The Midyear was held on 14 July.
VCS Round 4 – 1973 Monash Midyear Rally
Jeff Beaumont tells the story….
In a strong display of driving and precise navigating, David Bond and Ian Richards won the 1973 Mid Year Rally in their Cortina. It was all the more remarkable as they started close to last car in the field.
It made the series wide open, with four winners from the first four rounds.
With the limit of 50 crews, the rally started at Buninyong, with a 120 mile loop containing 14 sections via Garibaldi, Happy Valley and Cherry Tree Hill plantations. Light rain had been falling, making the roads very slippery and challenging.
Precise plotting was required of the navigators, particularly through the Scarsdale Plantation. Garry Harrowfield and David Hodge were the early leaders until they broke a tie rod and ran off the road.
Leading at the division break were Max Whamond and Geoff O’Donnell from Alan Morris / Ian Ellis and Bond / Richards.
Division two started with a boggy run to Murrays Bridge and into the Mt Doran area. Fog slowed the thinning field, with the very slippery roads causing a spate of retirements.
The route then traversed the Whipstick scrub to a fuel break at Ballan, with the final stages running in the Blackwood Forest.
Bill Strownix and Geoff Boyd were going very well in their “backyard” and finally finished in second place.
