1997 AussieDuct Rally of Melbourne

The AussieDuct Rally of Melbourne, directed by Glenn Cuthbert, was held on August 30-31. This was effectively the fifth Rally of Melbourne, counting the 1993 Healesville Stages.

Round 5 Australian Rally Championship

Round 5 Victorian Rally Championship

Possum Bourne and Craig Vincent in the Subaru Impreza emerged as overall winners of this year’s Rally of Melbourne after placing third on Heat 1 and winning Heat 3 by more than a minute. Heat 1 winners, Neal Bates and Coral Taylor, lost 4WD on the Celica on Heat 2 finishing tenth more than 5 minutes adrift.

The VRC round was conducted over Heat 1 and was won by Cody Crocker and Greg Foletta in their Subaru Legacy, placing fifth overall on both ARC heats. Series leaders Mike Reeves and Robin Smalley in the Galant VR4 finished second in the VRC round just 9 seconds behind the Subaru.

 
 

Results and entry list

Heat 1 (and VRC Round)

PlaceDriverCo-driverCarTimeVRCVRC Novice
1Neal BatesCoral TaylorToyota Celica GT-four55:15
2Ed OrdynskiFred GocentasMitsubishi Lancer Evo356;03
3Possum BourneCraig VincentSubaru Impreza 55556;51
4Greg GrahamGlen MacneallSubaru Impreza 55558:26
5Cody CrockerGreg FolettaSubaru Legacy RS59:091
6Mike ReevesRobin SmalleyMitsubishi Galant VR459:182
7Graeme WiseRob BeekmanMitsubishi Lancer RSe59:203
8Graham AlexanderDavid StewartMitsubishi Lancer RS59:564
9David WestTony BestMitsubishi Lancer Evo 21:00:315
10Miles SandyMichelle MurphySubaru Impreza WRX1:01:19
Rob DevenishStephen KealeyDatsun 240Z1:02:556
Brett ThomsonRob VandereeMitsubishi Galant VR41:04:017
Rowan Quill JrMichelle CanningMazda RX71:04:368
Mark FawcettTony BoydMitsubishi Galant VR41:04:599
Ian SwanVal SwanFord Falcon XR61:05:1710
David NutterFelicity NutterSubaru Impreza WRX1
Martin GriggChris TaitMitsubishi Lancer Evo32
Mark PedderDavid Schneiders3
Richard FungA. Cunningham4
Barry RoweGrant Pearson5
Steve BlairRoger Pederson6
Brendon LindseyJohn McLaughlinAlfa Romeo Guilia Super7

Heat 2

PlaceDriverCo-driverCarTime
1Possum BourneCraig VincentSubaru Impreza 55555:33
2Ed OrdynskiFred GocentasMitsubishi Lancer Evo 357:53
3Michael GuestMark StaceyMitsubishi Lancer Evo358:19
4Greg GrahamGlen MacneallSubaru Impreza 55558:23
5Cody CrockerGreg FolettaSubaru Legacy RS59:15
6Marty BecktonEido OsawaProton Wirra E359:31
7Mike ReevesRobin SmalletMitsubishi Galant VR459:35
8Graeme WiseRob BeekmanMitsubishi Lancer RSe1:00:17
9David WestTony BestMitsubishi Lancer Evo21:00:21
10Neal BatesCoral TaylorToyota Celica GT-four1:00:49

Route

The two heats were each contest over 7 special stages totalling just over 98 km. 

Other event documents

not available yet