The Alpine Rally of East Gippsland, organised by the Historic Rally Association and directed by Stuart Lister, was held on November 29 to December 1.

Porsche wins amidst International flavoured Alpine

The continuing popularity of the Alpine was evidenced in the receipt of 104 entries. These included ex-WRC driver Alister McRae in a Group 4 Ford Escort BDG, surely a crowd pleaser. Director Stuart Lister explored further east and found close to 100 km of new stages east of Cann River. The event also added a tarmac demonstration stage in Lakes Entrance, run as SS4 on Friday evening.

The weather was kind and all stages ran. Ben and Pip Barker lead in their BMW from McRae with David McShane with David and Geelan vying for third together with Mike Conway (Escort) and Alan Friend (Silvia). The 40 km Drummer stage (SS8) was a bit overgrown in places and saw the demise of the BMW with overheating, probably due debris blocking the radiator. The next stage, 21 km Thurra, saw four cars off on the one corner, while McRae clipped a tree, damaging the boot and the spare wheel flew out never to be seen again! McRae lost over 3 minutes and dropped as low as seventh, but recovered to finish second, 3 minutes behind David’s Porsche. Friend retired on Sunday with suspension damage and Conway missed two controls on Sunday. Wayne Hoy and Lisa Dunkerton brought the 260Z home into the final podium place.