1981 Australian Rally Championship

Table of Contents

Series Regulations
Events
Pointscores

A significant change this year was the awarding of points down to tenth. But a more significant change was the withdrawal of the Ford works team, and for the first time in many years the names Carr and Bond were not seen on the entry lists. Additionally, Nissan were in the process of downgrading their involvement in rallying, pivoting to circuit racing. This would be their last year in the ARC and they intended to win it.

And win it they did. Although Portman and Runnalls did not go to the West, they won the other four rounds to convincingly take the title. Fury and Suffern only did three rounds but came second in the points ahead of team-mates Dunkerton and Beaumont who won in the West

Tom Snooks has provided the full story here.

To see other years of the Australian Rally Championship go to the ARC series page.

Series Regulations

Events were run under the National Rally Code. All rounds were special stage events timed to the second.

Vehicle eligibility was CAMS Group G – Australian Rally Cars.

Points were awarded down to tenth: 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1, with all results to count.

Events

There was no South Australian round so the Alpine returned to the ARC to make a viable five round series:

Rally of the West (WA)
Lutwyche Village Rally (Qld)
Bega Valley Rally (NSW)
Akademos Rally (Vic)
Alpine Rally (Vic)

Pointscores

Drivers Pointscores

Place	Driver	State	WA	Qld	Bega	Akademos	Alpine	Total
1	Geoff Portman	Vic		20	20	20	20	80
2	George Fury	Vic		12		15	15	42
3	Ross Dunkerton	WA	20	15				35
4	Wayne Bell	NSW			15	12		27
5	Doug Thompson	Vic		3	8		12	23
6	Chris Brown	Vic			12	10		22
7	Clive Slater	WA	15					15
8	Gordon Levin	NSW			10	3		13
9=	Bob Nicoli	WA	12					12
9=	Murray Coote	Qld	2	10				12
9=	John Berne	Qld		4			8	12
12=	Jim Marden	WA	10					10
12=	Alex Fitcher	Vic					10	10
14	John Atkinson	NSW				8	1	9
15=	Chris Hake	WA	8					8
15=	Peter Philips	Qld		8				8
16=	Mark Anderson	WA	6					6
16=	Mark Hankinson	NSW		6				6
16=	Ian McKenzie	NSW			6			6
16=	John Bramman	Vic				6		6
16=	Ian Swan	Vic					6	6
22=	Frank Johnson	WA	4					4
22=	John Fraser	NSW			4			4
22=	Peter Glover	Vic				4		4
22=	Chris Wall	Vic					4	4
26=	Peter Flood	WA	3					3
26=	Chris Berry	WA?			3			3
26=	Greg Trotter	Vic					3	3
29=	Bruce Garland	NSW		2				2
29=	Paul Bramble	NSW			2			2
29=	Garry Harrowfield	Vic				2		2
29=	Peter Nelson	NSW					2	2
33=	Ed Mulligan	NSW	1					1
33=	Peter Kelly	Qld?		1				1
33=	Peter Glennie	NSW			1			1
v	Gary Grealy	Vic				1		1

Navigators Pointscores

Place	Co-driver	State	WA	Qld	Bega	Akademos	Alpine	Total
1	Ross Runnalls	Vic		20	20	20	20	80
2	Monty Suffern	Vic		12		15	15	42
3	Jeff Beaumont	Vic	20	15				35
4	Col Parry	NSW			15	12		27
5	Ron Lugg	Vic		3	8		12	23
6	Simon Brown	Vic			12	10		22
7	Rod van der Straaten	WA	15					15
8	Robbie Wilson	NSW			10	3		13
9=	Peter Macneall	WA	12					12
9=	Brian Marsden	Qld	2	10				12
11=	Adrian Stafford	WA	10					10
11=	Noel Richards	Vic					10	10
13	Bob Comley	NSW				8	1	9
14=	Vicki Hake	WA	8					8
14=	Peter Garbett	Qld		8				8
14=	Dave Peti	NSW					8	8
17=	Tim Hartley	WA	6					6
17=	Bruce Fullerton	Qld		6				6
17=	Graham Moule	NSW		4			2	6
17=	Mick Harker	ACT			6			6
17=	Geoff Cuttriss	Vic				6		6
17=	Mike Prendergast	Vic					6	6
23=	Brian Small	WA	4					4
23=	Guenter Nowacki	NSW			4			4
23=	Sue Wiseman	Vic				4		4
23=	Lloyd Minifie	Vic					4	4
27=	Graham Romyn	WA	3					3
27=	John Robinson	WA?			3			3
27=	Phil Yeomans	Vic					3	3
30=	Allan Brown	NSW		2				2
30=	Kelvin Haynes	NSW			2			2
30=	Ian Ellis	Vic				2		2
33=	Geoff Jones	NSW	1					1
33=	Greg Coonan	Qld		1				1
33=	Mike Ryan	NSW			1			1
33=	Barry Collins	Vic				1		1