaper article written by Bruce Norton.
