The 1974 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 seven 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 seventh season in the history of the competition.

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 navigator George Shepheard in the Holden Dealer Team

Holden Dealer Team

The Holden Dealer Team was Holden’s semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1987, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and sports sedans during the 1970s...

 Holden Torana GTR XU-1

Holden Torana

The Holden Torana is a car which was produced by General Motors–Holden's , the Australian subsidiary of General Motors from 1967 to 1980. The name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "to fly". The first Torana appeared in 1967 and was a four-cylinder compact vehicle that had its origins in the...

 were the winners of the 1974 Championship.

Season review

The seventh Australian Rally Championship was expanded to seven events now venturing to the West with the first ever round to be staged in West Australia. This season consisted of 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...

, 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...

 and West Australia. 1974 was to be the last year of domination from the Holden Torana GTR XU-1's

Holden Torana

The Holden Torana is a car which was produced by General Motors–Holden's , the Australian subsidiary of General Motors from 1967 to 1980. The name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning "to fly". The first Torana appeared in 1967 and was a four-cylinder compact vehicle that had its origins in the...

. 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 Shepheard had four wins and a second to win the championship, but had increasing opposition from the Datsun 240Z's of Stewart McLeod/Adrian Mortimer and Ross Dunkerton

Ross Dunkerton

Ross Dunkerton is considered Australia's most successful rally driver to date, originating in Perth, Western Australia. He was previously a councillor for the Town of Bassendean, but moved with his family to Cairns in Far North Queensland in late 2007.Ross is married to his wife Lisa has two...

/John Large.

The Rallies

The seven events of the 1974 season were as follows.

Round	Rally	Date
1	Semperit 1600 Rally (WA)
2	Akademos Rally (VIC)
3	Bega Valley 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	Uniroyal Southern Rally (SA)
5	Warana Rally (QLD)
6	Bunbury-Curran (NSW)
7	Alpine Rally (VIC)

Round Three - Bega Valley 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	Stewart McLeod	Adrian Mortimer	Datsun 240Z	55
2	Peter Lang	Fred Gocentas	Torana GTR XU-1	56
3	Ross Dunkerton Ross Dunkerton Ross Dunkerton is considered Australia's most successful rally driver to date, originating in Perth, Western Australia. He was previously a councillor for the Town of Bassendean, but moved with his family to Cairns in Far North Queensland in late 2007.Ross is married to his wife Lisa has two...	John Large	Datsun 240Z	63
4	Bill Evans	Mike Mitchell	Datsun 120Y	85
5	Bruce Cheesman	Graham Lockie	Datsun 1600 Datsun 510 The Datsun 510 was a series of the Datsun Bluebird sold from 1968 to 1974, and offered outside the U.S. and Canada as the Datsun 1600. According to AutoWeek's G.D...	110
6	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...	George Shepheard	Torana GTR XU-1	116

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...

 - Champion Driver 1974

Position	Driver	Car	Points
1	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...	Torana GTR XU-1
2	Stewart McLeod	Datsun 240Z
3	Ross Dunkerton Ross Dunkerton Ross Dunkerton is considered Australia's most successful rally driver to date, originating in Perth, Western Australia. He was previously a councillor for the Town of Bassendean, but moved with his family to Cairns in Far North Queensland in late 2007.Ross is married to his wife Lisa has two...	Datsun 240Z
4	Peter Lang	Torana GTR XU-1
5	Dean Rainsford
6	Bill Evans	Datsun 120Y

George Shepheard - Champion Navigator 1974

Position	Navigator	Car	Points
1	George Shepheard	Torana GTR XU-1
2	Adrian Mortimer	Datsun 240Z
3	John Large	Datsun 240Z
4	Graham West
5	Mike Mitchell	Datsun 120Y
6	John Suominen

External Links

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