The Brass Monkey was held on 9 June.
VCS Round 3 – 1973 RCCD Brass Monkey Trial
Jeff Beaumont tells the story….
After 185 miles of competitive rallying, Eric Sorenson and Paul Paterson claimed victory from the Tassell brothers in the Brass Monkey Trial, held in central Gippsland in mid winter.
From the start at Fairbank, the rally ran through Berry’s Creek, Dickie’s Hill and on to Mirboo North.
An early casualty was the Torana of Wood / Howell who inverted their car, creating an obstacle for the following crews.
The Darlimurla Forest caught out a few crews, including favourites John Coleman and Bernie Peasley in their Torana.
A couple of quick stages ran down the Grand Ridge Road, which gave the lead to Olsen / Ballard (BMW) and Ken Cusack / Ian Baldock in the big Monaro. Bond / Richards and the Pearce Datsun followed close behind.
After a transport through Yinnar, the leader Olsen scored a WD, handing the lead to Bond / Richards, who then promptly missed a passage control, also putting them out of contention.
The “navigational nightmare” of the event came late in the rally, in Section 16, with an unmapped road and two passage controls in a short run through a quarry just north of Dickie’s Hill Junction. The drama in this section sorted out the final placegetters with just a 19 mile competitive run to the finish at Fairbank, which most crews cleaned.
So after three rounds and three different winners, it was still anyone’s championship.
