The 1970 Australian Rally Championship

Australian Rally Championship

The Australian Rally Championship is a 6 Round National motorsport Championship run in forested countryside throughout Australia.-Current Competition:...

was a series of five rallying

Rallying

Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...

 events held across Australia. It was the third season in the history of the competition.

Bob Watson and navigator Jim McCauliffe in the Renault R8 Gordini were the winners of the 1970 Championship.

Season review

The third Australian Rally Championship was decided over five events, staged across the Eastern States of Australia with two events in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

 and one each in Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 and South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

. The series was dominated by the Renault R8 Gordinis, with Watson and McCauliffe winning four of the five rounds and coming second in the other. Their closest challenge was from Colin Bond

Colin Bond

Colin John Bond is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team...

 and Brian Hope in the new Holden Monaro GTS 350

Holden Monaro

The Holden Monaro is an automobile that was produced by GM Holden Ltd, an Australian subsidiary of General Motors, between 1968 and 1977 and between 2001 and 2005...

.

The Rallies

The five events of the 1970 season were as follows.

Round	Rally	Date
1	Eureka Rally (VIC)
2	Blue Ribbon Rally (VIC)
3	Snowy Mountains Rally (NSW) Bega Valley Rally The Bega Valley Rally is one of the main car rallies held in Australia and has a history dating from the 1960s when it evolved from the Snowy Mountains Rally. It was centred in the New South Wales town of Bega since 1973 and used roads and forestry tracks in the Southern NSW/Victorian Border...
4	Cambridge Toyota Rally (SA)
5	Warana Rally (QLD)

Round Three - Cibie Snowy Rally

Bega Valley Rally

The Bega Valley Rally is one of the main car rallies held in Australia and has a history dating from the 1960s when it evolved from the Snowy Mountains Rally. It was centred in the New South Wales town of Bega since 1973 and used roads and forestry tracks in the Southern NSW/Victorian Border...

Position	Driver	Navigator	Car	Points
1	Bob Watson	Jim McCauliffe	Renault R8 Gordini	16
2	Colin Bond Colin Bond Colin John Bond is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team...	Brian Hope	Holden Monaro 350 Holden Monaro The Holden Monaro is an automobile that was produced by GM Holden Ltd, an Australian subsidiary of General Motors, between 1968 and 1977 and between 2001 and 2005...	17
3	Max Winkless	Peter Meyer	Volvo 142S	21
4	Bruce Collier	Peter Haas	Renault R8 Gordini	31
5	Peter Houghton	Mick Nielson	Peugeot 404 Peugeot 404 The Peugeot 404 is a large family car produced by French automobile manufacturer Peugeot from 1960 to 1975, with the exception of the truck which was sold until 1988. It was also made under licence in various African countries until 1991 . It was also built in Argentina by Sevel.Designed by...	36
6	Mal McPherson	Roger Bonhomme	Renault R8 Gordini	38

Bob Watson - Champion Driver 1970

Position	Driver	Car	Points
1	Bob Watson	Renault R8 Gordini
2	Colin Bond Colin Bond Colin John Bond is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team...	Holden Monaro 350 Holden Monaro The Holden Monaro is an automobile that was produced by GM Holden Ltd, an Australian subsidiary of General Motors, between 1968 and 1977 and between 2001 and 2005...
3	Mal McPherson	Renault R8 Gordini
4	Tony Roberts
5	Stewart McLeod
6	Peter Robertson

Jim McCauliffe - Champion Navigator 1970

Position	Navigator	Car	Points
1	Jim McCauliffe	Renault R8 Gordini
2	Brian Hope	Holden Monaro 350 Holden Monaro The Holden Monaro is an automobile that was produced by GM Holden Ltd, an Australian subsidiary of General Motors, between 1968 and 1977 and between 2001 and 2005...
3	Robin Sharpley
4	Mike Osborne
5	John Lock
6	Roger Bonhomme	Renault R8 Gordini

External Links

• http://www.begavalleyrally.com.au/history/ Results of Snowy Mountains Rally and ARC results.