1977 Singapore Airlines Rally (London Sydney Marathon) - Event Story

London to Athens

The Australian RX4 entry of Frank Johnson, Ben Williams and Richards Thomas lead away the field of about eighty cars (there were 81 entries, it’s not clear how many started) from London’s Covent Gardens at 11 am on Sunday August 11 for what was billed as the Longest Car Rally in History. But it would be three days before crews would see any competition as they transported initially to Sheerness for the overnight ferry trip to Vlissingen in the Netherlands, then motorways and highways through Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris and Milan. Things became a bit more challenging once they entered the old Yugoslavia, when crews had to decide which way to get to Zadar and on through Split.

The first special stage, “Kozica”, was up a twisty gravel road about 70 km south-east of Split, on the Wednesday morning. At just 15 km it was hardly going to make much difference, but already the two Mercedes of Warmbold and Cowan were making their intentions clear. It’s worth noting that all the special stages had been recce’d by the European crews and pace notes were used.

The route continued through the old Yugoslavia crossing what are now separate countries – Montenegro, Kosovo and North Macedonia, before entering Greece and two special stages enroute to a rest break in Athens. The first special, “Kato Vermion” to the west of Thessaloniki, was a challenging 38 km that would perhaps be familiar to Greek rallyists, but perhaps not in the pre-dawn darkness and to make matters worse, it was very dusty. The 49 km second special, “Smokovon” to the west of Lamia, was run on the Thursday morning. It was familiar to all those who had attempted an Acropolis Rally, rough and rocky. Cowan had an off and damaged the sump guard which then fouled the steering, dropping a bit of time. Mercedes were so committed to the event that they had modified sump guards made for all the Mercedes which were flown to Athens and fitted during the rest break.

Crews arrived in Athens early afternoon for an 8 hour rest break. Already Warmbold had a massive 6 minute lead over teammate Cowan who was only 22 seconds ahead of Zasada in the Porsche. Mercedes were first, second, fourth (Fowkes), fifth (Kling) and eighth (Kleint). Hopkirk and Ogier held sixth and seventh in Citroens. Bob Holden was the first Australian, ninth in the Peugeot with teammates Dunkerton/Watson/Bonhomme eleventh after losing 10 minutes on a road section in Yugoslavia with an engine misfire. Neyret was ninth in a Fiat Abarth. Amazingly, it appears that only 60 cars made it to Athens and of those, only 43 had done the entire course!

Athens to Tehran

The first car left Athens after midnight for the 1135 km drive to Istanbul, 16 hours allowed, including plenty of time for the chaotic border crossing into Turkey.

Leaving the Istanbul time control late on Friday after a 3 hour rest break, crews crossed the Bosphorus into Asia and faced two back-to-back specials “Kibriscik” (36 km) and “Beypazari” (50 km) before continuing to Ankara then onwards to Van in eastern Turkey, across the border into Iran and into its capital, Tehran after midnight on Sunday night. Crews had done over 3000 km since Istanbul without an official rest break and only 6 hours was scheduled in Tehran.

Gil Davis, driving the “service” Peugeot for the Australian team had an accident enroute to Van. He was waved through an intersection by a Turkish policeman and collided with a local car, suffering a broken leg ankle but was then arrested. He spent some time in jail while the local authorities decided whether he was responsible, as the driver of the other car was reportedly in a serious condition. Peugeot team manager, Bob Watson contacted his former Renault Australia boss Maurice Fertey, who had become the boss of Renault Turkey. Fertey despatched a lawyer to Van to negotiate Gil’s release, after which Gil flew to Delhi for medical treatment. , suffering a broken leg and . Gil was very happy to be back in Australia some weeks later where he recovered and won the next round of the state championship in October, taking the VRC for 1977!

At Tehran Warmbold held an almost 7 minute lead over Zasada, Cowan had fallen to fourth, just behind teammate Fowkes, with Kling fifth in another Mercedes. Hopkirk still had the Citroen in sixth while Dunkerton/Watson/Bonhomme had climbed up to seventh. Evan Green with John Bryson in a Range Rover were ninth, Bob Holden tenth and Brian Hilton twelfth in another Peugeot. Three more cars had retired since Athens and now only 39 cars had done the full course.

Tehran to Madras

Crews left Tehran at dawn on Monday amidst crazy traffic for the 750 km drive south-east to Yazd, then the first real Marathon stage, 404 km north-east through the desert to Tabas. To cap it off the weather was extremely hot, over 40 degrees. Warmbold retired his Mercedes, together with perhaps 4 other cars that retired. Zasada lost time but held onto an 8 minute lead from Fowkes and Cowan, virtually equal in the two Mercedes. Hilton set the quickest time and climbed to sixth just behind Hopkirk. Dunkerton/Watson/Bonhomme punctured and dropped to eighth behind Kleint, but ahead of teammate Holden.

There were supposedly no more competitive sections as the route took crews across Afghanistan along the deserted main highway (the government closed the road to non-rally traffic) to Kabul where most would have a decent rest, their first since leaving Tehran 35 hours earlier and having covered 3084 km.

The first car left Kabul around sunset on Tuesday to head over the Khyber pass at night, then into Pakistan, through Islamabad and onwards into India for a brief rest break in Delhi on Wednesday afternoon, a mere 1240 km but two border crossing which can be fraught. It was then 1420 km to Bombay (now Mumbai) for a lengthy overnight rest break of 14 hours, then 1350 km across the Indian sub-continent to Madras (now Chennai) by Saturday lunchtime. While there had been no competition, crews were faced with massive crowds, lots of crazy traffic and hot humid conditions. Driving at night was especially hazardous, as when cars break down the Indians build an enclosure of stones around them, repair the car and drive off leaving the stones on the road.

There was considerable debate about a handful of crews that had been excluded on the basis of having been more than 2 hours late at a rest break. Most continued under protest.

Malaysia to Singapore

In Madras (Chennai) the event came to a standstill with crews having to entertain themselves for five days during which the cars had been loaded onto the ship to Malaysia. Crews flew to Penang on September 2nd and enjoyed a little more comfort at the luxurious Rasa Sayang Resort awaiting the arrival of the cars on September 4th. Here Andrew Cowan became extremely ill and was in serious doubt of continuing in the event.

Competition finally resumed from the nearby Butterworth RAAF base on Tuesday the 6th, a meandering 22 hour drive down to Singapore that included two special stages (a third was neutralised) held mostly in rubber plantations. The stages of 9 km and 18 km should have been straightforward but they were very tricky, lots of instructions and lots of opportunity to slip off the narrow tracks. Additionally, the European crews had not had an opportunity to recce the stages so did not have pace notes. Dunkerton set the fastest time on both stages and they climbed to seventh. Zasada had an oops, dropping about 8 minutes and falling just behind Fowkes. Cowan held third ahead of Kling, Hopkirk and Hilton, so that would be the start order when the event restarted in Perth almost two weeks later, crews flying, cars being shipped.

Full results at Singapore

51 cars were still in the event at Singapore but only 34 cars appear to have visited all controls.
1. Tony Fowkes/ Peter O’Gorman, Mercedes 280E, 1:09:22
2. Sobjeslaw Zasad/ Wojciecj Schramm, Porsche Carrera, 1:10:04
3. Andrew Cowan/ Colin Malkin/ Mike Broad, Mercedes 280E, 1:12:18
4. Alfred Kling/ Klaus Kaiser/ Jorg Weininger, Mercedes 280E, 1:18:49
5. Paddy Hopkirk/ Mike Taylor/ Robert Riley, Citroen CX2400, 1:21:46
6. Brian Hilton/ Barry Lake, Peugeot 504, 1:38:32
7. Ross Dunkerton/ Bob Watson/ Roger Bonhomme, Peugeot 504, 1:42:00
8. Herbert Kleint/ Gunther Klapproth/ Herbert Vormbruck, Mercedes 280E, 1:43:31
9. Bob Holden/ Ian Monk, Peugeot 504,1:49:12
10. Jacky Prive/ Jacques Briy, Range Rover, 1:52:47
11. Ben Williams/ Frank Johnson/ Richard Matson, Mazda RX4, 1:54:52
12. Wolfgang Mauch/ Jose Dolhem, Mercedes 2800, 2:01:38
13. Claude Laurent/ Jean-Claude Ogier, Citroen CX2400, 2:02:57
14. Aytac Kot/ Kayhan Kantarci, Renault 12TS, 2:14:57
15. Evan Green/ John Bryson/ Tom Leake, Range Rover, 2:16:06
16. Jim Reddiex/ Barry Ferguson/ Doug Stewart, Citroen CX2400, 2:22:55
17. John Taylor/ Jeremy Browne/ Rob Hunt, Range Rover, 2:34:48
18. Robert Neyret/ Marianne Hoepfner, Fiat Abarth, 2:36:49
19. Jean-Paul Luc/ Patrick Vanson, Citroen CX2400 2:44:21
20. Richard Beldam/ Stephen Kimbrell/ Gary Whitcombe, Range Rover, 2:53:25
21. Chris Bruce/ Peter Carracher/ Dave Turtle, Ford Escort RS2000, 3:12:12
22. James Ingleby/ Bob Smith, Jeep Cherokee, 3:27:27
23. Michael O’Connell/ Anne O’Connell/ John Keating, Citroen CX2400, 3:33:54
24. Carlo Baghetti/ Carlotti, Fiat 131 Abarth, 3:36:40
25. Arthur Davies/ John Latham/ Rod Jones, Datsun 180B SSS, 3:41:21
26. Christine Dacremont/ Yveline Vanoni, Fiat Abarth, 3:44:08
27. Jacques Jeandot/ Werner Koch, VW Brake 4×4, 3:52:27
28. Andre Stuckelberger/ Bernard Cheneviere, Citroen CX2400, 4:26:51
29. Noriyuki Koseki/ Yoshio Takaoka/ Hiroshi Okazaki, Subaru 4WD, 5:15:10
30. Wal Glass/ Peter Flanagan/ Victor Caddey, Holden Torana, 7:00:20
31. Wes Nalder/ Noel Richards, Toyota Corolla Coupe, 7:38:33
32. Iskender Aruoba/ Demir Bukey, Renault 12TS, 8:09:53
33. Brian Chuchua/ David Howes/ Ken Adams, Jeep CJ-6, 8:21:38
34. Hank Kabel/ Simon Kabel, Mazda 929, 11:27:14
35. Basil Wadman/ Mark Shand/ Robert Arthur, Peugeot 504, 28:14:41
36. Don Brown/ Cam Warren, Jeep Cherokee, 29:57:39
37. Thomas Currah/ Stephen Tucker, Bedford Autosleeper, 74:08:42
38. John Stathatos/ Erling Jensen, Peugeot 504, 82:23:39
39. Francis Tuthill/ Anthony Showell, Volkswagen, 124:22:34
40. Greg Nicholson/ Norm Sherlock, Mitsubishi Lancer, 126:58:04
41. Dennis Lundstedt/ Erick Hauge/ Richard Dahn, Jeep CJ-6, 144:02:58
42. Ian Baxter/ Mick Ellis, Datsun 1600, 150:45:43
43. Allen Hausler. Barry Allen/ Doug Francis, Leyland Terrier, 157:27:04
44. Thomas Delashmutt/ Carlo Niederhauser, Chevrolet Cosworth Vega 165:24:40
45. Hans Tholstrup/ John Crawford, Leyland Moke, 172:00:10
46. Mitsuru Eguchi/ Tuti Eguchi, Volvo 164, 200:22:37
47. Charles Roberts/ Len Webb/ Ray Brooks, Saab ES 99, 227:51:17
48. Kassim bin Mohamed/ Kay Ng Hook/ Syed Adlan/ Wong Man, Fiat 132, 291:30:05
49. Swee Chew Wong/ Seng Choy Wong, Mercedes 280E, 314:24:53
50. Mike Dickin/ Simon Park, Leyland Mini GT, 430:17:27
51. Gerald Bartlett/ Geoff Alldridge/ George Harris, Citroen CX2400, 431:54:14

Perth to Alice Springs

The ship was meant to take seven or eight days to get the cars to Perth, with the restart scheduled for September 18th. Crews flew down to Perth on September 12th having spent four or five days relaxing in the relative luxury of Singapore. But upon arrival in Perth it was revealed that the ship was running two days late and the route would likely have to be shortened so that the event would finish on schedule in Sydney on the 27th. So the rather pointless transport up to Darwin and back was deleted together with the not so pointless 12 hour rest break.

Cars left Fremantle early evening on Tuesday September 20th on the 326 km transport to Cleary on the north-eastern edge of WA’s wheatbelt. The first competitive took crews north to Paynes Find where it picked up the route of the 1968 Marathon, then east to Youanmi, south to Diemel Find and east to Menzies, leaving the 1968 route about 160 km before the end. The roads had been somewhat upgraded since 1968 but the 600 km in 6 hours was a tight 100 km/h average, all at night. Only the leaders would be on time, Hilton dropped a minute, Green 2, Taylor 3 and Neyret 3. Bob Holden crashed his Peugeot, effectively ending their run. The car was towed back to Perth and after repairs they rejoined at Port Augusta. Beyond the top dozen or so cars the time penalties were heavy, some more than an hour late.

What was effectively a transport from Menzies through Leonora to Laverton was 223 km in 2½ hours, tight but few lost time. The 555 km run up what is now the Great Central Road to Warburton in 5½ hours was just over a 100 km/h average and would be tight, but at least it was daylight! About half the field, including all the leaders were on time. From Warburton the route headed east to the Blackstone Mining Centre, then north up the road to Giles where it rejoined the Great Central Road which was followed all the way to Ayers Rock. This was before the new tarmac road was built out to the Olgas. It was 650 km in 6½ hours. Fowkes, enjoying a dust free run at the front of the field, made it on time. Cowan dropped 13 with failing shock absorbers, then Hopkirk and Johnson 15, Hilton 20, Ferguson 22, Zasada 25, Mauch 30, Dunkerton 33 with a fuel blockage problem, Kling 37, Laurent 47, Prive 49. It was by now dark and well into Wednesday evening.

Crews headed into Alice Springs, an easy 425 km in 4½ hours, arriving after midnight. The story here is unclear but according to the Racing Car News article, Fowkes booked in 4 minutes early and received a 20 minute penalty, or maybe this happened on the second visit to the Alice. That would have dropped them behind Cowan but still clear of Zasada who was only just ahead of Hopkirk in fourth. Hilton was fifth ahead of Kling while Johnson had climbed to seventh, one hour behind the leader and 6 minutes ahead of Dunkerton in eighth.

The Northern Loop from Alice Springs

But Alice was not a rest break. Weary crews headed north on the long and boring Stuart Highway for a mere 870 km, then onto the dirt across to Top Springs (now called the Buchanan Highway), then south-west to a control at Mt George (this is now called the Buntine Highway and the control is really at Wave Hill, just short of the Kalkarindji Aboriginal community). A more than adequate 13¾ hours was allowed for the 1214 km, which meany virtually no-one lost any time. On the other hand, given that this and the next three sections constituted a giant loop back to Alice Springs, more than half the field decided to just skip the sections altogether.

The 110 km section down to Hooker Creek (now the Lajamanu Aboriginal community) was difficult enough, with a 100 km/h average, but the leaders were all on time. It was on this section that the event’s most serious accident occurred. The Fiat of Christine Dacremont and Yveline Vanoni turned back and had a head-on collision with the Citroen of Andre Stuckelberger and Bernard Cheneviere. Some stories suggest they were disoriented in dust, others that they had develop engine problems. Dacremont was seriously injured and was rescued by the Fiat support aircraft (story here). She was to spend several months recovering in hospital in Darwin. The Fiat was written off and the Citroen seriously damaged and unable to continue.

The next section, 264 km in 2½ hours down to the lonely refuel at Rabbit Flat on the Tanami Track (Rabbit Flat no longer operates and in fact the Tanami Track has been rebuilt and bypasses Rabbit Flat), was another impossible 100 km/h average. The two leading Mercedes were flying with Cowan dropping 3 and Fowkes 4, but Dunkerton was also doing well dropping 6 to Hopkirk on 7 in the Citroen. Further back, Laurent dropped 14, Kling 15, Kleint 20 and Johnson 21. Zasada’s Porsche suffered from suspension damage and dropped 3 hours. Mauch dropped 1½ hours. Hilton had an overheating engine, blew the head gasket and eventually short cut to Sydney.

What remained of the “loop” was the 672 km run down the Tanami Track to Yuendumu, south to Papunya (passage control) then east along what was then the mostly gravel Namatjira Drive to Alice Springs. It was again a 100 km/h average, but the leaders were on time. Plenty lost time, including the struggling Zasada, 43 minutes late, and Frank Johnson, who hit a bull in the RX4, and was 1½ hours late. Cowan had maintained his lead over teammate Fowkes, but with the demise of Zasada, Hopkirk was now third, with Dunkerton in fifth closing in on fourth placed Kling. With Hilton, Johnson and Mauch all but dropping from contention, Laurent was virtually equal with Kleint in sixth.

Flinders Ranges to Adelaide

Those who had skipped the northern loop had perhaps got some rest, but the leaders had been going pretty much nonstop for nearly 24 hours and had no significant break before heading south on the 1330 km run south to Port Augusta. Back then much of this road was still gravel, the new Stuart Highway was only rebuilt in the 1980s. Much of it was bone jarring corrugations, hard on both car and crew. Wes Nalder and Noel Richards cracked the rear axle housing on their Corolla and had to seek welding assistance at a nearby homestead.

Crews arrived in Port Augusta from lunchtime Friday before heading out to Quorn for a 225 km stage through the Flinders Ranges. The section headed north following a different route from the 68 Marathon, before picking up the old Ghan Railway track further north, then east to the Moralana Scenic Drive, then a loop east towards Martins Well before finishing back near Hawker. It was incredibly rough and rocky, so the 100 km/h average was completely impossible. Mercedes did their best to help their crews by manning all the gates, to be opened only for Mercedes! Best were Fowkes and Dunkerton, each on 17, then Cowan 18, Bob Holden on 26, Prive 30, Kleint and Green 38, Ferguson 43, Laurent 44, Johnson and O’Connell 48, Taylor 52, Luc 56, Hopkirk an even hour late after bending the sump, with Kling down 1:09. Zasada had further suspension problems and dropped over 3 hours.

And so it was into Adelaide for the first real rest break since Perth, 9 hours with departure early Saturday morning. Cowan and Fowkes had basically held positions, but Dunkerton had moved into a distant third, almost an hour behind the leader but just 5 minutes ahead of Hopkirk. Kling was well back in fifth then Kleint, Prive and Laurent, now 2 hours behind the leader. Johnson had done well to hold ninth while Jean Luc had brought his Citroen up into tenth.

Victoria

Saturday was what might best be called a “transit” day as crews drove the 1036 km to Melbourne, via the “scenic” route through Mount Gambier and the Great Ocean Road, some of which was still gravel back then. As crews pulled into the Melbourne control at Tullamarine on Saturday evening, almost no-one had lost time and the positions were unchanged. According to the Racing Car News article, the time was tighter than expected because of the time zone change!

Saturday night would see three competitive sections. The first two of 82 km and 35 km through traditional Victorian rally terrain up through Woods Point were both won by Dunkerton (Watson driving), extending their lead over Hopkirk by a further 7 minutes. Kling, Kleint and Laurent were also slow. What followed was essentially a 360 km transport section to Uplands, north of Omeo, but it involved several pieces of gravel road, including Whitfield to Dandongadale and over Mount Hotham, the latter with the real possibility of snow. Mercifully, the road was clear of snow and most crews would be on time.

A 70 km section up the Corryong Road over Sassafras Gap would take time from everyone. Cowan dropped 12 from Fowkes on 13, Hopkirk 17, with Kling, Kleint and Laurent all on 19. Sadly, the Dunkerton/Watson/Bonhomme Peugeot lost the all-important third gear and had to struggle through, actually sliding into a tree close to the end and breaking a steering rod. They dropped 38 and fell behind Hopkirk by about 10 minutes.

Across NSW

The day dawned as the field headed through the Snowy Mountains. The risk of snow was real but did not eventuate as they passed Australia’s highest town, Cabramurra, then on through Kiandra to Cooma. The 293 km in 4 hours was easily achieved, but the NSW office of CAMS in their wisdom had set up a speed trap at Adaminaby. It is not clear whether or how the penalties incurred (supposedly 10 minutes per 1 km/h over the limit) were imposed. The remainder of Sunday was a long and boring drive across NSW but with a number of time controls, ostensibly to prevent too much speeding.

With stops through Canberra, Temora and Griffith, it was impossible for the Dunkerton to make up enough time to allow the gearbox on the Peugeot to be changed without time penalty. So they decided to change the gearbox at Menindee at the end of a 487 km section from Griffith via Hillston and Ivanhoe, the last 350 km being on dirt, but with 5½ hours allowed, they would have extra time. The Peugeot dealer from Broken Hill came down to Menindee with a new gearbox but it took about 2 hours to changes and they were penalised just under an hour.

From Menindee to the Queensland border north of Tibooburra (known as Warri Gate) was meant to be 457 km through Wilcannia and White Cliffs. The 5½ hours allowed appeared achievable despite the fact that the majority was dirt and there were quite a lot of gates on the 136 km section from White Cliffs to the Silver City Highway (nowadays all the gates are grids and the Silver City Highway is fully sealed, all the way to the Queensland border). But the instructions were plain wrong. It said from Menindee to Wilcannia was 29 km when in fact it is 151 km! The Racing Car News articles mentions a section being deleted under protest from Fowkes and Cowan who had taken a wrong road for 100 km and had been an hour late. This was almost certainly the Menindee to Warri Gate section.

Queensland

The first cars would have been at Warri Gate about 3 am for the 233 km competitive section northwards through Noccundra to Kihee. This road has been significantly upgraded and rerouted since, with the last 60 km now sealed, but back then it was a rugged track littered with rough creek crossings. With only two shorter competitive sections left in the event, it was perhaps the last chance for the Dunkerton/Watson/Bonhomme Peugeot to reclaim significant time. Due to their delays with the gearbox change they were running well down the field and just into daylight, in fact with the rising sun in their eyes at times. Dunkerton gave it his all, including a hair-raising pass in dust of Evan Green’s Range Rover, but they cleaned the section. Unbelievably, the next best was Laurent/Ogier on 15, Taylor/Browne/Hunt equal with Reddiex/Ferguson/Stewart on 27, then Hopkirk on 28, with the two leaders taking it relatively easy – Fowkes 29 and Cowan 33. Kleint was down 43 and Kling 57.

It was then a long and boring drive eastwards through Quilpie, Charleville, Roma, Dalby and Toowoomba to a competitive section in the scrub south of Goodna, now really a suburb of Brisbane. It had been 1150 km in about 15 hours and it was well dark on Monday evening by the time crews tackled the 23.5 km section through to Camira (much of this area has now been subsumed by housing development around Springfield). Dunkerton and Cowan were best down 7, Laurent/Ogier 8 then Hopkirk and Kleint 9 and Kling 10. Prive was still running in the Range Rover but we don’t have a time.

Crews headed into a brief stopover at Garden City shopping centre at Mount Gravatt. Scores issued at Brisbane were scrambled, in part because of the confusion back at Wilcannia, and could not be relied upon, which must have been difficult for crews to judge their positions. But certainly Cowan was about half an hour clear of Fowkes, and Hopkirk third about another half hour back. Dunkerton/Watson/Bonhomme were next, roughly another half hour back, an impressive position after their hour lost at Menindee. It seems that the Laurent/Ogier Citroen was next, about 20 minutes back, but the two Mercedes of Kleint and Kling were seemingly fairly close behind. Jacky Prive was still running in the Range Rover and was shown in Brisbane’s unreliable scores as being eighth. It was then about an hour back to Johnson/Williams Matson (RX4) in ninth, Reddiex/Ferguson/Stewart (Citroen) tenth, and Luc/Vanson (Citroen) eleventh, with only a handful of minutes between them.

Crews left Brisbane on Monday night and headed out through Warwick for what would effectively be the event’s final competitive section, 54 km through the rugged Durakai Forest, much of it following the “Rabbit Fence”. Locals Reddiex/Ferguson/Stewart were fastest dropping 16 and bringing them into the top ten. Hopkirk and Laurent/Ogier dropped 16 together with the Davies/Latham/James 180B. Cowan and Johnson did 18 and Dunkerton 18. Luc/Vanson were struggling, totally exhausted, and dropped 26. Fowkes’ car developed engine trouble, dropping 31 but hanging onto second place by about 12 minutes from Hopkirk. Apparently Fowkes then left their road card at the Durakai control and when they realised they got their team manager, Eric Waxengerber, to retrieve it and bring it to them, presumably in Goondiwindi.

Southwards to the Finish

Tuesday dawned as crews crossed back into NSW at Goondiwindi, then motored down to Moree via Croppa Creek to avoid using much of the Newell Highway. The closest thing to a competitive section was from Moree across to Barraba but because the event was now running late, the section was shortened and none of the leaders lost time. It was along here, south of Terry Hie Hie, that Jacky Prive rolled the Range Rover, which then caught fire and was destroyed, a terrible blow to them so close to the finish.

The route continued down through Tamworth and Muswellbrook to the effective finish at the Rothbury Estate at Pokolbin in the Hunter Valley wine region. The results shown there were as follows:
1. Andrew Cowan/ Colin Malkin/ Mike Broad, Mercedes 280E, 3:15:18
2. Tony Fowkes/ Peter O’Gorman, Mercedes 280E, 3:36:22
3. Paddy Hopkirk/ Mike Taylor/ Robert Riley, Citroen CX2400, 4:17:46
4. Ross Dunkerton/ Bob Watson/ Roger Bonhomme, Peugeot 504, 4:52:00
5. Claude Laurent/ Jean-Claude Ogier, Citroen CX2400, 5:14:57
6. Alfred Kling/ Klaus Kaiser/ Jorg Weininger, Mercedes 280E, 5:33:49
7. Herbert Kleint/ Gunther Klapproth/ Herbert Vormbruck, Mercedes 280E, 5:39:31
8. Ben Williams/ Frank Johnson/ Richard Matson, Mazda RX4, 6:45:52
9. Jim Reddiex/ Barry Ferguson/ Doug Stewart, Citroen CX2400, 6:47:55
10. Jean-Paul Luc/ Patrick Vanson, Citroen CX2400 7:06:21
11. Evan Green/ John Bryson/ Tom Leake, Range Rover, 7:47:06
12. John Taylor/ Jeremy Browne/ Rob Hunt, Range Rover, 8:48:48
13. Sobjeslaw Zasad/ Wojciecj Schramm, Porsche Carrera, 10:35:04
14. James Ingleby/ Bob Smith, Jeep Cherokee, 11:07:21
15. Aytac Kot/ Kayhan Kantarci, Renault 12TS, 35:21:57
16. Robert Neyret/ Marianne Hoepfner, Fiat Abarth, 36:29:49
17. Jacques Jeandot/ Werner Koch, VW Brake 4×4, 68:08:27
18. Arthur Davies/ John Latham/ Rod Jones, Datsun 180B SSS, 90:20:51
19. Noriyuki Koseki/ Yoshio Takaoka/ Hiroshi Okazaki, Subaru 4WD, 94:33:10
20. Wes Nalder/ Noel Richards, Toyota Corolla Coupe, 95:34:33
21. Carlo Baghetti/ Carlotti, Fiat 131 Abarth, 125:02:40
22. Chris Bruce/ Peter Carracher/ Dave Turtle, Ford Escort RS2000, 125:15:12
23. Brian Chuchua/ David Howes/ Ken Adams, Jeep CJ-6, 126:52:38
24. Iskender Aruoba/ Demir Bukey, Renault 12TS, 139:17:53
25. Basil Wadman/ Mark Shand/ Robert Arthur, Peugeot 504, 143:06:41
26. Wal Glass/ Peter Flanagan/ Victor Caddey, Holden Torana, 175:54:20
27. John Stathatos/ Erling Jensen, Peugeot 504, 243:05:39
28. Bob Holden/ Ian Monk, Peugeot 504, 266:51:12
29. Michael O’Connell/ Anne O’Connell/ John Keating, Citroen CX2400, 276:36:54
30. Dennis Lundstedt/ Erick Hauge/ Richard Dahn, Jeep CJ-6, 288:27:58
31. Richard Beldam/ Stephen Kimbrell/ Gary Whitcombe, Range Rover, 302:39:25
32. Allen Hausler. Barry Allen/ Doug Francis, Leyland Terrier, 401:56:04
33. Greg Nicholson/ Norm Sherlock, Mitsubishi Lancer, 452:35:04
34. Hans Tholstrup/ John Crawford, Leyland Moke, 494:14:10
35. Francis Tuthill/ Anthony Showell, Volkswagen, 522:48:34
36. Thomas Currah/ Stephen Tucker, Bedford Autosleeper, 533:26:42
37. Kassim bin Mohamed/ Kay Ng Hook/ Syed Adlan/ Wong Man, Fiat 132, 656:55:05
38. Ian Baxter/ Mick Ellis, Datsun 1600, 726:20:43
39. Mitsuru Eguchi/ Tuti Eguchi, Volvo 164, 795:37:37

Sydney and Controversy

All that remained was the largely ceremonial drive down the to finish at the Sydney Opera House on midday Wednesday. But there were a variety of protests and checking of scores to be dealt with. Most significantly, it became apparent that the control official at Warri Gate had packed up and gone home early. The stewards decided to cancel the section. This severely disadvantaged those who had done so well on the section, especially Dunkerton who had cleaned it. It was a terrible blow after such an impressive performance.

One might have expected all the other scores to reduce by the loss on the Warri Gate to Kihee section (TC37) but it was not quite so simple! The scores of Hopkirk and Laurent were correct, but Fowkes’ score went UP by a minute despite losing 29 at Kihee. They were penalised 30 minutes for leaving their road card behind at a control back at Durakai, but they still held second place. Other scores changed, probably as a result of speeding penalties. Laurent/Ogier had no such penalties whereas it seems the Dunkerton/Watson/Bonhomme Peugeot were penalised 6 minutes, but this doesn’t make any sense because it was meant to be 10 minutes per 1 km/h over the limit (as per Bulletin 14)! In any case, the Laurent/Ogier Citroen moved into fourth just 2 minutes ahead of the Peugeot.

Likewise the Luc/Vanson Citroen was penalty free, but seemed to gain an extra 10 minutes (perhaps an earlier arithmetic error) and leapfrogged Reddiex, Johnson and Kleint up into seventh place. Lots of other scores changed and quite a few back-markers were added as finishers with numerous controls missed. In the end there were 47 finishers of which we think 16 did the full course.

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