1985 Australian Rally Championship

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

Round Three – Mobil Dealers Rally of the Valley
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
Position Driver Car Points
1 Barry Lowe Subaru RX Turbo
2 Hugh Bell Mazda RX-7
3 Peter Clark Subaru RX Turbo
=4 Brian Smith Mitsubishi Sigma
=4 Ron Cremmen Toyota Sprinter
6 Graham Alexander Toyota Sprinter

Kevin Pedder – Champion Navigator 1985
Position Navigator Car Points
1 Kevin Pedder Subaru RX Turbo
2 Steve Ellis Mazda RX-7
3 Wayne Kenny Subaru RX Turbo
=4 Ray Temple Toyota Sprinter
=4 David MacKenzie Mitsubishi Sigma
6 Jon Thompson Holden Commodore

References
  1. Australian Motor Racing Year. 1985–86. ISSN 0158-4138.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  2. "History". Bega Valley Rally. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  • Results of Snowy Mountains Rally and ARC results.
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