The North Eastern was held on 13 September. Jeff Beaumont tells the story:
VRC Round 6 – 1975 NECC North Eastern Rally
The rain had bucketed down immediately before the start of the rally, causing Director Mike Rebbechi to make a few re-routes on the run.
The Saturday afternoon fully route charted daylight stages were becoming the norm, followed by the typical night Division through the plantations around Myrtleford
Stanley was used for the daylight stages while the night competition was primarily in Ovens and Merriang. Roads were treacherous and a collapsed bridge caused a re-route.
Matt Philip, driving Bonhomme’s Datsun 1600, buried his borrowed car in the blackberries and was unable to get out within a reasonable time, so retired.
Bruce Wilson / Mike Prendergast in their Datsun 1600 were going well, together with NSW entrants Peter Wilson / Martin Fell in their Galant. Garry Harrowfield / Geoff Boyd suffered water pump trouble and retired.
But David Bond and Ian Richards were charging out in front and went on to score an excellent victory ahead of George Fury. They even managed to catch and pass third placed Doug Irish on a treacherous stage in Ovens.
George and Monty were running a brand new Datsun 710, as a practice session for the forthcoming Southern Cross. They were trying several tyre compounds but this tyre testing affected his speed and performance, ultimately finishing in second place by just a point, ahead of Doug Irish and Warwick Smith in anXU-1.
With another strong victory, David Bond and Ian Richards tied up a well deserved 1975 Victorian Rally Championship, an excellent effort for the young crew, having had a firm focus on their Championship goal.
