1979 Southern Cross Rally Event Story

Day One

After transporting to Amaroo, the competition began with a 4 km special at the raceway. Waldegaard set the pace but was only a second quicker than Bond with Carr a further second behind. It was a slim advantage but the Escorts clearly had the edge on the three Datsuns who came next, then Monster Tajima and Wayne Bell. The stage was noted for the giant yump and it was Dunkerton who won the prize for the longest jump – 72 feet and 12 feet in the air! Arthur Jackson’s Gemini sadly retired on the stage with a blown oil filter and run engine bearings. Peter Nelson placed third on the jump length but damaged the nose of the Lancer and dropping them a few places on the road. Mecak also bent the rear suspension of their RX2 and lost 40 minutes changing it from one scrounged from a spectator’s car!

Three short daylight stages were tackled on the long run northwards through Newcastle, including the traditional run up Mount Sugarloaf. Waldegaard was flying and won two of these with Carr just beating him on the third by a second.

On the first night stage through Craven-Myall Forest Carr had an off and bent the front suspension leading to a puncture, but then they got a second puncture and only had one spare. They pressed on 15 km to the end of stage with nothing left of the flat tyre and much of the rim missing also! They also had an irate Dunkerton close behind in their dust. Carr’s suspension was changed at the Bulahdelah service but on the next stage he broke an axle, then another and was stranded. Eventually he was recovered by the service crew but out of late time. Nelson, caught in Suzuki’s dust, ran off a corner and lost 25 minutes winching back onto the road. The Griffiths/Francis Honda also retired early with alternator problems. They continued to have brake problem and later blew an oil ring but would make it to Port Macquarie.

Two more stages took crews to the Taree refuel and Waldegaard was well in charge setting consistent fastest times. Only Dunkerton managed to beat him by 9 seconds on one stage. Bell had been consistently setting top 5 times in the Gemini but his run came to an end with the centre torn out of the clutch plate.

Two more stages took crews to Port Macquarie. On the 95 km run through Kerewong Bond’s Escort broke part of the locker diff and limped out on only one axle, dropping him to 15th. The service crew would change the whole rear end on the Escort on the liaison out of Port Macquarie at the start of Day 2. They did it in a little more than 16 minutes and only cost Bond 5 minutes on the section.

So at Port Macquarie the first 20 placings were:

  1. Waldegaard 4:01:54
  2. Fury 4:09:59
  3. Aaltonen 4:10:55
  4. Dunkerton 4:12:36
  5. Johnson 4:35:20
  6. Neale 4:35:52
  7. Tajima 4:36:47
  8. Stewart 4:37:42
  9. Leven 4:39:34
  10. Clarke 4:40:55
  11. Blair 4:42:21
  12. Hilton 4:43:33
  13. Portman 4:44:38
  14. Meehan 4:45:39
  15. Bond 4:45:48
  16. Janson 4:46:42
  17. Marks 4:47:02
  18. Knowles 4:56:34
  19. Suzuki 5:58:10
  20. Cremen 5:01:02.

Of the fancied runners, Luc was struggling in the ex-Repco Celica which was not to his liking and was having trouble keeping tyres up to the car. Portman and Stewart were struggling in cars more suited to a round Australia than to the tight forest roads of the Cross. Previous Cross director, Dan White, limped into Port with mechanical problems but was still going. Ron Marks and Chris Heaney had problems with the drive to their Halda which cost some time. Full placings here.

Day Two

The second afternoon started with a quick dash around the Rosendahl Dam (it was originally to have been around the local racecourse) then two more serious stages through Middle Brother and Kiwarric before a meal break in Wingham. Waldergaard short cut the first stage when a directional barrier was missing so the times had to be deleted. Bond beat Waldegaard by 14 seconds on Middle Brother with Fury just 1 second slower. Bond was quickest again on Kiwarric, keen to make up for the lost time the previous night. Luc in the Celica retired at Wingham, sick of changing punctured tyres and surprised at the roughness of the event, which did not suit his driving style.

Once dark crews dashed along Black Flat Lane and then tackled the tortuous 74 km stage up to Dingo Tops. Waldegaard and Bond were setting the pace. The subsequent 38 km of to the Oxley Highway caused confusion where a new road had been bulldozed through and Waldegaard lost 15 minutes before realising the error. Fury picked it and went into first on the road. The Ford team protested at the end of the night and the stage was deleted. Sadly it was on this stage that Peter Nelson broke a rear spring on the Lancer and ran out of late time repairing it. After a brief service was the 26 km run through to Myrtle Scrub to another brief service, then the two more stages through to Elands. Somewhere in here Frank Neale hit an unseen rock and bent a stub axle on the Lancer. They had been gaining on Frank Johnson for fifth place. Unfortunately the steering was deranged and eventually the wheel bearing seized so they were forced to retire. Portman damaged a wheel on what seemed like the same rock and Hilton broke a half-shaft in the same spot.

Fury set the quickest time on the night’s final 97 stage through Kerewong but had only gained a little under 2 minutes on Waldegaard throughout the night. Bond was the big mover with three stage wins and consistent top five times for the division. Doug Stewart lost time on the last stage when they’d taken a wrong turn. Many crews had struggled through the night with dust and punctures. Brian Clark’s Golf had retired with a blown head gasket. Only 26 cars made it back to Port where the top 20 scores were as follows:

  1. Waldegaard 9:14:55
  2. Fury 9:21:08
  3. Dunkerton 9:23:47
  4. Aaltonen 9:27:54
  5. Bond 10:15:59
  6. Johnson 10:16:46
  7. Portman 10:18:46
  8. Leven 10:29:41
  9. Stewart 10:29:49
  10. Blair 10:32:23
  11. Meehan 10:33:09
  12. Hilton 10:40:25
  13. Clarke 10:48:04
  14. Tajima 10:54:58
  15. Marks 10:58:56
  16. Mecak 11:04:04
  17. Knowles 11:16:03
  18. Cremen 11:15:57
  19. Berne 11:24:42
  20. Suzuki 11:28:07.

Day Three

he 26 remaining cars headed out for the third division, which started with two short stages near town, the second being a longer version of the previous day’s stage at Rosendahl Dam. Again problems beset the organisation with the first stage being cancelled due to a timing error. Ron Marks dropped 37 minutes on the Dam stage with a broken tie rod. Two more daylight stages followed, the first 20 km through Ingalba Forest and the second a quick run up Williams Hills Road (used in the long modern WRC Nambucca stage) before a meal break at the Missabotti Community Hall. Waldegaard and Fury were only seconds apart but Dunkerton pipped them both on the second stage.

The night began with a 59 km run through Newry Forest. Waldegaard lost the lead to Fury when he dislodged a plank in a bridge and a nut came off the front sway bar. Fury’s team mates were not so lucky. Dunkerton hit the loose plank and bemt the rear axle assembly, which had to be replaced at the next service in Bellingen with a loss of 4 minutes on the transport. Aaltonen also struck the bridge, spun and hit a bank, also bending the rear axle. It also had to be changed in Bellingen but with Dunkerton in first, Aaltonen had to wait and eventually lost 36 minutes on the transport, dropping him back close to Bond.

A 25 km stage through Tuckers Knob and Pine Creek Forests preceded a refuel in Coffs. Waldegaard showed he meant business beating Fury by 16 seconds with Dunkerton 8 seconds further behind. Waldegaard continued to apply the pressure on the loop of two stages out of Coffs, the firs a 29 km run through Lower Bucca and the second a tortuous 102 km stage out towards Dorrigo. Portman struck problems in Lower Bucca and dropped 7 minutes to his main rivals, Stewart and Leven. On the long stage there was a sudden thunderstorm which turned some of the roads to mud but the leaders got through OK. Later cars struggled on a particularly steep and boggy hill. Stewart passed Johnson but then got bogged and Johnson re-passed him. Portman and Leven also lost a lot of time in the trying conditions. Meehan blew the diff in his Celica while. The Jean Jones/Joan Bennett Commodore ran out of late time as a result.

After the second visit to Coffs and a long transport down to Bellingen crews tackled the traditional Horseshoe Road section with a finish down Kosekai Road to Taylors Arm. Dunkerton set the quickest time over the 92 km stage with Waldegaard close behind. Fury seemed to be travelling a little slower and after the next and final stage through Tam Ban, Waldegaard had clawed back several minutes to move within two and half minutes of the leader.

Twenty-one cars returned to Port Macquarie. Scores were as follows:

  1. Fury 14:33:56
  2. Waldegaard 14:36:29
  3. Dunkerton 14:42:21
  4. Aaltonen 15:33:55
  5. Bond 15:41:51
  6. Johnson 16:38:07
  7. Stewart 16:45:18
  8. Leven 16:48:22
  9. Portman 16:51:33
  10. Tajima 16:56:59
  11. Mecak 17:24:50
  12. Blair 17:25:21
  13. Marks 17:35:16
  14. Cremen 17:52:54
  15. Knowles 17:59:54
  16. Suzuki 18:00:26
  17. Bramble 18:03:03
  18. Page 18:05:27
  19. Berne 18:06:29
  20. White 18:08:43
  21. Casey 18:38:29

Start list for Day 4.

Day Four

The scene was set for a great struggle between Fury and Waldegaard on the final division. Dunkerton had a good gap to Aaltonen and would be able to be a bit conservative, but Aaltonen was only 6 minutes ahead of Bond. However Bond’s Escort had electrical problems and had to be towed at from the impound to start it. The first stage, a reverse run through the Rosendahl Dam stage, had to be cancelled because of the wet weather but crews tackled two daylight forest stages, the 13 km run through Burrawan and the 16 km challenge including the infamous Rollover Road. Waldegaard set the quickest times but only took 5 seconds from Fury.

After a meal break in Wauchope crews headed northwards to a 70 km stage through the Bellengarra Forest. Waldegaard was flying and despite an offroad excursion through some undergrowth he picked up 50 seconds on Fury. Bond lost time when their Halda malfunctioned and they missed a turn, then after rejoining, were behind Portman who had gone off. They tried to tow him back on without success, and Portman then lost 30 minutes winching themselves back onto the road. Bond’s loss of time ruined any chance they had of catching Aaltonen.

After the Kempsey refuel came a 47 km run through Tam Ban, mostly a reverse of the previous night’s final stage. Fury punctured early in the stage and Waldegaard passed them, surely now in the lead. But it was not to be. Just a few kilometres further on the Escort’s diff broke and they were out. The rally was now Fury’s to lose, and Datsun were placed first, second and third.

A brief service at Taylors Arm preceded the tough 74 km run through Thumb Creek and Nulla Five Day Forests. Dan White’s rally came to an end with clutch failure on their Escort and another Escort of privateer, John Berne, left the road and couldn’t be winched back on the road within late time. Suzuki in the sole remaining Lancer broke an axle but made it to the service and scrounged one from a spectator car, managing to continue and finish the event. Effectively the event’s final stage was the mammoth 215 km stage from west of Kempsey through the Mount Boss and Kippara Forests, then retracing much of the nights first stage in reverse back to the stage finish on the Pacific Highway just north of Telegraph Point. Despite the tough stage the leaders came through unscathed and the placings did not change. Only Johnson really struggled with the front wheel of the RX3 sitting at a precarious angle as they reached the finish – welding around the engine bay had given way and they were going to put a piece of wood between the struts to hold them apart for the transport back to Port Macquarie. It’s not clear whether the final spectator stage was run but given the wet weather and the wide gaps in the scores, it probably was not. Seventeen cars had made it to the finish.

Back to the 1979 Southern Cross Rally page