The Begonia Rally was held on March 3.
VCS Round 2 – 1977 BLCC Begonia Rally
As usual this event was run by the Ballarat Light Car Club, with directors being Ian McKenzie / Jeff Stewart, with a full field facing the starter in the main street of Ballarat.
Following a short transport, the competition started with a daylight spectator stage near Haddon, with ultimate winners Bowden / Sharrock beginning well with fastest time, equal with Dick Denvil / Damien O’Reily.
With the tightness of the tracks and the numerous instructions, points losses were plenty. Dust was a problem, for both crews and spectators.
Cars then headed south west to the forests near Scarsdale, then back to the division end at Ballarat. The leaders were Graham Trounce / Lloyd Minifie, from the ultimate winners and Dale / Wilkinson.
Retirements at this point included Uttleymore / Bond and Hurrey / Gilchrist.
The second Division featured difficult navigation along ill-defined and demanding tracks, where a few crews came to grief and retirements were numerous.
Kierce / Morris retired with compounding issues: firstly their Halda stopped working, then they lost the exhaust, followed by an in-operative fuel pump.
Johnson / Baker overshot a tee junction, causing damage to their Honda. They repaired the car, pressed on at a speedy pace and finally finished in 5th place, and earned the “Flyers of the Night” award.
The scoreboard at the finish gave honours to Bob Bowden and Max Sharrock in their Datsun 180B SSS, from first round winners Denis Baker and Wal Rickard.