1991 Commonwealth Bank Rally Australia

The 1991  Rally Australia, was held on September 20-24 based out of Perth
 

World Rally Championship Round 10

Asia Pacific Rally Championship Round 4

This years WRC was once again a battle between Lancia and Toyota. with Mitsubishi starting to make inroads and Subaru joining the fray. Lancia came to Perth with Juha Kankkunen and Didier Auriol. Toyota brough el Matador, Carlos Sainz and Armin Schwarz. Mitsubishi brought Kenneth Eriksson and Timo Salonen, backed up by local Ross Dunkerton. Subaru brought Markku Alen backed up by Possum Bourne. Mazda only brought Ingvar Carlsson, with backup from New Zealanders Rod Millen and Ray Wilson. The event attracted 59 entries.

This year’s Rally Australia will forever be remembered for the spectacular crash by Sainz in front of a big crowd in Bunnings. Having had two lesser rolls in the previous few stages, this final roll absolutely destroyed the Celica. The event had developed into a battle between the two Lancias until Auriol’s engine failed towards the end of Day 3. Carlsson also succumbed to the pressure, crashing out towards the end of Day 3. Kankkunen was able to take his third Rally Australia victory a minute ahead of Eriksson’s Galant with Armin Schwarz bringing the other Celica home in third. 

The best of the Australasians was Rod Millen, sixth in the Mazda, only just ahead of Ross Dunkerton’s Galant. Neal Bates finished a fine ninth in his Celica, with Ed Ordynski tenth and first Group N in another Galant. Possum Bourne failed to finish after transmission. failure.

Juha Kankkunen and Juha Piironen at Rally Australia 1991

Results and entry list

Entry list

PlaceDriverCtry/StCo-driverCtry/StCarTime
1Juha KankkunenFinJuha PiironenFinLancia Delta Integrale 16V5:48:48
2Kenneth ErikssonSweS. ParmanderSweMitsubishi Galant VR-45:50:01
3Armin SchwarzGerArne HertzSweToyota Celica GT-4 (ST165)5:54:42
4Markku AlénFinIlkka KivimäkiFinSubaru Legacy RS5:58:15
5Timo SalonenFinVoitto SilanderFinMitsubishi Galant VR-46:00:54
6Rod MillenNSWTony SircombeNZMazda 323 GTX6:04:37
7Ross DunkertonWAFred GocentasACTMitsubishi Galant VR-46:05:24
8Jorge RecaldeArgMartin ChristieArdLancia Delta Integrale 16V6:09:21
9Neal BatesACTDavid JorgensenACTToyota Celica GT-4 (ST165)6:20:04
10Ed OrdynskiSAHarry ManssonACTMitsubishi Galant VR-46:35:00
11Tolley ChallisWAAllen OhMalMitsubishi Galant VR-46:43:25
12Rob HerridgeWAChris RandellVicSubaru Legacy 4WD Turbo6:46:14
13Ron CremenNSWRay TempleNSWMitsubishi Galant VR-46:49:00
14Toshinoru TobaJapTomonori YokoseJapSubaru Legacy 4WD Turbo6:59:22
15Dave StrongNZJeff GroveNZDaihatsu Charade GTti (G100)7:04:44
16Ray WilsonNZPeter GarnettNZMazda 323 GTX7:08:34
17Greg CarrACTIain StewartQldHyundai Lantra7:18:08
18Patrick NjiruKenChris ShearerNSWSubaru Legacy 4WD Turbo7:18:10
19Nobuhiro TajimaJapMark NelsonSASuzuki Swift GTi7:18:21
20Wayne BellNSWDavid BoddyNSWHyundai Lantra7:18:38
21Adrian FuHKMark BlumeNSWMitsubishi Galant VR-47:30:29
22Dennis DunlopWAJacquie DunlopWASubaru RX Turbo7:37:22
23Walther NahrGerFrederick ConnerUKMitsubishi Galant VR-47:38:09
24Warren TuckettMark HaybittleNSWSuzuki Swift GTi7:41:30
25Brett MiddletonNSWRoss MiddletonNSWDaihatsu Charade7:48:26
26Koji BabaJapYukio FujimuraJapMitsubishi Galant VR-47:50:23
27Brian YoungNZRob ScottNZNissan March Super Turbo7:56:30
28Tsutomu NakamuraJapMasao TakagiJapHonda Civic8:00:09
29Robert WhyattDoug MorrisonSubaru RX Turbo8:00:10
30Mike WelshVicDavid JamesSuzuki Swift GTi8:04:42
31Daryl SosaWAMaddalena Elio DellaWASubaru RX Turbo8:07:54
32Katsuhiko OgawaJapToshihiko OgawaJapToyota Corolla GT8:09:15
33Masaaki KawaharaJapEido OsawaJapVolkswagen Golf GTi 16V8:20:50
34Johny PramonoIndo RuliantoIndoDaihatsu Charade GTti9:36:51
35Kikuo NaritaJapKiyomitsu AsanoJapToyota Corolla 1600 GT10:00:28
36Kerrie BrownGlenn ThorpMazda 323 4WD11:42:43

Stage times on ewrc

Route

This year the event started on a Friday evening with a blast around the streets of Northbridge. Saturday’s stages headed east, including two runs at Muresk, before returning to Perth for an unusual special stage around the Curtain University campus. Sunday was a long day with 182 km of stages including five in Bunnings, before returning to Perth for a super special at Burswood. Monday was another long day heading well south with over 200 km of stages. The event concluded on Tuesday with four more stages to the east. All up 593 km of special stages.

Itinerary and Stage plots

Other event documents

not available yet