1972 Australian Rally Championship
The 1972 Australian Rally Championship was a series of six rallying events held across Australia. It was the fifth season in the history of the competition.
Colin Bond and navigator George Shepheard won the Championship for the second year in a row in the Holden Dealer Team Torana GTR XU-1 .
Season review
[edit]After a late challenge to the HDT Toranas at the 1971 Southern Cross Rally, the works Mitsubishi Galants were expected to do well in the 1972 Australian Rally Championship and pose a major threat to Harry Firth's HDT domination of the series. However it was not to be, as the cars were poorly backed up and suffered from various incidents which cost them the chance of any outright wins. The HDT LJ Torana XU-1's won five of the six rounds, Mitsubishi's best finishes were a second place in the Alpine (for Doug Stewart and Dave Johnson) and thirds in the Warana (Doug Stewart and Dave Johnson) and Snowy Mountains rallies (Doug Chivas and Peter Meyer).
Another major challenge was expected from Renault. Their Renault R8 Gordinis had dominated the 1970 season and the new R12 Gordinis were faster and the team was hoping this would ensure some success for 1972. Tom Barr-Smith was second in the Walkerville 500, and Bob Watson managed a third in the Akademos, but other than that it was a disappointing season.
Colin Bond and George Shepheard dominated the championship, winning three rounds together and a fourth for Shepheard when he navigated for Frank Kilfoyle in the final round, The Alpine.[1]
The Rallies
[edit]The 1972 season featured six events, two each in New South Wales and Victoria; and one each for Queensland and South Australia.[2]
| Round | Rally | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bunbury Curran (NSW) | 16–17 April |
| 2 | Akademos Rally (VIC) | 27–28 May |
| 3 | Snowy Mountains Rally (NSW) | 10–12 June |
| 4 | Warana Rally (QLD) | 23–24 September |
| 5 | Rothmans Walkerville 500 (SA) | 28–29 October |
| 6 | Alpine Rally (VIC) | 25–26 November |
Round One – Bunbury Curran – 16–17 April 1972
[edit]310 miles, 54 starters, 39 finishers
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Bond | George Shepheard | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 25 |
| 2 | Richard Harris | Graham Lockie | Mazda Capella RE | 36 |
| 3 | Doug Stewart | Dave Johnson | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 38 |
| 4 | Stewart McLeod | Jack Lock | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 43 |
| 5 | Peter Lang | Ed O'Cleary | Datsun 1600 | 48 |
| 6 | Paul Older | Brian McElhinney | BMW 2002 | 51 |
| 7 | Brian West | Gary Hartnett | Mini Clubman GT | 54 |
| 8 | Grahame Elliott | Fred Gocentas | Datsun 1600 | 57 |
| 9 | Brian Hilton | Barry Lake | Peugeot 504 | 59 |
| 10 | Peter Robertson | Chris Jessup | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 62 |
Round Two – Akademos Rally – 27–28 May 1972
[edit]320 miles, 38 starters, 23 finishers
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Kilfoyle | Roger Bonhomme | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 31 |
| 2 | Colin Bond | George Shepheard | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 32 |
| 3 | Bob Watson | Geoff Thomas | Renault 12 Gordini | 34 |
| 4 | Barry Ferguson | Warwick Smith | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 37 |
| 5 | George Fury | Monty Suffern | Ford Cortina GT | 38 |
| 6 | Mike Fitzgerald | Geoff Schmidt | Peugeot 404 | 46 |
| 7 | Peter Janson | Mike Mitchell | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 66 |
| 8 | John Dixon | Rex Muldoon | Ford Escort | 74 |
| 9= | Mal McPherson | Jeff Beaumont | Renault 12 Gordini | 75 |
| 9= | Evan Green | Roy Denny | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 75 |
Round Three – Snowy Mountains Rally – 10–12 June 1972
[edit]600 miles, 48 starters, 40 finishers
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Bond | George Shepheard | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 58 |
| 2 | Frank Kilfoyle | Roger Bonhomme | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 60 |
| 3= | Stewart McLeod | Adrian Mortimer | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 65 |
| 3= | Doug Chivas | Peter Meyer | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 65 |
| 5 | Doug Stewart | Dave Johnson | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 70 |
| 6 | Peter Lang | Ed O'Clery | Datsun 1600 | 71 |
| 7 | Barry Ferguson | Warwick Smith | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 88 |
| 8 | Bruce Collier | Lindsay Adcock | Renault 12 Gordini | 92 |
| 9 | Mark Sheridan | Richard McMaster | Volvo 142S | 96 |
| 10 | Arthur Jackson | Peter Godden | Datsun 1600 | 97 |
Round Four – Warana Rally – 23–24 September 1972
[edit]450 miles
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Bond | George Shepheard | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 22 |
| 2 | Frank Kilfoyle | Mike Osborne | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 26 |
| 3 | Doug Stewart | Dave Johnson | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 33 |
| 4 | Bob Riley | Brian Gemmell | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 37 |
| 5 | Mike Chapman | Alan Lawson | Holden HK V8 | 40 |
| 6 | Stewart McLeod | Adrian Mortimer | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 41 |
| 7 | Ian Riedel | Ray Wood | Holden Monaro 350 | 45 |
| 8 | Evan Green | Roy Denny | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 50 |
| 9 | Charlie Lund | Brian McCloy | Mazda RX-3 | 52 |
| 10 | Doug Chivas | Peter Meyer | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 58 |
Round Five – Rothmans Walkerville 500 – 28–29 October 1972
[edit]320 miles
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Taylor | Graham West | Austin Kimberley | 20 |
| 2 | Tom Barr-Smith | Rob Hunt | Renault 12 Gordini | 26 |
| 3 | Gary Chapman | Norm Vincent | Mazda RX-3 | 41 |
| 4 | Tony Pennell | Jack Lock | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 42 |
| 5 | Keith Intveld | Ian Hese | Citroen | 49 |
| 6 | Chuck Mora | Colin Abbey | Renault 16TS | 56 |
Round Six – Alpine Rally – 25–26 November 1972
[edit]600 miles
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frank Kilfoyle | George Shepheard | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 62 |
| 2 | Doug Stewart | Dave Johnson | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 83 |
| 3 | Peter Janson | Mike Prendergast | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 85 |
| 4 | Doug Chivas | Peter Meyer | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 100 |
| 5 | Bob Riley | Adrian van Loon | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 103 |
| 6= | Helmut Goetz | Mike Mitchell | Datsun 1600 SSS | 111 |
| 6= | Gil Davis | Peter Haas | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 111 |
| 8 | Sue Ransom | Christine Cole | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 117 |
| 9 | Len Shaw | Jim McAuliffe | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 124 |
| 10 | Warwick Smith | Tony Walsham | Renault Dauphine | 153 |
1972 Drivers and Navigators Championships
[edit]Final pointscore for 1972 is as follows.[3]
Colin Bond – Champion Driver 1972
[edit]| Position | Driver | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Bond | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 33 |
| 2 | Frank Kilfoyle | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 30 |
| 3 | Doug Stewart | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 16 |
| 4 | John Taylor | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 9 |
| 5 | Stewart McLeod | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 8 |
| 6 | Doug Chivas | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 7 |
George Shepheard – Champion Navigator 1972
[edit]| Position | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Shepheard | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 42 |
| 2 | Dave Johnson | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 16 |
| 3 | Roger Bonhomme | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 15 |
| 4 | Graham West | Austin Kimberley | 9 |
| 5 | Peter Meyer | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 7 |
| 6= | Rob Hunt | Renault 12 Gordini | 6 |
| 6= | Jack Lock | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 6 |
| 6= | Graham Lockie | Mazda Capella | 6 |
| 6= | Mike Mitchell | Mitsubishi Galant 1600 | 6 |
| 6= | Mike Osborne | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | 6 |