1977 Southern Cross Rally Event Story

Note that the event was timed and scored to the hundredth of a minute.

Day One

After an assembly stage from Westfield Shopping Town the competition began with a spectacular special stage at Amaroo, much enlarged from the previous year and now 4.4 km long including most of the main circuit. Although Makinen was the most spectacular, it was the wily Blomqvist in the Saab who showed that tidy is fast, beating Makinen but about 3 seconds. Thirteen cars were under 4 minute target time and so were penalty free as the field headed northwards. Only the Indonesian crew of Wiano and Indra failed to complete the stage in their Lancer, becoming the event’s first retirements. Mecak’s RX2 had gearbox problems but managed to change the gearbox at Berowra in 20 minutes and lost no time on the touring stage.

The first of two daylight forest stages was the traditional run to Mount Sugarloaf. The target time was too easy and 31 crews were clean. Brian Cleverly holed the gearbox oil pan on the Triumph Dolomite and lost 42 minutes on the subsequent touring stage while it was repaired. Later in the night they would exceed late time after suffering a series of flat tyres.

The short Wallaroo spectator stage saw Makinen fastest on 0.34, then Blomqvist 0.45, Kallstrom and Fury equal on 0.50, Robson on 0.52 and then Mehta and Dunkerton equal on 0.55. Note that times were to the hundredth of a minute over the target time. A number of overshoots at the end of the stage provided entertainment for the team mechanics at the adjacent service point.

As always, the real competition began with the long night stages. With the conditions so dry, dust would be a major hazard, especially with cars running at 2 minute intervals. Frequent closing up of the field also meant that when gaps did form they did not last very long. During the first night this played into Makinen’s hands as he had the only truly dust free run at the head of the field. He just cleaned the first night stage of 44 km through Cabbage Tree with Carr showing himself to be a serious threat dropping only 0.04. Others were well back with Kallstrom on 0.50, Robson 0.62, Watson 0.69, Aaltonen 0.79 and Bond and even minute late. Blomqvist had a minor off dropping several minutes and a couple of positions on the road. The Escort of Jim Sullivan encountered electrical gremlins which plagued them all through the night with a massive loss of time.

The short Devil’s Elbow stage began with 3 km of tarmac on the Booral Road then 10 km of dirt through the Nerong Forest. Makinen and Carr were clean then Kallstrom on 0.02, Aaltonen and Bond equal on 0.08, Fury 0.18, Watson 0.22, Bell 0.25 and Dunkerton 0.26. However on the very fast 24 km Wang Wauk stage Kallstrom was quickest dropping 0.20 to move into a slender lead over Makinen. Carr was next on the stage on 0.55, then Makinen 1.04, Fury and Watson equal on 1.05 and Blomqvist 1.18. The “split second” timing was certainly proving necessary and the stages were super fast and most of the top crews were within a minute of each other’s times. Further back, Alan Brough’s Toyota Trueno retired with a broken Manifold and the Alfasud of Ruggero Rotondo rolled out of the event.

A repeat of the previous’ year’s 17 km stage through the Bachelor Forest saw Makinen take back the lead dropping 0.05 to Carr’s 0.36, Aaltonen on 0.55, Blomqvist and Watson on 0.57, Kallstrom 0.65, Bond 0.80 and Dunkerton 0.93, all within a single minute.Brian McIlvenna retired the Capri with transmission problems while the all girl crew of Carolyn Wallace and Anna Smith struck electrical problems leading to their retirement a few stages later.

The last stage before Taree was a duty 36 km run through Kiwarrak Forest. Carr was flying and was the only one to clean, followed by Makinen on 0.25, Fury 0.26, Kallstrom 0.35, Aaltonen 0.40 and Dunkerton 0.96. Blomqvist had a left hand steering ball joint fail, probably as a result of his earlier excursion, and the uncontrollable car fell in a gutter and destroyed the rear axle, so becoming the first major retirement of the event. The Indonesian Lancer of Sri Wahyudi left the road when they saw the stricken Saab and had winch back onto the road. At the stage end the Yamauchi Lancer rear-ended Gary Meehan’s Corolla putting both cars out of the event.

After the Taree service and refuel came the 28 km Coopernook special where Makinen, Aaltonen, Kallstrom, Fury, Dunkerton and Carr all cleaned. Next best was Watson on 0.4, then Bond 0.52, Rainsford 0.74 and Bell 0.82. Tony Jewels put his Subaru off the road and dropped 13 minutes. But it would be the night’s final and longest stage, 102 km through Kerewong, that would be decisive with Makinen taking full advantage of his dust free position. He dropped 1.90, then Bond 2.20, Fury 2.55, Aaltonen 2.95, Kallstron 2.99, Carr 4.34, Watson 4.61, Iwashita 5.08 and Dunkerton 5.49. This long stage was more typical of previous Crosses where minute timing was just adequate, but was also a taste of what was to come over the remaining three nights. Several crews had a variety of problems including Hilton’s Peugeot, dropping 43 minutes. Rainsford’s Saab (19 minutes) and Graeme Taylor’s Escort (59 minutes). Nevertheless, 68 crews made it to Port Macquarie within late time, with 13 retirements.

At the end of the first night the Nissan and Ford team seven held down the top nine places while Saab had faded from contention. Of the Datsuns, only Mehta had struggled apparently with some punctures. The top ten were Makinen 3.67, Carr 5.88, Kallstrom 6.21, Aaltonen 6.84, Fury 6.86, Bond 7.47, Watson 8.94, Dunkerton 10.49, Mehta 14.67 and Iwashita 15.24. Just outside the top ten were Shinozuka in the Lancer and Ayabe doing a great job in the Toyota Sprinter.

Day Two

The second division ran mostly to the south west with stopovers at Taree-Wingham. The afternoon began with a 23 km run through Middle Brother forest where Fury set the pace, cleaning the stage with Aaltonen 0.14, Makinen 0.20, Kallstrom 0.25, Carr 0.27, Robson 0.56, Bond 0.81 and the quick privateer, Revs Rowney, on 0.87. Rowney had had alternator problems on the first night but was no hitting his straps. Iwashita rolled his 120Y dropping 10 minutes in the process. Dunkerton struck problems with the distributor on his 710 and dropped 13 minutes. A brief stopover in Taree preceded the short 12 km dash through Kiwarrak where Makinen, Aaltonen, Kallstrom, Fury and Carr were all clean, then Rowney 0.10, Bond 0.11, Shinozuka 0.16, Robson 0.20 and Mehta 0.24. Bonhomme’s Datsun 1600 lost time with a coil lead falling off while Mecak’s Mazda had a bad miss which was later traced to a loose main jet. At the Wingham mealbreak Robsons car was carefully checked after he had clobbered a large rock, but no damage was found.

The night stages began with the traditional run along Black Flat Lane where only 20 seconds covered the top eight: Aaltonen 0.49, Carr 0.52, Makinen 0.61, Kallstrom 0.63, Rowney 0.65, Dunkerton 0.66, Bond 0.71, Fury 0.75 and Robson 0.78. Even the arduous 95 km stage over Dingo Tops and up to the Oxley Highway at Myrtle Scrub saw six crews within 2 minutes. Carr was showing the way, dropping 5.56, 30 seconds ahead of Makinen’s 6.06 then Aaltonen 6.11, Bond 6.75, Fury 6.80, Kallstrom 7.21, Watson 8.01, Robson 8.99, Shinozuka 9.14 and Mehta 9.31. Robson’s good time was to no avail as it had a broken clutch mounting bolt and lost over an hour at the service, dropping them well out of contention. The long stage had also claimed the Bob Johnson Lancer which rolled and Bob Holden’s Peugeot which broke a steering ball joint far from any possible service access.

A rarely used 63 km stage to the north-west of Myrtle Scrub presented few problems and 17 crews cleaned. After passing through service again (but not time allowed) came the more traditional 25 km run to the north-east of Myrtle Scrub with Dunkerton 0 1.51 just pipping Carr on 1.55, then Bond 1.75, Kallstrom 1.79, Aaltonen 2.00 and Watson 2.15. It may have been on this stage that Makinen had to stop and replace a fan belt but it seems more likely that they lost time in service. Certainly Carr had taken a narrow lead in the event and had also overtaken Makinen on the road although the stage times suggest this probably happened on a touring stage.

Carr was certainly quickest on the long 102 km stage back southwards towards Wingham, dropping 7.97, then Aaltonen 8.15, Makinen 9.29, Kallstrom 9.53, Bond 10.45, Fury 11.13, Watson 11.16, Shinozuka 11.99, Dunkerton 13.25 and Mehta 13.80. Carr had broken a rear trailing arm but it was holding together and would make the end of division OK. There was insufficient time to change it at the Wingham service and with only two short stages remaining for the night they took the risk. Makinen was quickest on the first of these stages up the “main” Comboyne Road, dropping 0.48 to Aaltonen’s 0.62, Carr on 0.64 then Kallstron 0.88, Dunkerton 9.94, Bond 1.07, Shinozuka 1.09 and Fury 1.10. The last stage, the 8 km run down the hairpin riddled Toms Creek Road, also had Makinen quickest on 0.96 then Carr 1.10, Aaltonen 1.11, Fury 1.20 and Bond 1.32.

So at division end Carr held a slender 0.40 (24 seconds) advantage over Makinen. Ten crews had retired during the division with 45 still running. The top ten were as follows: Carr 23.49, Makinen 23.89, Aaltonen 25.46, Kallstrom 27.91, Bond 30.44, Fury 34.93, Watson 35.30, Shinozuka 45.02, Mehta 45.10 and Dunkerton 51.86. Rowney had moved up to 11th, Bell’s Gemini into 12th and Bonhomme was 13th despite a failing alternator and coolant loss. Hill, Janson, Kano and Jackson were closely bunched in 14th to 17th. During the one hour service Carr’s Escort would have its rear trailing arm replaced while the Nissan team replaced struts on most of their 710, and complete rear ends on several.

Day Three

Following the same pattern, the third day began with two daylight special stages. The first through Cairncross presented no problems with Carr, Makinen, Kallstrom and Fury clean, then Aaltonen 0.15 and Bond 0.22. The second longer stage through the Ballengarra Forest saw seven cars clean. So there were no changes as the crews headed to the service and mealbreak in Kempsey. But several cars were having problems including Bell’s Gemini that needed all its shockers replaces, and Rainsford Saab which had an oil leak that was threatening the clutch, requiring changing and engine seal and the clutch. The Taylor Galant had no brakes while Brian Clarke retired his Galant with a blown engine. Brian Nightingale retired his Datsun 1600 with a blown gearbox while Bonhomme’s 1600 continued to have electrical gremlins and coolant loss. They persevered into the night but would retire late in the division. Kumimasa’s Subaru required work on its front suspension with a sledgehammer and the mechanics simply tipped the car onto its side, reminiscent of the Minis which were thus serviced in the early Crosses.

Into the long dusty night stages and Carr was pulling ahead with a dust free run. Makinen had a small roll on the first stage, 44 km up through Collombatti, and lost about 5 minutes and pretty much any chance of victory. Carr was clean, clear of Aaltonen on 0.64, Kallstrom 0.87, Dunkerton 0.92, Bond 1.52, Watson 1.65 and Shinozuka 1.90. Fury was slow having perhaps had a minor excursion. After a service and coffee break at Bellbrook, crews tacked the 83 km Five Day Creek stage where Carr, dropping 1.55, was a full minute quicker than Makinen on 2.55, then Aaltonen 2.77, Fury 3.30, Kallstrom 3.32, Dunkerton and Bond equal on 3.79, Shinozuka 4.18 and Mehta 4.60. Dunkerton’s 710 had a misfire but this was traced to a faulty distributor which was replaced at the Taylors Arm service, bit the mechanics couldn’t get the plug lead order correct for some time and Dunkerton lost valuable minutes on the touring stage.

The almost 100 km stage northwards to Bellingen was always going to be a challenge and allowed Carr to extend his lead, now over Aaltonen. Carr dropped 4.06 to Aaltonen’s 5.95 the Kallstrom 8.04, Fury 10.25, Bond 10.43, Makinen 10.65, Shinozuka 11.42, Watson 11.48, Mehta 11.70 and Bell 12.21. After a brief service at Bellingen crews headed southwards again on a 64 stage to Bowraville. Carr was again more than a minute quicker than his rivals, dropping 3.62 to Aaltonen’s 5.28, Kallstrom on 6.15, Bond 6.63, Makinen 6.88, Fury 7.18 and Shinozuka 7.64.

After Bowraville there was a short stage along Williams Hill Road (used the the WRC Nambucca stage) where all the main contenders were on the same minute, Carr on 0.76, Aaltonen 0.79, Makinen 0.84, Kallstrom and Watson on 0.95 and Shinozuka on 0.98. Dunkerton’s run ended when a rear wheel departed as a result of studs shearing. Bell had a broken throttle cable in the Gemini but tied it up and used the ignition key to get through. A brief service at Utungan preceded the night’s final stage, 76 km through the Ingalba- Tanban forests back to Collombatti where the night had begun. Carr was again quickest on 2.77, Aaltonen 3.87, Fury 4.03, Bond 4.20, Kallstrom 4.40, Makinen 4.97, Watson 5.75, Mehta 6.84, Shinozuka 7.00 and Hill 8.60.

It had been an eventful night and the leaderboard had been shuffled somewhat, but except for the close tussle between Bond and Fury for fourth, the gaps were several minutes, especially Carr’s lead of almost 7 minutes. But unbeknownst to his rival, Carr’s Escort had blown an alternator on the way into impound and Ford did not have a replacement for the super-special model. The wiring and pulley were different making it almost impossible to fit a “standard” one so plans were put in place to regulalrly change batteries on the final night. There had been 11 retirements on the third night leaving 34 to start the final night. The top ten were: Carr 36.25, Aaltonen 44.81, Kallstrom 51.64, Bond 58.25, Makinen 60.63, Fury 62.77, Watson 73.57, Shinozuka 79.16, Mehta 80.31 and Bell 104.78. The fast charging Rowney had climbed to 10th when the gearbox failed on his 180B and they lost nearly an hour changing it, dropping to 15th. Hill was now 11th 16 minutes behind Bell. then Janson, Jackson and Kanno in 12th to 14th.

Day Four

The final night would be a long loop up to Coffs Harbour and Dorrigo. Aaltonen could have had a problem after hitting a dog on the Pacific Highway but there was no serious damage to the car. The competition began, once again, with two daylight special stages, the being a 19 km run through the Ingalba Forest where Carr set the pace on 0.68 down, then Kallstrom 0.07, Aaltonen 1.23, Mehta 1.25 then Watson equal with the still running Robson on 1.68. The second daylight stage was 26 km in the Mistake Forest north of Taylors Arm with Aaltonen and Kallstrom equal on 1.58 just ahead of Carr on 1.83 then Mehta 2.25, Watson 2.55 and Shinozuka 3.26. Rowney lost time with a puncture after discovering he had no jack on board. Janson had continuing fuel problems and lost time. So at the Missabotti Community Centre, where the locals were making everyone welcome, the placings were largely unchanged. However, Carr’s electrical problems were becoming evident with battery changes and this was before he had to switch on the Escort’s lights.

The organisation suffered its first major headache on the 42 km special stage up through the Irishman and Gladstone Forests to Bellingen. It was not so much that some protesting locals had erected barricades across the road, but that Carr caught and passed the Clerk of Course car and then damaged his lights when he hits the barricades. Aaltonen caught him just as he was completing makeshift repairs and Carr sped off leaving Aaltonen in his dust. Despite the drama, Carr on 1.83 was only 15 seconds slower than both Aaltonen and Kallstrom on 1.58, then Mehta 2.25, Watson 2.55 and Shinozuka 3.26. Somewhere about here Makinen holed the sump on his 710 and retired.

After the Bellingen refuel crews cross the Gordonville ford competitively at the start of the 25 km special through to the Pine Creek Forest and the Pacific Highway. Few crews had trouble crossing the ford, which was quite low, although Bond was stuck for a short time. Carr cleaned the stage along with Aaltonen, Kallstrom, and Mehta, then Watson on 1.39, Shinozuka 1.60 and Robson 1.83. So into the refuel and service in Coffs Harbour where, despite the dramas, Carr seemed to be holding on.

Next up was a 14.5 km run through Lower Bucca Forest with Carr fastest on 0.60, then Aaltonen 1.02, Kallstrom 1.37, Mehta 1.51, Shinozuka 1.65, Watson 1.69, Jackson 1.78 and Robson 1.83. A short touring stage to Coramba led to the 48 km special across almost to Dorrigo. Carr’s electrical problems finally bit with power being cut to the fuel pump, stranding him for more than 30 minutes. In fact it was Robson, and auto-electrician, who came to the rescue and assisted them to get the Escort going again. But it was all over for Carr as they had to travel at lower speed without driving lights in order to conserve all power. Meanwhile, Rowney fell in a hole and rolled badly, ending his rally. By the end of the stage Carr had dropped 35.85 and fallen to fourth. Aaltonen was quickest down 2.70 and had inherited the lead, while Kallstron on 1.37 was up to second. Then came Watson on 4.68, then Shinozuka 4.74 and Mehta on 4.85, locked in a tight battle Then came Robson and Jackson on 7.75 and Kanno 8.33. Both Bond and Fury were probably still in third and fourth respectively, but their times were not shown as they did not finish.

It was back to Bellingen for a further refuel and service before crews tackled the event’s monster 236 km stage which led most of the way back to Kempsey. By the mid-stage service at 113 km Carr was running by torch light. Bell’s Gemini never made it that far after some engine dramas. Mehta was in a tight battle with Shinozuka and decided not to stop at the mid-stage service but ran out of fuel 4 km from the end of the stage. Presumably Mortimer went to the control for fuel but meanwhile Mehta managed to move the sar another 3 km, but in the end they lost about 40 minutes. The dramas were far from over. With 70 km to go something failed on the steering of Bond’s Escort and it hit a bank, flipped on its side and was out. Then on Western Range Road Fury rolled three times on a tricky right-hand kink, the same spot that would almost cost Brock his Repco win two years later. The exit of Bond and Fury lifted Watson to third although only a handful of minutes ahead of the flying Shinozuka who had done the quickest time on the long stage dropping 15.90 to Watson’s 16.96. Kallstron on 18.11 and Aaltonen on 20.69 had backed off a bit. Further back came Jackson on 39.09, Robson 39.94, Kunimasa 42.60, Hill 42.80, Carr 44.01, now back to fifth, Kanno 45.10, Hilton 48.55, Taylor 54.90 and Mehta 59.71, now back to sixth.

It was, as they say, all over bar the shouting, as the remaining crews headed to Timbertown in Wauchope for breakfast. All that remained was a final 24 km special stage around Caircross, where Watson was quickest on 0.18, happy to see off the challenge from Shinozuka who was on 0.73. Aaltonen was second fastest on 0.56 despite driving the last few kilometres on a flat tyre. Other times were Jewells 0.83, Carr 0.99, Robson 2.41, Jackson 2.79 and Hill 2.99. Mehta punctured early and had to stop and change the wheel but they were safely in sixth place. Graeme Taylor rolled his Escort but limped to the finish OK. The final night had been tough and only twenty cars had finished the event, the last of which was the 77th seeded entry of Rex Fowler and Pat Roberts who had been 5.25 minutes outside their late time but were granted a 6 minute allowance for stopping at Bond’s accident, so allowing them to be classified as finishers.

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