1982 Australian Rally Championship

The 1982 Australian Rally Championship was a series of five rallying events held across Australia. It was the 15th season in the history of the competition.

Greg Carr and Fred Gocentas in the Fiat 131 Abarth, Lutwyche Village Shopping Centre Rally, 1 May 1982.

Geoff Portman and navigator Ross Runnalls in a Datsun 1600 won the 1982 Championship despite strong opposition from the Fiat 131 Abarth of Greg Carr and Fred Gocentas.

Season review

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The 15th Australian Rally Championship was held over five events across Australia, the season consisting of one event each for Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia and two for New South Wales. There was no major factory support for any of the teams and with a wide variety of cars and competitors it was a difficult season to predict an outcome. At the end of the year Portman and Runnalls had held off tough opposition from Carr and Gocentas and brought their 12-year-old Datsun 1600 home to its first ARC championship.

The Rallies

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The five events of the 1982 season were as follows.[1][2]

Round Rally Date
1 Lutwyche Village Shopping Centre Rally (QLD) 1–2 May 1982
2 The Sunday Times Safari (WA) 5–6 June 1982
3 Dunlop 2GO Rally (NSW) 14–15 August 1982
4 Commonwealth Motors Rally (NSW) 4 September 1982
5 Arco Alpine Rally (VIC) 20–21 November 1982

Round One – The Lutwyche Village Shopping Centre Rally

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Position Driver Navigator Car Penalties
1 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth
2 Ed Mulligan Geoff Jones Ford Escort BDA
3 Wayne Bell Colin Parry Holden Commodore
4 Peter Glennie Brian Smith Datsun Stanza
5 Doug Thompson Jim Maude Datsun Stanza
6 Dennis Brown Warren Tegg Ford Escort
7 John Atkinson Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza
8 Mark Taylor Errol Bailey Mitsubishi Lancer
9 Peter Marcovich Greg Weale Ford Escort

Round Two – The Sunday Times Safari

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Position Driver Navigator Car Penalties
1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 157m 26s
2 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 159m 59 s
3 Clive Slater Rod van der Stratten Toyota Corolla 161m 26s
4 Tony Masling Geoff Jones Datsun Stanza 161m 43s
5 Bob Nicoli David Hartley Datsun Stanza 163m 20s
6 Doug Thompson Jim Maude Datsun Stanza 165m 35s
7 Wayne Bell Colin Parry Holden Commodore
8 Jim Martin Peter MacNeall Datsun 1600
9 Mark Anderson David Burton Datsun 1600
10 John Atkinson Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza


Round Three – The Dunlop 2GO Rally

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Position Driver Navigator Car Penalties
1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 2m 44.55s
2 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 2m 45.23s
3 Hugh Bell Steve Ellis Datsun 1600 2m 46.15s
4 Tony Masling Dave Boddy Datsun Stanza V8 2m 49.29s
5 Gary Burns Jim Gleeson Ford Escort BDA 2m 50.40s
6 Colin Bond John Dawson-Damer Triumph TR8 2m 50.57s
7 Ross Dunkerton Paul Rainer Datsun 1600 2m 51.22s
8 David Officer Kate Hobson Mitsubishi Galant 2m 52.15s
9 Doug Thompson Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza 2m 53.13s
10 Clive Slater Adrian Stafford Toyota Corolla 2m 55.44s

Round Four – The Commonwealth Motors Rally

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Position Driver Navigator Car Penalties
1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 105m 43s
2 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 109m 30s
3 Doug Thompson Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza 113m 55s
4 Barry Lowe Ted Dobrzynski Datsun 1600 "Dazda" 115m 24s
5 John Atkinson Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza 118m 47s
6 Don Ogilvie Stephen Simmons Datsun 120m 53s
7 John Macara David Hartley Mazda 121m 20s
8 Phil Horan Adrian Ward Datsun 123m 40s
9 Peter Pittaway Chris Travers Falcon XW ute 124m 36s
10 Kevin Pedder Peter Gubbins Datsun 125m 03s

Round Five – Arco Alpine Rally

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Position Driver Navigator Car Penalties
1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 340m 56s
2 Doug Thompson Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza 354m 39s
3 Steve Ashton Rosemary Nixon Datsun 1600 355m 18s
4 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 359m 53s
5 Ian Swan Derek Rawson Datsun Stanza 360m 39s
6 Brian Smith Peter Mignot Mitsubishi Galant 361m 37s
7 Peter Clarke Michael Harker Datsun Stanza 362m 41s
8 Paul Bramble Kel Haynes Mitsubishi Lancer 364m 34s
9 Chris Berry Ray Stubbs Datsun 364m 44s
10 Jon Waterhouse Gregory Avon Mazda 366m 04s

1982 Drivers and Navigators Championships

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Final pointscore for 1982 is as follows.[3]

Geoff Portman – Champion Driver 1982

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Position Driver Car Points
1 Geoff Portman Datsun 1600 96
2 Greg Carr Fiat 131 Abarth 89
3 Doug Thompson Datsun Stanza 43
4 Tony Masling Datsun Stanza 22
5 Ed Mulligan Ford Escort RS 1800 18
=5 Wayne Bell Holden Commodore 18

Ross Runnalls – Champion Navigator 1982

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Position Navigator Car Points
1 Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600
2 Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth
3 Geoff Jones Datsun Stanza
4 Col Parry Holden Commodore
5 Rod van der Stratten Toyota Corolla
6 Steve Ellis Datsun 1600

References

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  1. ^ "Bega Valley Rally". Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  2. ^ Australian Motor Racing Year 1982/83 ISSN 0158-4138
  3. ^ Australian Motor Racing Year 1982/83 ISSN 0158-4138
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  • [1] Results of Snowy Mountains Rally and ARC results.