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, Ford and Subaru all having some success. Although Lancia won all but one of the rounds nominated for the Manufacturers Championship, it was Carlos Sainz and Louis Moyo who won the Championship in their Toyota Celica.
By the time of Rally Australia, Round 10, Didier Auriol held an 8 point lead over Sainz, with Kankkunen also well in the running. Lancia brought both Auriol and Kankkunen to Perth while Toyota came only with Sainz. The only other top international was the flamboyant Fin, Ari Vatanen, in a Subaru, backed up by Possum Bourne. Mitsubishi were absent, with locals Dunkerton and Ordynski in Galants. Ford were only present in Group N with Ben Sulayment and Göttlicher in Sierras. New Zealander Rod Millen was back in a Mazda 323. There were also a few APRC contenders, mostly from Japan. The disappointing field of internationals was offset by a large local contingent making for a total of 90 cars.
By the end of Day 1 only 44 seconds separated the four internationals with Auriol just ahead of Vatanen. Day 2 saw Auriol widen the gap with Kakkkunen moving his Lancia into second. Day 3 saw Vatanen retire with transmission failure, allowing Bourne up into fourth, but a few stages later he ripped a front wheel off his Subaru, dropping to ninth. By day end Auriol had a comfortable lead of 2m39s, but only 10 seconds separated Kankkunen and Sainz for the podium positions. Argentinian Jorge Recalde had brought his Lancia up into fourth ahead of Dunkerton, with Ordynski in sixth and first Group N. Bourne had recovered to seventh just 16 seconds behind Ordynski, allowing him to claim sixth on the final short day.