The Eclipse Motors Rally was held on October 23.
VRC Round 6 – 1976 WDCC Eclipse Motors Rally
The Eclipse Motors Rally was formerly the Cooper Memorial Trial and was the final round of the 1976 Victorian Rally Championship. The event was named in part because there was a total solar eclipse on October 23 and the event gained sponsorship from Eclipse Motors in Ballarat. The event was convincingly won by Bob Waterhouse and Paul Paterson to seal their 1976 state title.
The rally comprised of three divisions totalling 180 kms, the first being run in daylight south of Ballarat, and was well planned for the benefit of spectators.
On the very first slippery section Bob Bird found a tree with the Lancer, but after the mudguard was cut off he and Warwick Smith continued unabated. Bob Waterhouse then did likewise, but panel damage was a bit lighter.
Garry Spence and Noel Kelly broke a rear spring which shot them off the road where they retired against a large tree.
The night divisions headed north west to Beaufort then into Ben Major and Mt Cole Forests. Later in the second division the leading crews found an unmanned control and stopped for the arrival of an official. The setting official had become bogged which created the delay.
Pierre Dalle and Ian Baldock had an electrical issue with their Datsun 180B, but suffered no points loss due to the neutralised section.
Crews returned to Scarsdale and the final division ran south before returning to the area around Snake Valley, where precise plotting and navigating was required.
Waterhouse / Paterson wrong directioned a contentious passage control in the very last section of the event whilst holding a five point lead, dropping them to sixth place. Bird / Smith also received a WD penalty at the same passage, but they claimed they were outside the control boundary when they backed up and returned from the correct direction.
A subsequent protest elevated Waterhouse and Paterson back to the top spot.
