Highlights
1978 was notable for being a very wet year in Victoria. It resulted in a lot of events being postponed due to unsuitable road conditions and some being cancelled. Even the Victorian round of the ARC, the Marchal Rallye, was postponed until December, after the Alpine.
The Victorian Rally Championship was won by Warwick Smith and Paul Paterson in their Mitsubishi Lancer. The inaugural Grade 2 Award was won by Ian and Noel Richards in a Datsun 1600.
The Repco Alpine International Rally continued to attract a quality field and was a breakthrough victory for privateers, Geoff Portman and Ross Runnalls who ended the dominance of the Alpine by factory teams, and by Greg Carr who had won the previous three editions.
The Ready Plan Rally was held in September, a long distance “outback adventure” that took competitors on long stages through the desert country of north-west Victoria and south-west New South Wales.
The Victorian Rally Association published what may have been the first Drivers’ Seeding List in May.
Australian Rally Championship
Victoria hosted one round of the Australian Rally Championship, the Marchal Rallye held on 16 December. In a close result, Greg Carr / Fred Gocentas were first, giving them their first ARC title. See Jeff Beaumont’s story for more.
