1979 George Derrick Memorial Trial

Table of Contents

Results and entry list
Route
Other Event Documents

The George Derrick Memorial Trial was held on June 23.

VRC Round 5 – CCRMIT George Derrick Memorial Trial

Browns keep VRC alive!

After a few recent poor runs, Chris and Simon Brown scored an outstanding victory in this Year’s George Derrick, run in the north of the state and over the border into NSW.

Organised by CCRMIT and directed by Steve Hollowood, the Rally started at the border town of Echuca, with a daylight Division through nearby river forests, followed by a night Division. The rally was mostly route charted, together with SOME straightforward map reading.

Crews proceeded to the first competitive, being a 30 kilometre run though Bama Forest just over the border from Echuca.

Hugh Bell and Damien O’Reilly in their Datsun 1600 won the stage, and were rewarded with $100 prizemoney for their effort. And they picked up another $50 for being the fastest Grade Two. However they suffered from mechanical problems shortly after and retired. Next quickest was Chris Power and Bernard Lakerink, followed by the Browns.

Less than 10 kilometres into the first stage, a deceptive right hander claimed both John Armitage / Phil Rainer and Jim Uttleymoore / Tony Bond, who rolled their rally cars out of the event.

The main spectator points provided plenty of thrills for the large crowd that had assembled at a tricky and challenging series of corners. Peter Evans and Chris Maniatakis put their car up on two wheels, but amazingly returned to ground without falling over. Plenty of cars spun out, and a few careered straight on under brakes, providing entertainment for the crowd.

Others to suffer on the stage were Graham Trounce / Max Sharrock, and Jean Jones with Pam McGinty who both hit trees.

The night stages were a mixture of route charts and navigation, with a supplied map. However it contained a few incorrectly mapped junctions, which caused a bit of confusion. Bob Watson / Ian Pearson, in the turbo Peugeot 504, found a passage control from the wrong direction, and copped a penalty which ended their chances of victory.

Finally the Browns were victorious, from Chris Power / Bernard Lakerink, with Michael Ellis and Jim Maude in third place. Greg Lee / Shane Blandford followed in their second hand looking Datsun 1600 which had heavily collected a tree on their rear quarter panel.

Results and entry list

Place	Driver	Navigator	Car	Points	Grade 2
1	Chris Brown	Simon Brown	Datsun 180B	23
2	Chris Power	Fred Lakerink	Datsun 1600	27
3	Mick Ellis	Jim Maude	Datsun 1600	33	1
4	Greg Lee	Shane Blandford	Datsun 1600	36	2
5	Chris Randall	Ray Scott	Datsun 1600	38	3
6	Peter Evans	Chris Maniatakis	Datsun 1600	41	4
7	Bruce Robertson	Ian Baldock	Lancer	42	5
8	Colin Sichlau	David McKenzie	Fiat 125	46	6