The Camcrusher Trial was held on May 7.
VCS Round 5 – 1977 FFCC Camcrusher Trial
Pat Barber and Tony Bishop drove their Datsun 1600 to a well earned close win over clubman leaders Jim Uttleymoore and Tony Bond in the 5th round of this year’s Clubman Championship.
Well directed by Andrew Trevillian and Chris Randell, it was a compact event with logical navigation over excellent roads and in perfect weather conditions. It attracted 45 starters, who headed off from Allan Coffey Motors in Ringwood.
The field transported to the start proper at Benalla. However controversy was created when Uttleymoore transported his car to the start by trailer, due to a potential mechanical issue with the car. Despite protests, the Director had given permission, no penalty was handed down. The problem was fixed and he went on to take second place in the rally.
The event’s night stages headed straight into Reef Hills Plantation, using a supplied map. Not exactly to scale, the supplied map caused a few problems, particularly at a crossroad junction, where Graham Littlehohn and Ian McCallum inverted their Datsun 1600.
At the halfway point there was a bunch of crews with minimal losses, with the eventual winners in front by just a single point.
The second division took crews up into the hills near Lima, followed by a final run again through Reef Hills and then onto the finish at Benalla.
After a trouble-free run, Pat Barber and Tony Bishop finally finished two points ahead of series leaders Jim Uttleymoore and David Bond, who increased their lead in the championship.