1980 Southern Cross Rally Event Story

The story of the 1980 Southern Cross Rally is closely based on the article written by Max Stahl in the December 1980 edition of Racing Car News.

Day One

The competition began with two runs in opposite directions over a short stage at Amaroo Park, comprising the dirt circuit, bitumen hillclimb and motorcross track. Greg Carr took the initial lead by just one second from Vatanen. Portman was third ahead of Dunkerton, then Bell and Fury equal with the latter slipping off briefly into some sand. Peter Nelson’s Datsun hit a tree on the descent, breaking the steering and losing 35 minutes while Murray Cleworth’s Mini Clubman also went off dropping 9 minutes.

After the cancellation of the stages in the Newcastle Forestry District, the competition resumed at night in the Kiwarrak Forest just south of Taree. Vatanen was flying with the fastest time of 19:40 for the stage which was just over 30 km. Carr was 5 second slower, with Fury a further 6 seconds adrift. Portman and Bell were next, a few seconds over 20 minutes.

After the Taree service, Vatanen continued to dominate with a time of 14:59 through the 21 km Juhles Mountain stage. Portman was next on 15:06, Fury 15:07, Carr 15:11, Bell 15:12 and Dunkerton 15:15, just 16 seconds covering the top six. Another fancied driver was Bob Watson in a Golf, but he was 2 minutes slower than the leaders and not all that rapt with the front wheel drive car. Bob Holden’s Escort retired with rear end problems, Nakamoto’s Datsun Sunny with water pump failure, Terry Boardman’s Golf with stripped timing gear and Don Booker’s Lancer with a blown engine.

Next up was the night’s longest stage, 57 km through the Kerewong, Lorne and Bulls Ground Forests. Vatanen continued to dominate taking 39:07, 16 seconds faster than Portman with Dunkerton a further 20 second adrift. Fury and Bell were next while Carr took 42:57 and dropped to sixth after puncturing and then losing the brakes on the Escort after a stone hit a rear calliper.

The two short stages brought forward from Day 4 completed the night’s competition. Portman took 8:39 on the 12 km run through Cowarra, 2 seconds quicker than Vatanen, then Fury 8:47, Carr and Dunkerton equal on 8:49 and Bell on 8:58. Ian Hill on 9:40 was the best of the rest.

Vatanen had a mysterious sticking throttle on the night’s final stage through Queens Lake Forest. He ploughed into a tree, wiping out a headlight and sightly damaging the suspension but was able to complete the stage 29 seconds slower than Portman who was quickest on 9:02 over the 14 km. Bell’s great run also came to an end, dropping 25 minutes and falling to 26th outright when the engine died due to a broken ignition wire.

At the end of the division is was tight at the top with just over a minute and half covering Vatanen, Portman, Fury and Dunkerton, with Carr slightly further back. Ian Hill lead the rest but again, it was very tight with little more than 4 minutes covering down to twentieth. The top 20 at the end of Division 1 (with gaps to previous and first):

  1. Vatanen 1:36:38
  2. Portman 1:37:07 (+0:29)
  3. Fury 1:37:45 (+0:38/+1:07)
  4. Dunkerton 1:38:14 (+0:29/+1:36)
  5. Carr 1:40:38 (+2:24/+4:00)
  6. Hill 1:46:48 (+6:10/+10:10)
  7. Berne 1:47:17 (+0:29/+10:39)
  8. Mulligan 1:47:43 (+0:26/+11:05)
  9. Kahler 1:48:33 (+0:50/+11:55)
  10. Clark 1:48:58 (+0:25/+12:20)
  11. Johnson 1:49:05 (+0:07/+12:27)
  12. Blair 1:49:11 (+0:06/+12:33)
  13. White 1:49:16 (+0:05/+12:38)
  14. Rod Jones 1:49:19 (+0:03/+12:41)
  15. Leven 1:49:25 (+0:06/+12:47)
  16. Mecak 1:49:59 (+0:34/+13:21)
  17. Cremen 1:50:00 (+0:01/+13:22)
  18. Meehan 1:50:50 (+0:50/+14:12)
  19. Loader 1:50:51 (+0:01/+14:13)
  20. Marshall 1:51:10 (+0:19/+14:32)

Day Two

A handful of seconds separated all the front runners on the short 2 km dash around Rosendahl Dam just on the outskirts of Port Macquarie. Vatanen on 2:01 was 2 seconds quicker than Fury, then Carr on 2:04, Portman and Dunkerton equal on 2:06, Hill and Johnson on 2:11 and Mulligan on 2:13.

Next up was the reverse of the previous night’s final stage, 14 km through Queens Lake Forest. Carr was flying and won this stage by a second from Portman and then won the next stage through Middle Brother by 4 seconds from Portman. Fury was just off the pace, but Vatanen was slowed, initially with a noise in the rear end and then a seized strut. After the change of strut Vatanen recovered with the quickest time on the short Lansdowne stage and took a 9 second lead over Portman into the mealbreak at Taree. Fury held third 37 seconds back, then a minute to Dunkerton, with the flying Carr having closed the gap to the leader to under 3 minutes.

The second night started with a 34 km stage which used the first few kilometres of the final daylight stage then a run up Coopernook Forest Way, Big Nellie Road and a loop around to finish near the Waitui Waterfall. But even over 34 km the top five were separated by only 14 seconds, with Vatanen quickest on 25:17. Most others were under 29 minutes with Warren Ridge doing a great time of 28:32 to move into the top twenty.

The next 57 km stage through Kerewong, Lorne and Bull Ground Forests used a few sections of road from the previous night but was mostly different, finishing in Broken Bago Forest almost in Wauchope. Fury was fastest on 40:03 but only 2 seconds quicker than Portman with Vatanen a further 4 seconds behind. Dunkerton was a further 22 seconds adrift but Carr struck more problems with a failed fanbelt, losing 8 minutes to the leaders but still holding a distant fifth. Former Director, Dan White, put his Escort on its side in a table drain losing about 30 minutes.

A long transport westward preceded the night’s longest stage, the 114 km Bellangry which took crews generally north-east towards Kempsey, with an emergency service point about midway on Hasting Forest Highway. Vatanen’s alternator failed with a loss of 11 minutes, whereas Portman had a trouble free run to post a time of 84:56, a full minute quicker than both Fury and Carr. Dunkerton broke a rear shock and had two punctures to drop 6 minutes on the new leader, but held onto third. The stage took a heavy toll further down the field with a string of retirements. Bell succumbed to a broken axle, Mulligan (head gasket), Watson (broken rear end), Loader (head gasket) and Hunt (broken rear shock mount in the Volvo).

Two stages north of Kempsey remained for the night, 30 km north through Collombatti and a fast 33 km back through Tamban Forest. Vatanen won the first on 21:45 by 23 seconds from Portman with Carr and Fury on 22:09 and 22:10. Portman replied on the second with 22:41 by 3 seconds from Carr and a further 5 seconds back to Fury. Vatanen had a sway bar come loose, then due to the partly collapsed rear suspension, the exhaust was touching the floor. The carpet suddenly caught fire and the car filled with smoke. With Richards operating the fire extinguisher, Vatanen charged into the end control and the gasping pair leapt from the car. They had lost about 5 minutes and dropped just behind Carr into fifth.

The top five had been shuffled and the gaps increased, but the event was only halfway and anything could still happen with 13 minutes from first to fifth. Hill was comfortable in sixth but beyond that there were some close battles and some great performances. The two ex-Repco Round Australia Commodores of David Jones and Col Parry had performed well with Jones up to tenth and Parry up to twentieth. George Kahler fell from ninth to 33rd after a puncture which fractured a brake hose, which then lead to an off requiring an hour’s winching. The top 20 at the end of Division 2 (with gaps to previous and first):

  1. Portman 5:18:53
  2. Fury 5:20:24 (+1:31)
  3. Dunkerton 5:28:00 (+7:36/+9:07)
  4. Carr 5:31:31 (+3:31/+12:38)
  5. Vatanen 5:32:20 (+0:49/+13:27)
  6. Hill 5:48:41 (+16:21/+29:48)
  7. Berne 5:57:46 (+9:05/+38:53)
  8. Leven 6:01:08 (+3:22/+42:15)
  9. Johnson 6:03:17 (+2:09/+44:24)
  10. David Jones 6:04:22 (+1:05/+45:29)
  11. Rod Jones 6:04:41 (+0:19/+45:48)
  12. Mecak 6:07:02 (+2:21/+48:09)
  13. Clark 6:07:35 (+0:33/+48:42)
  14. Bramble 6:14:34 (+6:59/+55:41)
  15. Ridge 6:15:49 (+1:15/+56:56)
  16. Cremen 6:16:02 (+0:13/+57:09)
  17. Tajima 6:16:08 (+0:06/+57:15)
  18. Meehan 6:19:06 (+2:58/+60:13)
  19. Blair 6:22:11 (+3:05/+63:18)
  20. Parry 6:31:38 (+9:27/+72:45)

Day Three

Day three began with a repeat of the run around Rosendahl Dam but in the reverse direction. Portman was first on the road and did a time of 1:57. Fury was lining up when suddenly the tailshaft parted company with the universal. George Shepheard’s Gemini crew were quickly to the rescue, reassembling the universal and binding it up with race tape. Fury made it through the stage somewhat carefully with a time of 2:18, slower than much of the field, but would have time for proper repairs soon after. Dunkerton did 1:58, then Carr and Vatanen did equal best times of 1:56. Rod Jones also had tailshalft problems and dropped 16 minutes.

A long transport took crews well north of Kempsey with darkening skies and the threat of rain. Three more daylight forest stages were tackled before Coffs Harbour, including Newry, the longest at 27 km and with some commonality with the modern day WRC stages. Vatanen was on fire. On the short Yarrahapinni he beat Carr by 6 seconds and Portman by 8 seconds. On Newry Vatanen was an amazing 40 seconds quicker than Carr. Portman had an off and was slowest of the leading five. So at Coffs Portman’s lead over Fury was slender while only seconds separated Vatanen and Carr for fourth place.

As crews headed out onto the night stages the rain began to tumble down making conditions treacherous. On the first long 50 km stage through Wedding Bells, Portman, first on the road, ran wide on a fast left hander over a crest and clipped a log, taking out the radius arm. They effected repairs but more than 30 minutes were lost and the young Victorian’s chance of victory was gone. The lead fell to Fury who now had a comfortable buffer to the steady Dunkerton. Carr was fastest over the stage, putting in an inspired drive to try to take third. Gordon Leven lost 30 minutes when they ran out of fuel due to a wrongly replaced petrol cap. Navigator Rob Wilson ran 2 km to the spectator point to get some fuel.

The shorter Mt Coramba stage through Lower Bucca Forest took crews back to Coffs for another refuel and service. Carr was quickest again, confirming his third place, while others steadied.

South of Coffs, crews tackled the two short stages, Bundagen and Valery, the latter using parts of the WRC Hydes Creek stage. Carr went off backwards on Bundagen into a bank and stalled the car. It wouldn’t restart due to dirt in the exhaust but once cleared, they were away losing about 3 minutes and third place to Vatanen. Valery was trouble free for the front runners.

Next up was the long 104 km stage through Horseshoe Road and Mackays Road to an emergency service point, with a tight finish around Goondari Road and down Kosekai Road. Fury and Dunkerton had smooth runs, feeling that at least a one-two for Datsun was in sight and with 7 minutes between them there was no need for heroics. Vatanen had an off and damaged the front end again, but struggled through losing about 12 minutes. Carr’s brakes failed and with the pedal going to the floor he drove on the handbrake, amazingly only losing around two minutes to the Datsuns out front. Rod Jones retired when the rear suspension failed 4 km short of the service point.

The final run through Ingalba was trouble free as the two Datsuns returned to Port in what looked like a comfortable one-two position, over 7 minutes apart and 6½ minutes clear of Carr’s Escort. Fury was thankful to be the event’s third leader after 3 days, especially after the dramas on the first afternoon stage. Vatanen was now a distant fourth while Portman was still sixth behind Ian Hill but would hope to overtake him on the final night for fifth. David Jones had driven consistently to be up into seventh. Johnson did well to be in eighth after a failed throttle required Steve Vanderbyl to finish one stage riding on the bonnet working the throttle with a length of string. The top 20 at the end of Division 3 (with gaps to previous and first):

  1. Fury 9:03:35
  2. Dunkerton 9:10:48 (+7:13)
  3. Carr 9:17:17 (+6:29/+13:42)
  4. Vatanen 9:45:50 (+28:33/+42:15)
  5. Hill 9:55:59 (+10:09/+52:24)
  6. Portman 10:01:00 (+5:01/+57:25)
  7. David Jones 10:28:43 (+27:43/+85:08)
  8. Johnson 10:30:08 (+1:25/+86:33)
  9. Blair 10:32:21 (+2:13/+88:46)
  10. Berne 10:37:01 (+4:40/+93:26)
  11. Clark 10:51:43 (+14:42/+108:08)
  12. Leven 10:54:21 (+2:38/+110:46)
  13. Meehan 10:58:35 (+4:14/+115:00)
  14. Murray 11:03:55 (+5:20/+120:20)
  15. Bramble 11:12:52 (+8:57/+129:17)
  16. Mecak 11:15:13 (+2:21/+131:38)
  17. Roberts 11:18:41 (+3:28/+135:06)
  18. McLucas 11:21:13 (+2:32/+137:38)
  19. Pritchard 11:22:42 (+1:29/+139:07)
  20. Parry 11:32:34 (+9:52/+148:59)

Day Four

The final day started with a run through the challenging Rollover Road in Broken Bago Forest, a stage that would be repeated in reverse the following morning. Portman set the pace on 11:05 followed by Fury 11:11, Vatanen and Dunkerton 11:15. Carr had brake problems return, hit a bank and dropped two minutes. He limped into control with the left front wheel awry and had to limp 5 km to service with the tyre, mag wheel and half the disc destroyed. Carr may have lost some road position and taken some liaison penalties while the car was repaired.

Next up was Burrawan, the reverse of a stage run at the end of the first night. Portman was quickest again on 8:49, closely followed by Carr. Fury, first on the road, coasted into control with no oil pressure and the ominous rattling sounds of a blown engine. George’s hat-trick had eluded him. Dunkerton inherited the lead.

The short Coopernook stage, the reverse of the stage run on the second afternoon, was all that remained before the Taree mealbreak. Carr was quickest and clearly fired up for the long night stages to come. After Fury’s demise he could sense a chance at victory after all, even though the gap to Dunkerton was thought to be six minutes.

Carr was quickest again on the short traditional run along Black Flat Lane, but the real test would be the two long section up to Myrtle Scrub and back, both over 100 km. Carr took an amazing 3 minutes off Dunkerton on the first, putting enormous pressure on the Western Australian. It was a tough stage and ended the rally for some promising runners like Steve Blair and Paul Bramble.

The short Seaview stage was cancelled but on the liaison down the Oxley Highway to Tobins Camp Dunkerton had stopped with an electrical fault. Portman stopped to help, then raced to get assistance from the service point 6 km before the start of the next stage. But Dunkerton had fixed the problem before the service van got there and they made the start of the next stage on time.

Dunkerton lead off into the event’s longest stage at 139 km, followed by Portman and Carr. Portman’s run came to a sudden end early in the stage with a broken camshaft drive gear. Then Dunkerton stopped with a recurrence of the wiring problem. Carr passed the stricken Stanza with the bonnet up and sensed victory, but Dunkerton got going again. He had a sticking throttle as well and had to drive the last 15 km on the ignition. Carr was 10 minutes quicker and perhaps thought he had the lead. Vatanen was second quickest only 30 seconds behind Carr.

There were no dramas through the night’s final stage through Bulls Ground, a somewhat shortened version of a similar stage on the first night. But as crews booked into Port Macquarie for the penultimate time, the time penalties that Carr had incurred for lateness on an earlier liaison stage placed him 2½ minutes behind Dunkerton with two daylight stages to run the next morning.

The first of the final daylight stages was a reverse of the Division’s first stage along Rollover Road and Carr made his bid for the lead. But it was not to be. Brake problems resurfaced and he went into a bank, dropping 39 seconds to Dunkerton who now could now surely back off on the final 15 km stage through Middle Brother Forest. Carr nevertheless gave it a go and was 49 seconds quicker over the final stage, but Dunkerton had hung on for a memorable win in the final Southern Cross Rally.

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Damaged strut off Carr's Escort, Photo: Simon Brown