1981 George Derrick Memorial Trial

Table of Contents

Results and entry list
Route
Other event documents

The 1981 George Derrick Memorial Trial was held on 8th and 9th August.

VTS Round 6 – 1981 CCRMIT George Derrick Memorial Trial

At midnight on Friday 8 August 1981, Ross Runnalls sent 42 crews off from Horsham to embark on the adventure through Victoria’s Wimmera and Mallee that was the 1981 George Derrick Memorial Trial.

The area had enjoyed 40mm of rain during the past week and that topped up a wet July.

The tone was set in the first competitive in the Wail Forest where the field was bogged and most crews scored minutes lost in numbers that most Australian batters would have been happy to achieve on Boxing Day.

Over the next 20 or so hours the crews experienced everything: desert country, forests, sand dunes, grasslands, lake beds (both dry and wet), superb landscapes and essential team work.

The event concluded at Murrayville. This was one division short of the plan, possibly by crew mutiny, after two divisions and 800km. The final planned division was to re-cross a very soggy Sunset Country from west to east, but that was not to be.

It was one of those events for which recollections improved over the years (not for all) and eventually achieved legendary status.

There were many stories to come out of the event, some published immediately, others later. Scroll down to read the first hand accounts.

Before doing that though, here is the Director’s own account.

Peter de Vaus displaying cross-crew cooperation by hosing down Richard Williamson. Pic: Richard Davies

The Peugeot 403 of Dave Cochrane and Nick Wright under tow and in need of a wash. Pic: Richard Davies

More photos here including Richard Davies photo-essay account of the event from the perspective of Car 52.

In 2019 a social tour was conducted by the HRA that revisited most of the 1981 route. You can find a link to that event here.

Results and entry list

ENTRY LIST:

CAR NO.	GRADE	DRIVER	CREW 1	CREW 2	CAR	TEAM
1	1	Chris Wall	Barry Collins		Datsun	B
2	1	Michael Ellis	Jim Maude		Datsun 1600	I
3	1	Garry Harrowfield	Geoff Boyd		Datsun 1600	E
4	1	David Jones	Noel Richards		Lancer	G
5	1	Bill Bennett	Stuart Lister		Galant	D
6	1	Gary Grealy	Tony Best		Datsun 1600	J
7	1	Ian Boyd	Trevor Boyd		Datsun 1600	K
8	1	Chris Brown	Simon Brown		Datsun 180B	C
9	1	Phil Pittway	Jim Caudle		Ford XY Cite	L
10	1	Mal Hall	Kevin Attwood	A Lott	Ford Escort	M
11	1	Janiene Kilfoyle	Warwick Smith		Lancer	N
12	1	Peter Ellis	Ian Ellis		Datsun 1600	H
16	2	David McKenzie	John Birrell		Honda Civic	H
17	2	Peter de Vaus	Graham Wallis		Peugeot 404	F
18	2	Bill Johnston	Chris Maniatakis		Mazda Rx4	D
20	2	Denis Holley	Gerard Byrne		Datsun 1600	J
21	2	Graham Trounce	Max Sharrock		Datsun 1600	B
22	2	John Coleman	Mike Prendergast		Honda Civic	K
23	2	David Officer	Steve Ellis		Galant	M
24	2	Peter Gale	Ron Harper		Datsun 1600	N
25	2	Tom Seymour	David Hodge		Cortina	E
27	2	Steve Ashton	Ro Nixon		Datsun 1600	C
28	2	Michael Welsh	Chris Randell		Datsun 1600	G
30	3	Robert Knight	Phil Wylie		Datsun 1600	D
31	3	Richard Roche	Kevin Love		Lancer	G
32	3	Peter Dutton	Ronn Jay		Citroen	K
33	3	Stanley Newman	Rick Clough	Robin Byrne	Datsun 1600	L
34	3	Barry Farnell	Phil Gallagher		Lancer	I
35	3	Ivan Mock	Sel. Ellis		Mazda Rx2	L
36	3	Rodney Martin	Megan Martin	Geoff Byron	Galant	I
37	3	Barry Williams	James McCabe		Datsun 1600	J
38	3	Adrian Kruger	Bob Garden		Datsun	B
39	3	John Love	Max Nathan		Datsun 2602	E
40	3	Peter Hurrey	Keith Newby		Celica	A
41	3	Rob Hodgson	Pete Mignot		Subaru	H
42	3	Wes Nalder	William Davis		Celica	A
43	3	Dave Cochrane	Nick Wright		Peugeot 403	F
52	4	Richard Davies	Richard Williamson	Mark Huntley	Peugeot 404	F
53	4	Ian Long	Laurie Jeremiah	Peter McEwen	Datsun 1600	C
54	4	Max Seebohm	Robert Carrison	Andrew Petersen	Datsun 1600	M
55	4	I Attiwill	K Scott	A Saunders	Datsun 1600	N
57	4	Roger Young	Ewen McLarty		Celica	A

RESULTS:

Place	Driver	Navigator	Car	Points	Grade 2	Clubman
1	Michael Ellis	Jim Maude	Datsun 1600	183
2	Bill Bennett	Stuart Lister	Galant	237
3	David Jones	Noel Richards	Lancer	260
4	Gary Grealy	Tony Best	Datsun 1600	265
5	David Officer	Steve Ellis	Galant	294	1
6	Peter Hurrey	Keith Newby	Celica	304	2	1
7	Barry Farnell	Phil Gallagher	Lancer	305	3	2
8	Janiene Kilfoyle	Warwick Smith	Lancer	683
9	Rodney Martin	Megan Martin / Geoff Byron	Galant	717	4	3
10	Bill Johnston	Chris Maniatakis	Mazda RX4	758	5
11	Ian Boyd	Trevor Boyd	Datsun 1600	779
12	Graham Trounce	Max Sharrock	Datsun 1600	792	6
13	Wes Nalder	William Davis	Celica	884		4
14	David McKenzie	John Birrell	Honda Civic	937	7
15	Peter Dutton	Ronn Jay	Citroen	1027		5
16	Phil Pittway	Jim Caudle	Ford	1195
17	Ivan Mock	Sel Ellis	Mazda RX2	1283		6

Detailed results

Director’s results covering letter

AWARD WINNERS:

OUTRIGHT :

1. Mick Ellis / Jim Maude    Datsun 1600
2. Bill Bennet / Stuart Lister    Galant
3. Gary Grealy / TonyBest    Datsun 1600

GRADE 2 :

1. David Officer /Steve Ellis    Galant
2. Bill Johnston / Chris Maniatakis    Mazda Rx4
3. Graham Trounce / Max Sharrock    Datsun 1600

CLUBMAN:

1. Peter Hurrey / Keith Newby    Celica
2. Barry Farnell / Phil Gallagher    Lancer
3. Rodney Martin / Megan Martin / Geoff Byron    Galant

TEAMS AWARD : (Courtesy John Cawley and Co.) was won by the all Bendigo team of:

Mick Ellis/Jim Maude    Datsun 1600
Barry Farnell/Phil Gallagher    Lancer
Rodney Martin/Megan Martin/Geoff Byron    Galant

NOVELTY AWARDS :

(i) Three person crew (Courtesy Datspares)
Rodney Martin / Megan Martin / Geoff Byron Galant

(ii) Road Radial Tyres (Courtesy B F Goodrich Pty Ltd), bravely won by
Bill Johnston / Chris Maniatakis Mazda Rx4

(iii) Under 1600 cc (Courtesy Mini Wreckers)
Barry Farnell / Phil Gallagher Lancer

(iv) Lady Crew Member (Courtesy Autosport Boxhill)
Janiene Kilfoyle Galant

(v) Standard Car (Courtesy Kudos Industrial Supplies)
Rodney Martin / Megan Martin/Geoff Byron Galant

DIRECTORS AWARDS went to:

Peter Dutton/Ronn Jay, presumably for finishing in the diminutive front wheel drive Citroen, and to Barry Williams/Barry McCabe, who finally made it out of the desert the next morning on a tow rope behind Geoff Portman.

Route

1981 GDMT Sections Summary

ROUTE INSTRUCTIONS

Div 1 Route Instructions

Div 2 Route Instructions

Wet weather route instructions. Whilst these wet weather instructions were issued, not all were enacted. Further, wet weather instructions were issued at the start of the first competitive in Wail, although no record remains of them.

MAPS

Google Maps plot

Note: 2-09 Wymlet, 2-10 Trinita and 2-15 Boinka were three great sections that did not run in 1981 due to the wet. They were however part of the 2019 HRA Tour of the 1981 Derrick. You can see the full set of Tour maps here.

1981 George Derrick Memorial Trial

VTS Round 6 – 1981 CCRMIT George Derrick Memorial Trial

Results and entry list

Route

Other event documents