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1981 Australian Rally Championship

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The 1981 Australian Rally Championship was a series of rallying events held across Australia. It was the 14th season in the history of the competition.

Geoff Portman and navigator Ross Runnalls in the Datsun Stanza won the 1981 Championship.

Season review

The 1981 season saw the Datsun Stanzas dominate the competition once more, taking out first, second and third places in the championship. It was the sixth championship for Datsun in seven years, with wins in all five rounds. The Nissan Rally Team were the only "works" supported team competing in the championship following the withdrawal of the Ford Rally and Holden Dealer teams at the end of the 1980 season. This was the final season for the Nissan Rally Team when Nissan transferred their interest to circuit racing with the turbo charged Nissan Bluebird.

The Rallies

The five events of the 1981 season were as follows.[1]

Round Rally Date
1 Rally of the West (WA)
2 Lutwyche Village Rally (QLD)
3 Bega Valley Rally (NSW)
4 Akademos Rally (VIC)
5 Alpine Rally (VIC)

Round One – Commonwealth Bank Rally of the West

Position Driver Navigator Car Time
1 Ross Dunkerton Jeff Beaumont Datsun Stanza 262.41
2 Clive Slater Rod van der Straaten Toyota Corolla 263.40
3 Bob Nicoli Peter McNeall Datsun P510 268.24
4 Jim Marden Adrian Stafford Datsun P510 281.23
5 Chris Hake Vicki Hake Datsun P510 285.06
6 Mark Anderson Tim Hatley Datsun P510 288.44
7 Frank Johnson Brian Small Mazda 323 288.48
8 Peter Flood Graham Romyn Holden Gemini 293.51
9 Murray Coote Brian Marsden Mazda 626 296.43
10 Ed Mulligan Geoff Jones Escort BDA 298.21

Round Two – Lutwyche Village Rally

Position Driver Navigator Car Time
1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun Stanza SSS 5h 15m 31s
2 Ross Dunkerton Jeff Beaumont Datsun Stanza SSS 5h 16m 52s
3 George Fury Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza SSS 5h 19m 47s
4 Murray Coote Brian Marsden Mazda 626 5h 29m 13s
5 Peter Phillips Peter Garbett Datsun 1600 5h 39m 14s
6 Mark Hankinson Graham Moule Toyota T-18 5h 53m 58s
7 John Berne Bruce Fullerton Ford Escort RS2000 5h 57m 35s
8 Doug Thompson Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza SSS 5h 59m 33s
9 Bruce Garland Allan Brown Ford Escort 6h 02m 33s
10 Peter Kelly Greg Coonan Ford Escort 6h 04m 32s

Round Three – Bega Valley Rally

Position Driver Navigator Car Time
1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun Stanza SSS 4h 31m 22s
2 Wayne Bell Col Parry Holden Commodore 4h 41m 13s
3 Chris Brown Simon Brown Datsun 180B 4h 43m 06s
4 Gordon Leven Robbie Wilson Datsun Stanza SSS 4h 52m 26s
5 Doug Thompson Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza SSS 4h 52m 47s
6 Ian McKenzie Mick Harker Datsun 1600 4h 55m 36s
7 John Fraser Guenter Nowacki Mitsubishi Lancer 4h 57m 44s
8 Chris Berry John Robinson Datsun 5h 02m 31s
9 Paul Bramble Kelvin Hayes Mitsubishi Galant 5h 03m 49s
10 Peter Glennie Mike Ryan Datsun 200B 5h 04m 05s

Round Four – Akademos Rally

Position Driver Navigator Car Time
1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun Stanza SSS 2h 46m 13s
2 George Fury Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza SSS 2h 48m 22s
3 Wayne Bell Col Parry Holden Commodore 2h 57m 34s
4 Chris Brown Simon Brown Datsun 180B 2h 58m 32s
5 John Atkinson Bob Comley Datsun Stanza SSS 3h 03m 36s
6 John Bramman Geoff Cuttriss Ford Escort Twin Cam 3h 09m 38s
7 Peter Glover Sue Wiseman Ford Escort 3h 09m 51s
8 Gordon Leven Robert Wilson Datsun Stanza SSS 3h 12m 03s
9 Garry Harrowfield Ian Ellis Datsun 1600 3h 18m 29s
10 Gary Crealy Barry Collins Datsun 1600 3h 18m 59s

Round Five – Alpine Rally

Position Driver Navigator Car Time
1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun Stanza SSS 5h 58m 12s
2 George Fury Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza SSS 6h 07m 14s
3 Doug Thompson Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza SSS 6h 14m 07s
4 Alex Fitcher Noel Richards Datsun 1600 6h 18m 24s
5 John Berne David Pieti Ford Escort BDA 6h 25m 32s
6 Ian Swan Mike Prendergast Datsun Stanza SSS 6h 30m 23s
7 Chris Wall Lloyd Minifie Datsun P510 6h 33m 42s
8 Greg Trotter Phil Yeomans Mazda RX3 6h 34m 53s
9 Peter Nelson Graham Moule Datsun H510 SSS 6h 40m 41s
10 John Atkinson Bob Comley Datsun Stanza SSS 6h 41m 09s

1981 Drivers and Navigators Championships

Final pointscore for 1981 is as follows.

Geoff Portman – Champion Driver 1981

Position Driver Car Points
1 Geoff Portman Datsun Stanza SSS 80
2 George Fury Datsun Stanza SSS 42
3 Ross Dunkerton Datsun Stanza SSS 35
4 Wayne Bell Holden Commodore 25
5 Chris Brown Datsun 180B 24
6 Doug Thompson Datsun Stanza SSS 23
7 Clive Slater Toyota Corolla 15
8 Gordon Leven Datsun Stanza SSS 14
=9 Ed Mulligan Escort BDA 12
=9 John Berne Ford Escort BDA 12
11 Murray Coote Mazda 929 11
=12 Bob Nicoli Datsun 1600 10
=12 Allan Fitcher Datsun 1600 10
14 John Atkinson Datsun Stanza SSS 9
15 Jim Martin Datsun 1600 8

Ross Runnalls – Champion Navigator 1981

Position Navigator Car Points
1 Ross Runnalls Datsun Stanza SSS 80
2 Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza SSS 42
3 Jeff Beaumont Datsun Stanza SSS 35
4 Col Parry Holden Commodore 25
5 Simon Brown Datsun 180B 24
6 Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza SSS 23
7 Rod van der Straaten Toyota Corolla 15
8 Robert Wilson Datsun Stanza SSS 14
9 Geoff Jones Escort BDA 12
10 Brian Marsden Mazda 929 11
=11 Noel Richards Ford Escort BDA 10
=11 Peter McNeil Datsun 1600 10
13 Bob Comley Datsun 1600 9
=14 Adrian Stafford Datsun Stanza SSS 8
=14 Peter Garbett Datsun 1600 8

References

  1. ^ Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1981/82 ISSN 0158-4138
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