1976 Southern Cross Rally Event Story

We are fortunate to have access to many of the stage times recorded to the second and published as part of the 1977 Spectator Guide. Note that the event was scored to the minute.

Day One

The event got underway at Amaroo Park with the short special stage. The two Ford works Escorts showed that they meant business, with Makinen setting the fastest time of 3:31 and Clark only one second slower. Next best was Colin Bond in the Torana (3:37) followed by the 710s of Kallstrom (3:40), Walfridsson (3:41) and Aaltonen (4:42), equal with Rainsford. The Lancers of Cowan and Ferguson both did 3:43. With minute timing, all the leading crews dropped 2 points except for Janson who had a problem, dropping 5 minutes.

Makinen won two of the three daylight special stages up to Newcastle and was only one second behind Aaltonen on the other. With minute timing, most of the leading crews were equal but on the second stage only Makinen and Aaltonen cleaned. After Newcastle, Clark took the honours by 30 seconds on the short Wallaroo stage from Cowan and Makinen, the three of them dropping one point less than the rest. So Makinen took a one point lead into the mealbreak at Stroud, from Cowan, Clark and Aaltonen, then a gaggle of cars a further minute back.

The serious competition started with the 110 km Craven-Myall special stage. Fury dropped 2 then Aaltonen 3 (although only 12 seconds slower), Makinen 4 and Cowan, Clark and Kallstrom on 5. This moved Fury into the equal lead with Makinen and Aaltonen. Colin Bond lost 50 minutes with distributor trouble as well as shonky shock absorbers. Warmbold in the BMW broke a driveshaft and retired. Shekhar Mehta in a single overhead cam Datsun 710 SSS lost 14 minutes with fan belt trouble. The super-fast 68 km Wang Wauk stage was cleaned by most of the frontrunners, although Aaltonen had the fastest time (over 3 minutes early) followed by Walfridsson, Makinen, Clark, Cowan and Kallstrom all within a minute.

Fury was quickest on the short Ferny Creek special, closely followed by Cowan and Aaltonen, with Makinen dropping a minute back. Cowan was quickest on the equally short Wollomba special stage by 16 seconds from Fury and Clark, with the hard charging Iwashita 2 seconds further back. Makinen and Kallstrom were the only others on the same minute. Aaltonen hit a bank and the engine moved forward and the fan holed the radiator and then blew a head gasket. This handed the lead to Fury. Colin Bond hit a stump, wrecking the front suspension of the L24 and they would skip the next stage and head to Taree for repairs.

The 49 km Kiwarric special stage saw Clark put in a blinder and was almost 2 minutes early and the only car to cleansheet. Fury was next, dropping a minute extending his lead. Cowan dropped 2 to move into equal second with Makinen who dropped 3 together with Kallstrom. Walfridsson rolled the 710, dropping about 15 minutes and then a further 10 minutes on the Taree touring stage while repairs were carried out.

After Taree, Fury continued to impress, winning the the 38 km Landsdowne special by 15 seconds from Cowan with Shinozuka and Clark on the same minute. Makinen dropped a minute more to fall back to third. The mammoth 102 km Kerewong special ended the night’s run with Cowan striking back to win by 26 seconds from Makinen. They both took a minute off Fury who retained the lead.

Placing into Port Macquarie were Fury 17, Cowan 19, Makinen 21, Kallstrom 24, Clark 30, Ferguson 34, Shinozuka and Stewart both 35, Iwashita 39 and Rainsford on 41. Mehta was down in 11th on 49 points and Walfridsson in 14th on 53. The first night had claimed many other victims. Greg Carr (Datsun 710SSS) disappeared over a cliff, fortunately with no injury to either crew member. Ross Dunkerton (Datsun 260Z) was delayed with fuel and ignition problems. Dante Silverio (Phillipines – Toyota Celica) had engine failure. Robert Soulard (New Caledonia – Renault Alpine) seized his car’s engine, and fellow countryman Jean-Louis Leyraud (BMW 2002 Ti) retired after distributor problems and then running out of fuel. Jim Laing-Peach (Lancia Beta Coupe) found that the car’s shock absorbers were unable to cope with the conditions. New Zealander Paul Adams (Ford Escort RS1800) had the misfortune to strike Soulard’s Alpine in the dust, and after repairing most of the damage went out of the event with a broken drive shaft. Mike Marshall (NZ – Escort) struck a rock and bent the rear axle.

Day Two

The short opening daylight stage through Cairncross saw all the frontrunners drop a minute, although Kallstrom was quickest by 11 seconds from Cowan and Walfridsson. The honours on the 38.5 km stage out to the Pacific Highway went to Ferguson by 3 seconds from Walfridsson and Cowan 14 seconds further back. These three dropped 1 point with Kallstrom, Mehta, Stewart and Makinen dropping 2, then Iwashita, Clark and Shinozuka on 3. Fury was slow, dropping 4 and relinquishing the lead to Cowan.

The short Kalateenee special before Kempsey was won by Clark by 5 seconds from Kallstrom, with Fury, Mehta and Walfridsson on the same minute. Cowan missed the minute by 1 second and moved back equal with Fury. Victorian David Bond had a loose distributor on the Lancer and dropped 20 minutes.

After the Kempsey refuel, Makinen won both the stages to the mealbreak at the Utungun Hall, but most of the frontrunners were on the same minute so Fury and Cowan remained locked in the lead 2 minutes clear of Makinen who was in turn 2 minutes ahead of Kallstrom. Ferguson had moved to within a minute of Clark. The results show Shinozuka winning the night’s opening test, dropping 10 minutes over the 150 km Horseshoe special, by a minute from Ferguson, then a minute back to Fury and Mehta both down 12. Kallstrom dropped 13 then Cowan (14), who dropped 2 minutes to Fury, but the real losers were Clark (15 minutes) and Makinen (16 minutes) who dropped behind Kallstrom and Ferguson respectively.

After the Gordonville ford, the shortish special across to the Pacific Highway presented few problems for the frontrunners. Makinen put in a charge to be quickest, but he missed the minute by a second and was equal with Fury, Cowan, Fergusson and Walfridsson. The first problems for the Escorts started to appear with Clark’s having an overheating differential and dropping 5 minutes on the leaders. He then dropped about 90 minutes in Coffs Harbour while the entire rear axle assembly was replaced. This not only placed him out of contention but well down the field struggling in the dust of slower cars.

After the Coffs Harbour refuel came 30 km in the Bucca Forest and this time Makinen beat the minute to be fastest with Cowan, Fury, Mehta and Ferguson all on the next minute. Only Makinen and Cowan cleaned the 53 km Wedding Bells special, moving Cowan within one minute of Fury who dropped 1 minute together with Ferguson, Mehta and Walfridsson.

The short run down Coldwater Creek Road was won by Cowan with Kallstrom, Ferguson, Walfridsson, Shinozuka, Fury, Stewart and Clark on the same minute. Makinen missed the minute by 2 seconds! Makinen hit back on the 34 km loop northwards around much of the WRC Shipmans stage, winning by 14 seconds from Cowan, with Fury on the same minute.

Cowan was quickest again on the 62 km Brooklana special to Dorrigo, 15 seconds ahead of Makinen , but Fury was on the same minute so remained locked in the lead with Cowan. The short 17 km special over Gladstone Peak should have been straightforward. Fury beat Cowan by 16 seconds and they were joined on the same minute by Mehta, Ferguson and Walfridsson. Makinen’s Escort had developed the same problem as Clark’s but there wasn’t a spare assembly, so he struggled on with the differential filled with oil at every opportunity, as it has been leaking from the rear cover gasket. He started the last competitive section, after which the team would have had time to effect permanent repairs without excessive loss of time, but the car stopped immovable 20 kilometres from the end of the division.

The night’s final test was another 80 km ending with a challenging run through the remote Thumbs Creek area. Fury turned up the heat to beat Cowan by 3 minutes and take the lead back into Port Macquarie. Ferguson split the two, dropping 2 minutes to Fury but took 2 minutes from Kallstrom to move into third place. Shinozuka matched Kallstron’s time to move up into fifth.

So the placings after the second night were Fury 73, Cowan 76, Ferguson 92, Kallstrom 94, Shinozuka 103, Mehta and Stewart equal on 110, Walfridsson 115 and Iwashita 118. Privateers Ian Hill, David Bond and Murray Coote had moved up to 10th, 11th and 12th.

Day Three

The third afternoon began with a somewhat longer 23 km run though Cairncross. Kallstrom won by 20 seconds from Cowan, both cleansheeting and both picking up a minute on their immediate adversaries, Fury and Ferguson, who each dropped 1 together with Walfridsson. Stewart had a problem, dropping 5 while Shinozuka’s Lancer had fuel problems and dropped 11 and several places. The next short special again saw Kallstron fastest by 15 seconds from Cowan and again, they each picked up a minute on their adversaries. Cowan was now a minute off the lead and Kallstrom was equal with Ferguson.

The long 77 km daylight special stage to the mealbreak at Kempsey was blitzed by Cowan who won by over 2 minutes from Fury and Ferguson. But Cowan was early so only picked up a point to make him dead equal with Fury. Kallstrom lost third gear and slowed, dropping 6 minutes to Ferguson. Shinozuka had continuing fuel problems and dropped over half an hour and dropping to ninth, but would inherit eight after Iwashita’s 120Y blew its engine during the night.

The night’s first stage was 85 km through Tan Ban to Bowraville with Fury beating Cowan by 1 minute 10 seconds to take a one point lead. Kallstrom and Walfridsson both dropped 3, Stewart 4, then Ferguson and Mehta 5. Then came 53 km through Newry Forest with Cowan beating Fury by 37 seconds but both on the same minute. Next best was Mehta a minute back while Ferguson took 3 minutes off Kallstrom with continuing gearbox problems.

After Bellingen the 125 km stage back through the Horseshoe Road area saw Cowan seemingly take command, beating Fury by 4 minutes and extending his lead. Fury was by no means slow as the next best were Kallstrom and Mehta a further minute back, then Walfridsson and Ferguson. The 50 km stage through Nulla Five Day was won by Mehta by 31 seconds from Kallstrom, but both on the same minute. Fury and Ferguson were on the next minute, together with Walfridsson, but Cowan had a problem to drop a further 10 minutes to fall to 6 minutes behind Fury.

The night’s final stage was an arduous 114 km special that reused much of the earlier daylight stage in reverse. Cowan was fired up after his problems on the previous stage and beat Fury by 3 minutes. Mehta was a minute faster than Fury, whose time was matched by Kallstrom, while Ferguson was 3 minutes further adrift. Walfridsson dropped about 10 minutes on the leaders and this may have been where he side-swiped a tree. An extra hour of time was lost on the touring effecting repairs the now quite battered 710, but he held on to 7th place!

Placings into Port Macquarie were Fury 113, Cowan 116, Ferguson 142, Kallstrom 145, Mehta 155, Stewart 180, Walfridsson 231, Shinozuka 236. Privateers Ian Hill (291) and David Bond (311) completed the top ten with Murray Coote (317) and Peter Janson (330) in 11th and 12th

Day Four

The exact story of the final night is limited by the fact that we don’t have stage by stage results for Fury and Kallstrom. It is likely that Fury and Cowan matched each other to the minute on the opening four daylight stages south to Taree. Roger Clark had a rare stage win on the first of the day’s stages, beating Cowan by 14 seconds over the 19 km Burrawan stage, despite running back in the field. Cowan had picked up 3 minutes on Ferguson and it is likely that Kallstrom did likewise and had moved equal with Ferguson but as the field moved into the long night stages, the engine failed on Kallstrom’s 710.

After the short night time opener along Black Flat Lane, there were four stages taking crews up to the Oxley Highway about 100 km inland for a remote service. Fury was holding off Cowan, or perhaps even drawing away, until he took a wrong turn, losing as much as 10 minutes. Fury and Cowan were reportedly dead even again as they headed into the events longest stage, a torrid 215 km all the way across to Kempsey. Soon after the mid-section service point on the Forbes River Road, the diff failed on Fury’s Datsun and it was all over. Cowan was probably first on the road as a result of Fury’s earlier miscue, so was perhaps unaware of the 701’s demise, and went on to win the stage, but amazingly, only 12 seconds ahead of Shekhar Mehta after 215 km! They both dropped 9 minutes. Ferguson was in the hunt, dropping 10, then a long way back to Stewart on 20, Clark 22, Hill 28, David Bond 30, Janson 31, Coote 33 and Shinozuka 35. Walfridsson rolled his 710 for the second time, dropping just under an hour.

After the drama of the event’s longest stage, the remaining four stages, three in daylight, were pretty much a formality for Cowan who backed off somewhat. Behind them, Mehta was now within striking distance of Ferguson and was putting in quick times, winning three of the four stages, but eventually finished 2 points behind Ferguson. Stewart was comfortable in fourth while Walfridsson persevered but had been overtaken by Shinozuka as a result of his roll on the long stage, and finished sixth behind the Japanese driver. The privateers Hill, Bond, Coote and Janson completed the top ten. The other car to fail to finish the final night was the Escort of New Zealand’s Blair Robson. They had had innumerable problems from the start and then had brake failure on the final night and replaced the system only to have the same thing happen again and he disappeared over the side at a tee intersection (no injuries). Final results are shown on the main page.

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