1979 Repco Reliability Trial - Division Q (Townsville to Sydney)

Table of Contents

Townsville to Rockhampton
Rockhampton to Brisbane
Brisbane to Sydney
Division Results

Competitors departed Townsville early Wednesday evening for the division to Sydney where the first cars arrived mid Friday morning. The only break was a short stop at Brisbane’s Brookside Shopping Centre. Despite the relatively small proportion of competitive distance there was nevertheless some serious competition throughout both nights.

The route comprised 3 special stages totalling 55.0 km, 7 trial stages totalling 489.8 km and 13 transport stages totalling 2,267.4 km for a total division distance of 2,812.2 km of which 19% was competitive.

With Ferguson and Brock separated by three minutes at Townsville, George Shepheard had a major dilemma on his hands. Apart from wanting to protect the amazing 1-2-3 positions, it would have occurred to him, and perhaps GM executives, that a win by Brock, then Australia’s best known driver, would be a major publicity coup. According to Bell in the August 2016 issue of Rallysport Magazine there was a clandestine meeting in Townsville at which it was decided that Brock would take over the lead and that the Ferguson/Bell car would play a support role. Bell says he was not allowed to drive the car for the remainder of the event. How Brock would take the lead was not revealed but on the two pre-dawn stages between Mackay and Rockhampton, Brock passed Ferguson on the road and took a 9 minute lead. An alternative theory is that the Ferguson car was believed to have a slipping clutch and this necessitated them taking it easy. In any case, Brock sought to consolidate that lead for the remainder of the division, but slid off the road on the division’s final stage before Port Macquarie, potentially throwing away the lead. Ferguson had to stop and so the time differential was minimised and Brock took a 6 minute lead into Sydney. It was not possible to accuse Brock of putting the 1-2-3 victory at risk because his times were slower than Carr’s and Portman’s, both of whom were flying. Carr won the division easily and cemented his fifth place, perhaps even dreaming of catching Dunkerton for fourth. But Dunkerton was also doing good times and finally had a trouble free run, making it almost impossible for Carr to catch him before Melbourne. Barth rolled the Porsche near Dorrigo and dropped over two hours, falling back behind the Loader/Hill/Neale Lancer. Portman overcooked it again, this time on the same corner as Brock, but the time losses were minimal so they managed to hold 7th ahead of the Lancer, but the Stanza was a wreck. Herrmann had a good run and moved within striking distance of the other Porsche, the Lancer and Portman, setting up a close final division tussle for seventh place.

Townsville to Rockhampton

The overnight run from Townsville to Rockhampton included three competitive stages with a refuel break at Mackay. It is where the Brock Commodore re-asserted its hold on the event.

Q1 – Bowen/Collinsville Transport

302.2 km in 4h00m, First Car ETA 10:00 pm Wednesday, Revised to 11:00 pm

With an hour allowed for service the first car was released from Townsville impound at 6.00 pm for a notional 7.00 pm departure. This was an hour later than originally planned as a result of the extended rest in Darwin. The most popular conversation topic among the leading crews at the impound was the scores since the event organisers seemed to be having trouble giving definitive scores, although most of the leading crews knew their own score accurately (but were not necessarily telling anyone!).

For those who departed Townsville on time it was a fairly leisurely run down the highway almost to Bowen and then onto the Bowen Development Road as far as Collinsville where crews could top up on fuel if they wished. There was quite a big crowd in Collinsville to see the cars pass by. The first trial stage started about 24 km south of Collinsville adjacent to the Bowen River.

Of the 96 cars in the event, plus the “running under protest” Carter:

67 cars arrived at Collinsville on time
9 were late or early at Collinsville
16 skipped Collinsville, presumably because of the need for extended service time, and eventually headed south to rejoin the rally in Mackay, Rockhampton or Brisbane.
5 cars do not appear in the results, including Myers and Turner who magically re-appear in the next division, and the three cars that retired on Division Q (Caddey, Parsons and Hilton). Hilton was placed 14th at Townsville, second last of those who had not missed a control, but they had some car problems and were dead tired. They left Townsville late after needing extra service time.

It was a pleasant cool night with the first car starting the trial stage at 11 pm. For some reason Carr and Barth both dropped road position to Portman before the start of the first competitive, although the results do not show them dropping time. They may have arrived “just” on time. The road order was Ferguson, Brock, Mehta, Dunkerton, Nalder, Portman (with a 6 minute gap), Carr then Barth, then Loader, Davis, Herrmann and Watson.

Q2 – The Climb Trial Stage

108.1 km in 1h25m, First Car ETA 12:25 am Thursday (Map)

With only a 76 km/h average, this stage across the range to near Eungella looked like it might be cleanable. Certainly the first 66 km were on fairly fast roads and station tracks with a few dips, crests and creek crossings, including the fording of the Bowen River at 52 km. There were a number of gates but they were mostly open. After Blenheim Station at 66 km the stage headed more eastwards into the ranges and at 75 km went up an extremely steep climb of Mount Dingo requiring some cars to use first gear (since then the road has become so washed out that a 4WD with low range is probably needed to get up this climb). From the top of the climb the road improved and at 87 km the stage passed Eungella Reservoir and followed a good fast gravel road through to the end of the stage near the edge of the Eungella National Park. Dust would have been a moderate hazard, and while the stage was a bit rough on the climb, it would otherwise seem to present few real problems. The leading eight cars cleaned, as well as Fury in the other running Cortina.

All 76 cars made it through the stage with most time losses under about half an hour. The exceptions were the Jackson Commodore, still struggling with mechanical issues and dropping over an hour, as well as Reinders dropping over an hour and a half.

Fastest times:

Ferguson, Brock, Mehta, Dunkerton, Carr, Nalder, Portman, Barth, Fury clean
Herrmann 2
Colless 3
Davis 4
Boaden, Giddings 5
Watson 7
Johnson, Loader, Beveridge 8
Finlay, Roberts 9
Mizel, Miettunen, Lockhart 10
Taylor 11
Clarke, Rowney, Kahler 12
Clyborne, Faulkner, McCubbin, Bird, Glover, Darby 13
Potter, Goldsborough, Cafe, Boys 14
Jensen, Stockley 15
Koseki, Birrell 17
Moloney 17
Minett, Garner, Lahiff, Lance 18

Q3 -Mackay Transport

213.2 km in 2h30m, First Car ETA 2:55 am Thursday

From the end of the trial stage the transport took crews through the picturesque Eungella National park to the township of Eungella, then descended the range on the very tight and twist bitumen road which actually has a 40 km/h speed limit. No doubt many crews disregarded this as it is a lovely piece of road, albeit somewhat slippery with a light layer of dew on the tarmac! The route headed east through the Pioneer Valley to Mackay although the organisers had devised a complicated route through the back streets of North Mackay, eventually passing a deserted Repco store in the early hours of the morning before stopping at a bustling refuel at South Mackay. The route continued down the Bruce Highway to Sarina. Back in 1979 the Bruce Highway followed the inland route from Sarina to Marlborough and crews followed this for about 55 km from Sarina before turning eastwards for 13 km along a gravel road along the valley of Tierawoomba Creek to the start of the next trial stage.

Given the meandering and somewhat complex nature of this stage, it was little wonder than many crews were late. Being at that terrible time of the night in the hours just before dawn would have also put added pressure on weary crews as perhaps drivers tried to navigate as others slept. In the end only 10 cars actually cleaned the transport. Many losses could not be explained by just going a bit slow or taking a bit long to refuel as 9 cars were more than an hour late and a further 17 cars more than 30 minutes late. Of the leaders, Davis was 6 minutes late, Herrmann 8 minutes late, Watson 11 minutes late, Loader 14 minutes late, Mizel 20 minutes late and Jackson, still struggling, 29 minutes late.

Q4 – Killarney Trial Stage

84.7 km in 1h00m First Car ETA 3:55 am Thursday (Map)

This trial stage started just past Tierawoomba Station and ran generally southwards through undulating grazing country with many creek crossings, some a bit rough. The road was good with some very fast sections and some sharp turns and dips into creeks. The second half became more twisty through hilly terrain with one quite steep climb. About 4 km from the end crews turned right onto the main gravel road from St Lawrence. The 85 km/h average was achievable, just! This road was also used as a special stage in the 1995 Mobil 1 Trial.

Dust was not a big problem with some light rain falling. Brock matched Ferguson’s time but neither were pushing hard as Mehta was 4 minutes quicker, cleaning the stage and perhaps passing Brock, although it seems more likely that they conned the start official for a bigger gap. Portman had a 6 minute gap on the road to Nalder but had Carr 2 minutes behind and they both dropped the same time, catching 4 minutes on the Celica, who dropped the same as Dunkerton ahead of them. Davis had unspecified problems in the 180B losing about 20 minutes.

The results show 70 cars completing the stage with the majority of times under 30 minutes late. Further back, it was probably on this stage that Hilton’s Celica hit a ditch and lost a wheel and brake drum. Unable to locate either, they continued, presumably without brakes, having no doubt lost quite a lot of time.

Fastest times:

Metha clean
Carr, Portman and Fury 2
Brock and Ferguson 4
Dunkerton, Nalder and Barth 6
Johnson 7
Colless, Bird, Clyborne 9
Herrmann 10
Loader, Giddings 12
Cafe, Watson 13
Gough 14
Kahler, Ingerson, Garner, Beveridge, Minett, Hayden 15
Foden, Neilson, Roggenkamp, Glover 16
Clarke, Boaden, Finlay 17
Taylor, Faullner, Donoghue, McCubbin 18
Rowney, Birrell, Darby 19
Potter, Spanbroek, Koch 20
Koseki, Jensen, Boys 21
Penny, Goldsborough, Nicholson 22
Farmer 23
Davis, Lloyd, Miettunen 24
Roberts, Lockhart, Caudle 25

Strangely, the results show Jackson missing the control, which is not consistent with their ultimate classification in 13th outright having missed no controls, so this is assumed to be a typo, but how late they were can’t be deduced from the division total, unless they cleaned, which is unlikely.

Q5 – Stanelis’ Horror Trial Stage

45.6 km in 45m, First Car ETA 4:40 am Thursday (Map)

Crews immediately tackled this trial stage billed as a horror stage but it was really not in the same league as the two horror stages in WA. Ivor Stanelis was quoted in the media guide as saying it was the “trickiest in the trial, and hard”. Certainly it was slow and tricky and no-one cleaned even though it was set at a 60 km/h average. But it was apparent that Stanelis had not been over the WA stages as they were much tricker and much more challenging.

The instructions said “mostly two-wheel grassy ill-defined track with numerous creek crossings, including a few log type bridges. Steep descent at 31 km requires care.” The description was fairly accurate and although it was slippery and very steep in places, it simply required a careful approach to avoid any problems. There were many washouts, dips and creek crossings as the track meandered through scrub country eventually reaching a cleared farming area where there were a couple of home made bridges. The steep descent lasted a couple of kilometres and had high drainage channels diagonally across the track. The last part of the stage crossed some paddocks through gates, emerging onto what was then the old Bruce Highway, which is nowadays the actual Bruce Highway!

Brock would have started about 2 minutes behind Ferguson but caught them after the 17 car overshot a turn. According to Richards the 17 car was backing up towards the junction when Brock arrived and went in front of them. Subsequently Brock stopped to open a gate and left it open for the next car, calling them on the radio to ask them to shut it but apparently Bell said he didn’t see it (but it was certainly in the route instructions). Then the Ferguson car apparently got a puncture, but they dropped a massive 17 minutes to Brock’s 5, which seems a big difference for just an overshoot and a puncture, so perhaps they had another problem or perhaps the team had instructed them to take a deliberate penalty to allow Brock into the lead.

Certainly with a slipping clutch, the overshoot down a steep road may have been difficult to reverse out of. In any case Brock had grabbed the lead by about 11 minutes. Mehta dropped 12, perhaps stopping to help Ferguson, or simply slowing and tailing them. The 05 crew were adamant that they were going at the “right” pace. This seems to be born out by the time set by Carr, who only dropped 2 and almost caught the Nalder Celica, which was passed by Portman who dropped the same as Brock.

Later cars were faced with somewhat chopped up roads making the steep descent even more treacherous, but in the end a total of 65 cars completed the stage, with 5 cars going around the easy way via the Bruce Highway, taking a wrong direction. These included Jack Murray who then skipped the Rocky special stage also and headed straight for Brisbane. All those that did the stage dropped under an hour with most under 30 minutes, bearing out the fact that the stage was not really too bad. Quite a few other crews had cut and run from Townsville or Mackay and picked up the control along the way without doing the stage.

Times:

Colless was shown dropping 1, which seems doubtful!
Carr 2
Brock and Portman 5
Rowney 6
Davis and Clyborne 7
Nalder and Johnson 8
Dunkerton and Loader 9
Barth, Watson, Bird 10
Faulkner 11
Mehta 12
Fury 13
Potter, O’Donnell 14
Herrmann, Sheridan 15
Donoghue, Birrell 16
Ferguson, Ingerson, Clarke, Boaden, Lockhart 17
Gough, Beveridge, Neilson, Mizel 18
Minett, Kock, Boys, Travis 19
Spanbroek 20
Garner, Hayden, Roggenkamp, McCubbin, Koseki,
Goldsborough 21
Lahiff 22
Taylor, Roberts, Hurrey 23
Glover, Walker, Lance 24
Finlay, Nicholson, Lunney 25
Darby 26
Foden, Lloyd 27
Cafe, Meehan 28
Bray 29
Giddings, Penny 30
Farmer 36
Fullagher 37
Jackson 57
Rayner 59

Q6 – Rockhampton Transport

171.7 km in 2h10m, First Car ETA 6:50 am Thursday

The first 60 km of the 168 km run down to Rockhampton was on the old gravel highway which was being upgraded to become the new Bruce Highway, so there were roadworks and detours throwing the route chart into some disarray, but no-one had any problems. The route joined the old bitumen Bruce Highway at Marlborough and continued into Rocky where the first cars arrived at around 6.30 am, just after dawn. The time allowed was adequate and crews had some spare time to refuel and grab a bite of breakfast in Rockhampton before heading out to the start of a special stage on the outskirts of town.

According to Tuckey in An old dog for a hard road, as well as others at the Rockhampton refuel, Bell was furious and jumped out of the car exclaiming to Shepheard “So much for your fucking tactics. The bastard passed us.” The 05 crew were unrepentant, simply claiming they were going at the right pace and that the Bell/Ferguson car had backed off too much. In the final analysis, the scores reveal that the 17 car must have had a problem, whatever it was! Much of this does not quite add up because according to Bell in the August 2016 issue of Rallysport Magazine, the decision had been made back in Townsville to allow Brock to win and Bell was not allowed to drive the car again, save for driving the transport into his home town of Newcastle. This might even suggest that the Ferguson car had deliberately stopped on the previous horror stage in order to allow the Brock car into a clear lead, but in reality, what happened remains a mystery.

Of the leaders, Portman dropped 5 minutes and Jackson 7 minutes on the transport. A few others dropped similarly small amounts of time although the valve in Rowney’s 180B let go on the run into Rockhampton and they had to remove the rocker and run the remainder of the event on three cylinder’s, with the plug removed. They dropped 39 minutes on the transport. Jensen also dropped more than half an hour. Darby had major dramas dropping over 3 hours and after doing the special stage they would head directly for Sydney.

Placings at Rockhampton:

Brock/Philip/Richards(Commodore) 2.25.06
Ferguson/Bell/Boddy (Commodore) 2.36.39
Mehta/Aaltonen/Lake (Commodore) 4.02.38
Dunkerton/McKay/Jones (Volvo 244) 7.49.08
Nalder/Richards/Boyd (Celica) 8.30.02
Carr/Morrow/Gocentas (Cortina) 8.42.41
Barth/Kushmaul (Porsche 924) 9.15.07
Portman/Thompson/Hammond (Stanza) 10.12.55
Loader/Hill/Neale (Lancer) 10.44.28
Herrmann/Rainsford (Porsche 911) 11.18.40
Davis/Eather/Toner (Datsun 180B) 11.30.17
Watson/Harrowfield (Peugeot 504 Diesel) 12.47.23
Mizel/Hall/Fricker/Mortimer (Chevy Blazer) 20.49.38
Hilton/Bourke/Pattenden (Celica) score not known
Jackson/West/Jackson (Commodore) 25.55.38

Rockhampton to Brisbane

The day time run on Thursday took crews from Rockhampton to Brisbane for a 30 minute “publicity” stop. There were only two competitive stages during the day, the first adjacent to Rockhampton and the second near Gin Gin. Not much changed although Brock took another couple of minutes off Ferguson and Carr continued to set fast times, making it look almost certain that he would take fifth place from Nalder by Sydney.

Q7 – Rockhampton Special Stage

9.2 km in 7m First Car ETA 6:57 am Thursday (Map)

This was another one of those pointless publicity stages but at 7 o’clock in the morning there was never going to be much of a crowd! It was a straightforward run alongside the Fitzroy River just outside of town. The stage was a bit rough and meandered among the trees but was otherwise uneventful. Brock was unexpectedly slow, perhaps a puncture or perhaps a clock error? Jackson continued to struggle dropping over 12 minutes, Beveridge had a problem dropping more than 23 minutes, while Lahiff had a major drama dropping over 40 minutes then skipping directly to Brisbane.

The results show 81 cars completing the special stage. Fastest times:

Fury 0.36
Carr 0.44
Portman 0.49
Dunkerton 1.16
Colless 1.23
Mehta (Aaltonen) 1.24
Rowney 1.40
Ferguson, Sheridan 1.48
Barth 1.50
Johnson 1.59
Lockhardt, Goldsborough 2.07
Minnett 2.11
Nalder 2.17
Loader, Neilson 2.25
Clyborne 2.30
Spanbroek 2.37
Hurrey, Giddings 2.38
Lance 2.40
Ingerson 2.47
Herrmann, Miettunen 2.40
Brock 2.57
Roggenkamp 2.58
Darby 3.02
Stockley 3.03
Boaden 3.04
Koseki, Cafe 3.10 Gough 3.11
Koch 3.15
Clarke 3.16
Tholstrup 3.23
O’Donnell 3.25
Foden 3.26
Boys 3.28
Watson, Roberts, Hall 3.37
Herdy 3.40
O’Shannesy 3.41
Kahler 3.42
Bird 3.45
Mizel 3.50
Potter 3.52
Garner 3.53
Hayden 3.56
Tattingham 3.59
Travis 4.00
Nicholson 4.01
Wilson 4.05
Faulkner 4.18
Walker 4.20
Davis 4.22

Q8 – Old Kolonga Transport Stage

224.8 km changed to 230 km actually 240 km in 2h45m reduced to 2h30m First car ETA 9:27 am Thursday

Originally this transport stage was to have wound its way down the Boyne Valley and through Kalpower Forest but perhaps because of the risk of traffic on these quite narrow roads, the route was changed at the last moment to run straight down the Bruce Highway to the Kalpower Road where crew ducked into the start of a trial stage at Gaeta. Although the route was slightly longer, because it mostly used the Bruce Highway, the time was reduced by 15 minutes. This looked like a leisurely run until the new route chart turned out to be 10 km short and crews had to make a make dash for the end! Dunkerton was delayed and dropped 2 minutes and fell behind Portman, Nalder and Carr on the road. Watson dropped 4 minutes and Jackson 31 minutes. About 29 cars were on time but 27 cars lost under 10 minutes, whereas a further 20 or so cars lost more time, suggesting that they were bamboozled by the error in the route chart and unable to pull out the map and check where they were! Several cars that did the Rocky special skipped the next trial stage altogether and headed directly to Maryborough, Brisbane or beyond.

Q9 – Wonbah Drag Trial Stage

32.5 km in 25m First Car ETA 9:52 am Thursday (Map)

This fairly straightforward run down the road from Gaeta to Wonbah was through undulating grazing country on a reasonable quality road. Other than a gate to be opened, the only real excitement was an old wooden grid near the end that had a rung out of place so cars had to crash through the gaping hole. Carr continued to fly and passed the Nalder Celica at the gate.

77 cars completed the stage. Fastest times:

Carr clean
Portman 1
Dunkerton, Mehta 2
Brock, Barth, Fury, Colless 3
Nalder 4
Rowney, Ferguson, Loader, Miettunen 5
Johnson, Clyborne, Roberts, Tholstrup, Beveridge 6
Herrmann, Davis, Lockhart, Neilson, Hurrey, Stockley, Koseki, Boaden, Potter, Glover 7
Giddings, Boys, Kahler, Bird, Faulkner 8
Jackson, Lance, Ingerson, Cafe, Gough, Mizel, Travis, Finlay 9
Watson, Spanbroek, Roggenkamp, Koch, Penny, McCubbin 10

Q10 – Maryborough Transport Stage

156.1 km in 1h50m First Car ETA11:42 am Thursday

It was unclear why the transport to Brisbane was broken into two but there was a control in Maryborough, perhaps to allow the scores to be tallied and passed through to Brisbane before the arrival of the cars. It was 156 km from Wonbah to Maryborough down the Bruce Highway (this was before the building of the Maryborough bypass).

Portman had some problem coming out of the competitive and was towed into Gin Gin – perhaps he had run out of fuel because he did not lose time, although he did drop back on the road several places. The first car was at the Maryborough control before midday but after checking in crews were able to continue on the transport to Brisbane.

It was probably on this part of the Bruce Highway that the Parsons Mazda 323 rolled and retired. Hilton reportedly stopped to assist and was probably out of late running time anyway.

A few cars lost time in Maryborough but many also booked in early to regain late time, including Mizel and Jackson.

Q11 – Bananaland Transport Transport

260 km in 3h50m First Car ETA 3:32 pm Thursday, depart 4:30 pm

With the extra time being allowed out early from Maryborough, the time for the run to Brisbane was adequate, even though the stated distance was a bit short and the last 12 km was in quite heavy Thursday afternoon traffic. In fact some later cars that wanted to regain late time were able to book in up to an hour early (they must have been speeding!).

The first car arrived at the Brookside Shopping Centre in Brisbane’s north-west suburbs at around 3.30 pm for a hold which would finally see the event back on schedule. There was a huge crowd in attendance including quite a lot of media. The rally had reached “the big smoke”. The first car departed at about 4.30 pm but there was a good deal of mayhem at the control point and if you didn’t front up to be booked out you had a good chance of losing road position. This happened to Carr who fell behind Nalder, Dunkerton and Portman on the road.

The placing in Brisbane had not changed much since Rockhampton except that Hilton had dropped from the list, perhaps retired but certainly out of late time:

Brock/Philip/Richards(Commodore) 2.31.03
Ferguson/Bell/Boddy (Commodore) 2.43.27
Mehta/Aaltonen/Lake (Commodore) 4.06.02
Dunkerton/McKay/Jones (Volvo 244) 7.54.24
Nalder/Richards/Boyd (Celica) 8.36.19
Carr/Morrow/Gocentas (Cortina) 8.43.25
Barth/Kushmaul (Porsche 924) 9.19.57
Portman/Thompson/Hammond (Stanza) 10.14.44
Loader/Hill/Neale (Lancer) 10.51.53
Herrmann/Rainsford (Porsche 911) 11.28.30
Davis/Eather/Toner (Datsun 180B) 11.41.39
Watson/Harrowfield (Peugeot 504 Diesel) 13.05.00
Mizel/Hall/Fricker/Mortimer (Chevy Blazer) 21.12.28
Jackson/West/Jackson (Commodore) 26.57.02

Brisbane to Sydney

The overnight run from Brisbane to Port Macquarie and then transporting to Sydney was certainly no doddle with three very demanding stages set in the country made famous by the Southern Cross Rally. The final stage before Port Macquarie caught out a number of crews including Brock, who nearly lost the event, and Portman, who rolled off the road yet again, pretty much putting an end to his event.

Q12 – Wobbly Transport

80.3 km in 1h30m First Car ETA 6:00 pm Thursday

With the first car leaving Brookside Shopping Centre at 4.30 pm on a Thursday afternoon, traffic would be a major challenge as crews had to traverse Brisbane and head down towards the Gold Coast for a special stage in the Gaven Stage Forest behind Nerang. This was before the multi-lane Pacific Motorway to the Gold Coast had been built! Fortunately the time allowed was adequate and later cars that missed the peak hour traffic were even able to book in quite early if they wanted to regain late time. Despite an apparent 1 km error in the route chart just near the end, pretty much everyone was on time except for Mizel (18 minutes late) and Jackson (21 minutes late).

Q13 – Brisbane (Gaven) Special Stage

11.8 km in 9m First Car ETA 6:09 pm Thursday (Map)

Whilst ultimately pointless in the overall scheme of things, this was a nice little stage, winding through some tight forest roads in the Gaven pine plantation. With quite a few junctions and ending on a short stretch of bitumen in a new housing estate, both drivers and navigators were kept busy. The first car started the stage just after dusk. There were some excellent views of the lights of the Gold Coast for those crew members not watching the road! The stage no longer exists as it has been developed into the Pacific Pines housing estate.

The road order at the front was Brock, Ferguson, Mehta, Nalder, Dunkerton, Portman, Carr. Carr was notably slower, as was Fury, and it may have been because of hanging dust. The results show Portman dropped 22 minutes, which suggests he had a problem, but in reality it must be a typo in the results as he did not lose road position. Watson was also very slow, dropping over 13 minutes.

The results record 75 cars as having completed the stage. Fastest times:

Portman 2.03 – maybe!
Ferguson (Bell) 2.36
Brock 2.42
Mehta 3.14
Colless 3.31
Dunkerton 3.32
Johnson 3.36
Nalder 3.45
Carr 4.01
Loader, Rowney 4.05
Fury 4.06
Davis 4.10
Barth 4.16
Miettunen 4.32
Herrmann 4.38
Giddings 4.42
Jackson 5.00
Beveridge 5.14
Faulkner 5.26
Roberts 5.37
Hurrey 5.42
Jensen, Clarke 5.44
Foden 5.48
Minett 5.58
Lockhart 6.00

Q14 – Border Transport

208.3 km in 3h10m First Car ETA 9:19 pm Thursday

Crews initially headed into the Gold Coast, joining the Gold Coast Highway at Broadbeach and continuing south for a refuel at Palm Beach where there was a big crowd of perhaps 5000 people making it difficult to actually get fuel! There continued to be lots of people spectating in all the towns through which the rally passed, including Murwillumbah, Lismore and Casino. It was a mild night and still dry so dust could be a problem on the subsequent stages. The first of these started near Ellengowan, about 20 km south of Casino at about 9.30 pm after a fairly comfortable transport.

Most crews were on time or booking in early to regain late time, the earliest being Jensen at 33 minutes early. On the other hand, McCubbin, Roggenkamp, Boys, Donoghue and Tholstrup all had problems and were between 50 minutes and an hour late. At the front, somehow Portman was ahead of Dunkerton on the road although neither had lost time on the transport.

Q15 – Tick Gate Trial Stage

56.4 km in 43m First Car ETA 10:02 pm Thursday (Map)

This trial stage meandered around the Bungawalbin and Glencoe (now Doubleduke) State Forests, passing through a number of gates near Gibberagee. The roads were mostly fast gravel or hard packed earth until near the end where it became a bit tighter, but the stage was always going to be cleanable at the 80 km/h average set. Dust was a problem but as all the leaders were early it didn’t really matter. Apparently Brock, being first on the road, hit a kangaroo.

The results show 65 cars completed the stage and 18 cars cleaned. The majority of other cars lost 12 minutes or less. Lahiff had a problem, dropping 46 minutes, while McArthur, O’Shanesy and Nicholson skipped to the end of the stage, taking a maximum 4 hour penalty for the wrong direction.

Fastest times:

Brock, Ferguson, Mehta, Dunkerton, Nalder, Portman, Barth, Herrmann, Carr, Fury, Davis, Loader, Faulkner, Colless, Stockley, Johnson, McCubbin, Boys clean
Boaden, Carter 1
Jackson, Neilson, Beveridge, Roberts, Lance 2
Kahler, Bird, Goldsborough, Giddings 3
Miettunen, Hurrey, Meehan, Jensen, Tholstrup, Watson, Rowney 4
Lockhart, Glover, Herdy, Penny, Koseki, Ingerson, Farmer, Travis 5
Minett 6

Q16 – Grafton Service Transport

98.7 km in 1h20m First Car ETA 11:22 pm Thursday

It was 59 km down to Grafton along the Summerland Way to a crowded refuel on the Pacific Highway at South Grafton where the first car arrived just before 11 pm on Thursday night. Not much time was allowed here for servicing with a further 40 km after the refuel down the somewhat twisty Kangaroo Creek Road to east of Nymboida.

A number of crews didn’t realise how tight the stage was and dropped time, including the Mehta Commodore which dropped 2 minutes and fell behind the Nalder Celica on the road. Ferguson and Portman were each 3 minutes late but each held road position ahead of Nalder and behind Mehta respectively. After Portman came Dunkerton and Carr. Loader was 4 minutes late, Watson 5 minutes late and Mizel 9 minutes late. Others were clearly having problems with quite a few cars up to half an hour late while Roberts dropped over and hour and the Moloney P76 shows a 4 hour maximum penalty after which they started to skip controls through to Port Macquarie.

Q17 – Black Mountain Trial Stage

76.2 km in 1h00m First Car ETA 12:22 am Friday

This trial stage through to Dorrigo used roads that had been used previously in the Southern Cross Rally. Interestingly, the middle part of the stage used much of the Shipmans Special Stage used in the modern Rally Australia and the last part used all of the Brooklana Special Stage, noted as the stage where Sebastian Loeb rolled the Citroen in 2011. These are all fabulous mountain roads and with some dampness around, dust was much less of a problem than it had been earlier in the night. The early part of the stage is a narrow mountain track, somewhat rough and steep in places, the middle section quite fast and treacherous with many blind crests, and the main Dorrigo road is tight and twisty, but an excellent gravel surface.

Carr and Portman were both flying and Portman caught and passed Mehta who had brake problems (boiled the fluid!), while Carr caught and passed Dunkerton. Nalder punctured allowing both Portman, then Mehta to pass in quick succession. Brock and Ferguson were taking it carefully but maintained their positions on the road.

The results showed 64 cars completing the stage with most times between 17 and 30 minutes late. Fury dropped 2 hours as a result of an off soon after the start which Bonhomme admitted was his fault for not correctly calling the caution due to the start control being a bit further down the road! Sheridan dropped over 2 hours and then skipped to Sydney. Clarke apparently became lost in the 180B after their Halda failed.

All the times:

Carr, Portman 5
Mehta 7
Brock 9
Dunkerton 10
Ferguson 11
Herrmann 12
Johnson, Kahler, Colless, Boys and Lance 17
Rowney, Loader, Nalder 18
Jackson, Goldsborough 19
Roberts, Davis 20
Glover, Faulkner 22
Jensen, Lockhart, Lloyd, Giddings, Stockley, Finlay, Gough, Bveridge, Barth 23
O’Donnell, Cafe 24
Bird, Rayner 25
Farmer, Donoghue, Murray 27
Watson, Mizel, Minett, Birrell, Roggenkamp 28
Meehan, Lahiff 29
Travis 30
Foden 31
Koseki 32
Boaden 33
Walker 37
Wilson, Heaton 41
Herdy 44
Ingerson, Tattingham 45
Miettunen 49
Hurrey 51
McCubbin 55
Tholstrup 1.00
Fullagher 1.03
Clarke 1.56
Fury 1.59
Sheridan 2.28

Q18 – Dorrigo Drive Transport

34.9 km in 30m First Car ETA 12:52 am Friday

The first cars passed quietly through sleepy Dorrigo before 1 am and continued down the main Bellingen Road to the start of the next trial stage at the famous Horseshoe Forest Road which the first car would start soon after 1 am (Brock was by now running about 15 minutes behind schedule).

The 30 minutes allowed for the 35 minutes was tight but adequate, but plenty of crews dropped a few minutes including Davis and Mizel (1 minute each), Loader (2 minutes), Dunkerton (3 minutes) and Jackson (4 minutes). The Barth Porsche dropped 26 minutes with a mechanical problem. The road order going into the next long trial stage was Brock with then probably a four minute gap to Ferguson, another good gap to Portman, then Mehta, Nalder, Carr and Dunkerton. Fred Gocentas conned the control official into getting an extra 5 minute gap to the Nalder Celica although the night was now cool and damp so that dust was not a problem.

Q19 – Courage Trial Stage

86.3 km in 1h10m First Car ETA 2:02 am Friday (Map)

The name suggested that drivers might need courage on this stage, which seemed a bit out of proportion given the places that the event had been over the preceding 11 days. It was perhaps referring to the descent on Koseki Road, known locally as “Jacob’s Ladder” and used previously on the Southern Cross Rally. The instructions included a Kilfoylian cryptic note suggesting that “Jabob was presumably a fit fellow!”

Nonetheless, the stage was predominantly on superb mountain roads, including almost the full length of Horseshoe Forest Road, then at 54 km a turn hard right onto Mackays Road, at 60 km down Koseki Road and then along Targamindi Road out to the finish near Taylors Arm.

Other than the aforementioned steep descent, the other hazard was a logging truck parked more or less in the middle of Horseshoe Forest Road and crews had to carefully negotiate a way around it (crews were warned about it at the start). Apparently Harry Jensen dropped a wheel off the edge there and rolled the Volvo down the hill, ending his rally.

The Jacobs Ladder descent required care, yet Jurgen Barth in the leading two-crew entry, rolled the Porsche 924 on the descent and subsequently lost 1 hour and 28 minutes extricating themselves. Some reports suggested Barth had broken his wrist in which case it was remarkable that they were able to continue to the finish of the event.

Portman, Carr and Mehta (probably Aaltonen driving) were flying but with the gaps they had they did not have to pass anyone. Brock had eased off and Ferguson must have almost caught them, picking up 4 minutes, but the 05 Commodore still had an overall lead of about 15 minutes over Ferguson/Bell/Boddy. Watson was slow in the underpowered Peugeot, dropping 34 minutes while Fury must have been struggling with the Cortina, dropping 40 minutes. Davis also had a problem dropping 52 minutes, while Mizel dropped 55.

Only 47 cars completed the stage. Clarke, Foden and O’Shanesy went to the end of the stage and took a wrong direction while the others skipped directly to Port Macquarie, although a couple picked up the control at the end of the Collombatti Special Stage on the way.

All the times:

Portman 9
Carr and Mehta 10
Dunkerton, Nalder (Richards) 16
Ferguson 17
Herrmann, Loader, Jackson 18
Brock 21
Glover, Lockhart 24
Rowney, Stockley 26
Tholstrup 28
Meehan, McCubbin, Colless, Giddings, Bird 29
Faulkner 30
Lloyd, Lance 31
Roberts, Minett 32
Birrell, Cafe 33
Watson, Penny, Kahler 34
Koseki, Finlay 35
Boaden 39
Fury, Hurrey 40
Roggenkamp 42
Herdy 43
Johnson 45
O’Donnell 47
Goldsborough, Miettunen, Travis 48
Davis 51
Wilson 55
Mizel 57
Beveridge 1.02
Barth 1.28

Q20 – Taylors Respite Transport

16.0 km in 15m First Car ETA 2:17 am Friday

The short transport from Taylors Arm was quite tight because of the twisty gravel road to the south of Taylors Arm. Several crews lost a few minutes on the transport, including Brock who lost 4 but held first on the road. Brock may have had a car problem that had slowed him on the previous long trial stage, and may have needed extra time on the transport to attend to the problem. Portman dropped 3 and may have fallen behind Mehta on the road. Others to drop time were Loader and Watson (1 minute each), Herrmann (2 minutes), Davis (5 minutes) and Barth, still recovering from their roll (9 minutes). Mizel must have had problems to drop 31 minutes.

Brock would start the Collombatti Special Stage at just before 3 am. Nalder knew that Carr was well in front and let him go first into the Special Stage, so the road order was probably Brock, Ferguson, Mehta, Portman, Carr, Nalder, Dunkerton, spread across about 25 minutes.

Q21 – Collombatti Special Stage

34.0 km in 27m First Car ETA 2:44 am Friday (Map)

This special stage took a fairly direct route through the Collombatti Forest, extensively used by the Southern Cross Rally, finishing along Range Road. The route included a notoriously tricky corner on Western Range Road where George Fury had rolled the Datsun 710 in the 1977 Southern Cross Rally. Brock was caught out by this corner but managed to only slide the front wheels off the edge. The Commodore was not damaged but needed to be winched backwards. Noel Richards put out a warning triangle while Matt Phillip and Brock got the winch organised. Unfortunately the winch line had to be across the road but it would only take a handful of minutes to get the car back onto the road. By the time Ferguson arrived they would have been nearly out anyway, but Ferguson could not pass until the winch was disconnected. No-one else caught the two cars. It cost Brock about 8 minutes, Ferguson about 3 or 4 minutes, so Brock still held the lead by about 6 minutes. Mehta may have also arrived and been slightly delayed, as their time was a bit slow.

When Portman arrived, obviously pushing hard, he got out of shape and rolled the Stanza so far off the road that neither Carr nor Nalder saw it! Portman claimed that the warning triangle left by the Commodores had distracted him. Amazingly, Portman got the car out in about 15 minutes, probably before Dunkerton arrived. Further back, Fury, Barth, Rowney and Watson were all distinctively slow.

The results show 48 cars completed the special stage (Foden rejoined having not completed the previous trial stage). All the times:

Carr 2.15
Johnson 4.45
Nalder 5.19
Jackson 5.26
Stockley 5.37
Mehta 5.45
Herrmann 5.53
Dunkerton 6.17
Colless, Tholstrup 6.35
Roberts 7.18
Loader 7.28
Lockhart 7.35
Goldsborough 7.42
Hurrey 7.47
Faulkner 7.48
Ferguson 7.53
Boaden 7.54
Miettunen 8.10
Davis 8.12
Meehan 8.17
Birrell 8.18
Foden 8.31
Beveridge 8.31
O’Donnell 8.57
Lloyd 9.17
Koseki 9.24
Minett 9.37
McCubbin 9.52
Travis 10.00
Bird 10.06
Kahler 10.27
Clarke 10.35
Brock 11.12
Lance 11.14
Fury 13.35
Finlay 14.15
Wilson 14.47
Barth 15.18
Clyborne 16.20
Penny 16.25
Herdy 18.07
Mizel 18.10
Portman 18.45
O’Shanesy 22.24
Rowney 35.20
Cafe 37.49
Watson 38.17

Q22 – Relief Transport

64.7 km in 55m First Car ETA 3:39 am Friday

This transport took crews out to the Pacific Highway then through Kempsey and into Port Macquarie for a refuel and breakfast. The first car would have arrived at about 4.30 am (Brock was by now about 50 minutes behind schedule). The reason for a control was again, like Maryborough before Brisbane, to allow scores to be tallied and communicated to Sydney before the field arrived there. Portman lost a further 8 minutes as he carried out makeshift repairs on the battered Stanza.

Q23 – Pacific Transport

421.3 km in 6h00m First Car ETA 9:39 am Friday

While 6 hours was allowed for the long transport to the Sydney Showgrounds, a meander through Newcastle traffic to Charlestown Shopping Centre for a “publicity” stop, together with mixing it with Sydney’s morning peak hour traffic, would ensure that this transport was quite tight. Back in 1979 there was also no motorway bypass around places like the Bulahdelah bends and the towns of Taree and Raymond Terrace. Indeed many crews would have been late just as a result of the “normal” traffic jam trying to get onto the Harbour Bridge (this was pre-tunnel) and then through Darlinghurst (this was pre-Eastern Distributor). Interestingly, the bridge toll was then 20 cents while there was a 60 cent toll coming off the Newcastle motorway at Hornsby! Many crews would be late but no penalties were recorded. The first car would have arrived at the Sydney Showgrounds about 10.30 am on Friday morning. Even the leading crews only had about a 6 hour rest break in Sydney.

Division Results

Fourteen cars had done the entire route to Sydney, with Hilton dropping out. Scores at Sydney are shown below with only Portman to drop from this group before the finish.

Brock/Philip/Richards(Commodore) 3.18.57
Ferguson/Bell/Boddy (Commodore) 3.24.56
Mehta/Aaltonen/Lake (Commodore) 4.34.01
Dunkerton/McKay/Jones (Volvo 244) 8.33.13
Carr/Morrow/Gocentas (Cortina) 9.04.41
Nalder/Richards/Boyd (Celica) 9.19.23
Portman/Thompson/Hammond (Stanza) 11.23.32
Loader/Hill/Neale (Lancer) 11.46.26
Barth/Kushmaul (Porsche 924) 12.05.31
Herrmann/Rainsford (Porsche 911) 12.11.01
Davis/Eather/Toner (Datsun 180B) 13.11.01
Watson/Harrowfield (Peugeot 504 Diesel) 15.09.01
Mizel/Hall/Fricker/Mortimer (Chevy Blazer) 24.28.07
Jackson/West/Jackson (Commodore) 27.53.28

It is worth mentioning that these scores are rather different from the ones that were available at Sydney during the event, which sadly were so full of errors as to be almost fictional, making it very difficult for some crews to know whether to push hard or not on the final division.

In particular, there was a 29 minute error at Sydney in Dunkerton’s score on this division which persisted into the final published results but the arithmetic error is easy to see. The 29 minutes would not have made the difference between fourth and fifth at the end and even if the error had been known in Sydney it is unlikely that Carr could have gained a further 18 minutes on Dunkerton over the last division.

On the other hand, the results at Sydney had shown Barth 14 minutes behind Herrmann as a result of the 20 minute error in Barth’s score into Perth. This arguably caused Barth to back off on the final division, thinking that it was impossible to catch the other Porsche. Herrmann was shown as being just 4 minutes behind Loader, which caused Herrmann to push and in fact by Melbourne Herrmann thought he had overtaken the Lancer but a recount showed that he hadn’t!

The results show 40 cars visited all controls on Division Q. Scores were as follows, bearing in mind that with a late time limit of only 5 hours, scores over that must include penalties for booking in early or for entering controls from the wrong direction. Given that Rowney, Jackson and Hurrey were never recorded as booking in early, one wonders whether they had in fact exceeded their late time!

Carr/Morrow/Gocentas (Cortina) 26.00
Mehta/Aaltonen/Lake (Commodore) 43.23
Dunkerton/McKay/Jones (Volvo 244) 59.05 (Results show 30.05)
Brock/Philip/Richards(Commodore) 1.02.51
Nalder/Richards/Boyd (Celica) 1.03.21
Ferguson/Bell/Boddy (Commodore) 1.09.17
Portman/Thompson/Hammond (Stanza) 1.22.37
Herrmann/Rainsford (Porsche 911) 1.27.21
Loader/Hill/Neale (Lancer) 1.44.58 (results show 1.31.53)
Colless/Johnston/McCoy (Datsun 1600) 1.51.29
Davis/Eather/Toner (Datsun 180B) 2.21.44
Faulkner/de Vaus/Bateson (Peugeot 504) 2.25.32
Koseki/Takaoka (Subaru Leone) 2.46.38
Boaden/Pritchard/Atkin (Mazda RX4) 2.48.18 (Results show 3.47.18)
Lockhart/Dunstan/Finlayson (Commodore) 2.50.42
Watson/Harrowfield (Peugeot 504 Diesel) 3.02.38
Barth/Kushmaul (Porsche 924) 3.06.24
Bird/McKinnon (Corolla) 3.17.25
Johnson/Vanderbyl (Volvo 242) 3.20.20
Fury/Bonhomme/Suffern (Cortina) 3.23.17
Birrell/Smith/Nixon (Renault 16TS) 4.10.59
Roberts/Waterson/Carrol (Commodore) 4.16.32 (Results show 2.51.21)
Goldsborough/Flanagan/Ground (Commodore) 4.25.49
Lloyd/Crockenberg/Dick (Colt) 4.25.57
Cafe/Gurney/Dawson (Mazda RX4) 4.34.46
Minett/Chapple/Watson (Datsun 1600) 4.37.46
Finlay/Sullivan/McLeod (Commodore) 4.41.13
McDiarmid/Phegan/Travis (Datsun 180B SSS) 4.43.09 (Results show 4.50.09)
Beveridge/Heaney/Jarman (Volvo 244) 4.45.53
Jackson/West/Jackson (Commodore) 5.07.50 (Missing score from stage Q4)
Rowney/Wilson/Tyson (Datsun 180B) 5.11.05
Hurrey/Geddes (Celica) 5.20.08
O’Donnell/Geissler/Gibson (LX Torana) 5.26.52
Mizel/Hall/Fricker/Mortimer (Chevy Blazer) 5.30.29
McCubbin/Kelly/Guyatt (Monaro GTS) 5.43.01
Penny/Kennard/Brown (LH Torana) 6.39.01
Kahler/Partridge/Simeon (Mazda RX4) 7.22.29
Miettunen/Morgan/Suominen (Volvo 244) 8.53.32 (Results show 9.52.32)
Clarke/Davis/Burge (Datsun 180B) 9.15.35 (missed Stage Q19)
Herdy/O’Kane/Gramenz (Peugeot 504) 11.54.17 (missed Stage Q5)

It seems likely that Turner/Donohue/Sparrow (Leyland P76) also completed the division without missing a control but they do not appear in the results. By calculating the missing time from their final results, they must have dropped a bit more than 10 hours on the division.

There were 93 cars classified as still in the event at Sydney including Myers/Myers/Sinfield (Peugeot 504) and Turner/Donohue/Sparrow (Leyland P76) who were missing from the Division Q results, plus Carter/Stephens/Draper (XC Falcon) running under protest (they had missed 12 controls on Division Q). The 79 cars that had missed controls were as follows:

Missed 1 control:
Rowney/Wilson/Tyson (Datsun 180B)
Roberts/Waterson/Carrol (Commodore)
Missed 3 controls:
Clarke/Davis/Burge (Datsun 180B)
Finlay/Sullivan/McLeod (Commodore)
Missed 5 controls:
Miettunen/Morgan/Suominen (Volvo 244)
Beveridge/Heaney/Jarman (Volvo 244)
Hurrey/Geddes (Celica)
Missed 6 controls:
Jensen/Johnson/Wellington (Volvo 242)
Missed 7 controls:
McCubbin/Kelly/Guyatt (Monaro GTS)
Missed 8 controls:
Faulkner/de Vaus/Bateson (Peugeot 504)
Missed 9 controls:
Fury/Bonhomme/Suffern (Cortina)
Missed 10 controls:
Birrell/Smith/Nixon (Renault 16TS)
Giddings/Jones/Seaman (Datsun 200B)
McDiarmid/Phegan/Travis (Datsun 180B SSS)
Missed 11 controls:
Murray/D’Albora/Murray (Commodore)
O’Donnell/Geissler/Gibson (LX Torana)
Missed 12 controls:
Johnson/Vanderbyl (Volvo 242)
Missed 13 controls:
Lloyd/Crockenberg/Dick (Colt)
Missed 16 controls:
Goldsborough/Flanagan/Ground (Commodore)
Missed 17 controls:
Penny/Kennard/Brown (LH Torana)
Lockhart/Dunstan/Finlayson (Commodore)
Missed 18 controls:
Koseki/Takaoka (Subaru Leone)
Sheridan/Reid (Datsun 1600)
Missed 20 controls:
Moloney/Vitnel/Daley (Leyland P76)
Tattingham/Geue/Kemp (EH Holden)
Missed 21 controls:
Lahiff/Beath/Clarke (HR Holden)
Lance/Craft/Robinson (Commodore)
Missed 22 controls:
Wilson/Baker/Freeze (Mercedes 280S)
Boys/Vonthien (Ford F100)
Missed 24 controls:
Foden/Baker/Young (Leyland P76)
Turner/Donohue/Sparrow (Leyland P76)
Missed 25 controls:
Nicholson/Crawford (Lancer)
Herdy/O’Kane/Gramenz (Peugeot 504)
Missed 27 controls:
Kahler/Partridge/Simeon (Mazda RX4)
Farmer/Farmer/Fraser (Leyland P76)
Missed 31 controls:
Minett/Chapple/Watson (Datsun 1600)
Missed 32 controls:
Ingerson/Wilson/MacCulloch (Peugeot 404)
Heaton/Shepherd/Mann (HJ Holden Panel Van)
Missed 33 controls:
Boaden/Pritchard/Atkin (Mazda RX4)
Stockley/O’Neill (Porsche 911E)
Richardson/Daniel/Fullerton (XD Falcon)
Missed 34 controls:
Meehan/Gifford/Gardiner (Monaro GTS)
Walker/McCann (Renault 12)
Missed 36 controls:
O’Shanesy/Dean/O’Shanesy (Fiat 131)
Colless/Johnston/McCoy (Datsun 1600)
Missed 39 controls:
Taylor/Hunt (Rover 3500)
Potter/Bain (Mazda RX3)
Caudle/Drew/Elsden (Datsun 1600)
Missed 40 controls:
Roggenkamp/Adair/Eakin (Escort)
Missed 41 controls:
Neilson/Stewart/Tyre (HQ Holden)
Missed 43 controls:
Clyborne/Hayes (Ford Pickup)
Myers/Myers/Sinfield (Peugeot 504)
Missed 45 controls:
Hayden/Phillis/Hogan (Mazda RX2)
Gough/Hutton/Bishop (LJ Torana)
Missed 46 controls:
Easton/Rayner/Bell (Datson 1600)
Missed 47 controls:
Glover/Burke/Hather (VW)
Rayner/Campbell/Loader (HT Holden)
Missed 51 controls:
Tholstrup/Perry (Chevvy Pickup)
Koch/Darling/Koch (Commodore)
Donoghue/Logan/Grace (Celica)
Missed 52 controls:
Bolch/Keane/Owen (Monaro HJ GTS)
Bray/McMahon/Smith (Valiant Charger 770)
Missed 55 controls:
Jones/Jones/Webber (Riley)
Lunney/Tyler/Tyler (Peugeot 504)
Missed 56 controls:
Bird/McKinnon (Corolla)
Missed 58 controls:
Darby/Clark/Stewart (HR Holden)
Missed 59 controls:
Cafe/Gurney/Dawson (Mazda RX4)
Missed 60 controls:
Garner/Madden/Corban (Torana)
Missed 62 controls:
McArthur/McArthur/McArthur (XY Falcon)
Missed 66 controls:
Spanbroek/Compton/Plywright (Datsun 240K)
Moore/Sethna (VW Beetle)
Fullagher/Fullagher/Fullagher/Fullagher (Monaro GTS)
Missed 67 controls:
Ferrier/Smith (Honda Civic)
Missed 73 controls:
Reinders/Lewis (FJ Holden)
Missed 76 controls:
Hall/Smith/Lott (Escort)
Webster/Jolly/McIntyre (FJ Holden)
Sparkes/Clayton (Ford Fairmont)
Missed 86 controls:
McTigue/Sheridan/Wilson (HQ Holden Panel Van)
Missed 90 controls:
Bryson/Cable-Cumming (Escort)

Retirements on Division Q were as follows, including Jensen who was classified at Sydney but did not start Division N:

Caddey/Mulach/Hanrahan (Fairmont) – retired after Townsville, no details
Parsons/Parsons (Mazda 323) – rolled near Bundaberg
Hilton/Bourke/Pattenden (Celica) – rear suspension, lost wheel and brakes, near Sarina
Jensen/Johnson/Wellington (Volvo 242) – rolled on Horseshoe Forest Road

Next: Division N

Back to the 1979 Repco Reliability Trial