1974 BP Rally of Tasmania

The BP Rally of Tasmania was held on 15-16 June. It was the third round of the Tasmanian Trials Championship.

After rallying to Symmons Plains from Hobart, Launceston and Devonport, competitors were flagged away towards Deloraine in the late afternoon. The first competitive sections were encountered at Long Hill and points were lost by all crews, with some bogged for up to 30 minutes. Two interesting sections in Branches Creek followed with the rally then proceeding across the Dazzler Range towards Beaconsfield. A return to control section in this area caused some confusion, as crews had to leave control along the obvious correct route of re-entry.

A coffee break in Retreat preceded sections in this forest, a hard to find track north to Golconda and sections in the new and totally unmapped Lone Star plantation which took more points from all.

From here competitors proceeded to a meal break in Scottsdale before the second division took then into Kamona, where via points on the “8 Mile” map had most crews missing route checks. The route then headed south to Saddleback and Nicholas plantations, then to a breakfast break in Bicheno.

Division Three turned out to be a long transport back to Hobart broken by a couple of short, quick and rough sections on the ‘M’ Road. Final results gave victory to Trevor Garrett/Terry Bracken over Long/Brock and Howell/Welch, who also took first place in “B Grade”.