The 1985 Australian Rally Championship was a series of six rallying events held across Australia. It was the 18th season in the history of the competition.
Barry Lowe and navigator Kevin Pedder in the Subaru RX Turbo won the 1985 Championship.
Season review [ ]
The 18th Australian Rally Championship was held over six events across Australia, the season consisting of one event each for New South Wales , Victoria, Queensland , South Australia, Tasmania and West Australia. This was the first time an ARC round was conducted in Tasmania, making it a truly Australian wide series.[1] The 1985 season saw the Group A cars finally come into their own, with many crews making the change to the new category, but more importantly the first championship won by a Group A car. It was a tightly fought season with only three points separating first and second after the six events.
The Rallies [ ]
The six events of the 1985 season were as follows.[2] [1]
Round
Rally
Date
1
The Advocate – Fairfield Stages Rally (TAS)
13–14 April 1985
2
Western Mail – Nissan Rally (WA)
11–12 May 1985
3
Mobil Dealers Rally of the Valley (NSW)
9–10 June 1985
4
The Keema Classic Rally (QLD)
6–7 July 1985
5
The Tile Supplies Rally (SA)
19–20 October 1985
6
Akademos Rally (VIC)
16–17 November 1985
Round One – The Advocate – Fairfield Stages Rally [ ]
Position
Driver
Navigator
Car
Penalties
1
Hugh Bell
Steve Ellis
Mazda RX-7
238.57
2
Ian Hill
Phillip Bonser
Ford Escort RS
243.19
3
Andrew Murfett
Phillip Welch
Mazda RX-2
245.24
4
Barry Lowe
Kevin Pedder
Subaru RX Turbo
255.34
5
Andrew Lawson
Paul Kettle
Datsun 1600
258.59
6
Ron Cremmen
Ray Temple
Toyota Sprinter
259.28
Round Two – Western Mail – Nissan Rally [ ]
Position
Driver
Navigator
Car
Penalties
1
Ross Dunkerton
Steve McKimmie
Subaru RX Turbo
235.37
2
Mark Anderson
Peter Baesjou
Datsun
240.32
3
John Macara
David Hatley
Datsun
240.40
4
Peter Clark
Wayne Kenny
Subaru RX Turbo
243.41
5
Brian Smith
David MacKenzie
Mitsubishi Sigma
244.28
6
Robb Herridge
Colin Eckert
Datsun
244.57
Position
Driver
Navigator
Car
Penalties
1
Hugh Bell
Steve Ellis
Mazda RX-7
190.33
2
Ron McKinnon
David Kelley
Datsun 1600
194.46
3
John Atkinson
Geoff Jones
Subaru RX Turbo
194.48
4
Mark Hankinson
Steve Owers
Datsun 1600
195.01
5
Ian Hill
Phillip Bonser
Ford Escort RS
195.35
6
Barry Lowe
Kevin Pedder
Subaru RX Turbo
195.38
[2]
Round Four – The Keema Classic Rally [ ]
Position
Driver
Navigator
Car
Penalties
1
Murray Coote
Iain Stewart
Mazda 323
92.49
2
Gregg Hansford
Dale Payne
Mazda RX-7
95.23
3
Ron Cremmen
Ray Temple
Toyota Sprinter
121.01
4
Denis Brown
John Hall
122.12
5
David Adam
Chris Randell
123.21
6
Mark Taylor
Noel Drummond
123.34
Round Five – The Tile Supplies Rally [ ]
Position
Driver
Navigator
Car
Penalties
1
Barry Lowe
Kevin Pedder
Subaru RX Turbo
147.42
2
Brian Smith
David MacKenzie
Mitsubishi Sigma
147.51
3
Ed Ordynski
Lyn Wilson
Subaru RX Turbo
148.17
4
Andrew Murfett
Pip Welsh
Mazda RX-2
149.48
5
Peter Clark
Wayne Kenny
Subaru RX Turbo
151.41
6
George Fury
Monty Suffern
Datsun 1600
153.56
Round Six – Akademos Rally [ ]
Position
Driver
Navigator
Car
Penalties
1
Hugh Bell
Steve Ellis
Mazda RX-7
77.12
2
Barry Lowe
Kevin Pedder
Subaru RX Turbo
78.32
3
Wayne Bell
David Boddy
Toyota Sprinter
78.39
4
Peter Clark
Wayne Kenny
Subaru RX Turbo
78.43
5
Terry Harris
Bryan Oliver
Ford Escort
79.12
6
Brian Smith
John Birrell
Mitsubishi Sigma
79.44
1985 Drivers and Navigators championships [ ]
Final pointscore for 1985 is as follows.[1]
Barry Lowe – Champion Driver 1985 [ ]
Kevin Pedder – Champion Navigator 1985 [ ]
References [ ]
^ a b c Australian Motor Racing Year . 1985–86. ISSN 0158-4138 .{{cite journal }}
: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link )
^ a b "History" . Bega Valley Rally. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2013 .
External links [ ]
[1] Results of Snowy Mountains Rally and ARC results.