Dunkerton wins Southern Cross

Press, 23 October 1980, Page 30

Dunkerton wins Southern Cross

NZPA Port Macquarie Cheering crowds at the tourist town of port- Macquarie yesterday afternoon gave the West 'Australian driver, Ross Dunkerton, a resounding reception as winner of the 1980 Southern Cross international rally. Dunkerton and his Tasmanian co-driver, Geoff .Beaumont, brought their Datsun team Stanza home three minutes clear of Canberra’s Greg Carr and Fred Gocentas in their Ford team EscortOnly 23 of the original 44 starters completed the gruelling 2200 kilometre rally. The drama continued into the closing stages and even a collision with a tree yesterday morning could not stop the plucky Greg , Carr from holding on to second place, although it did dash his chances of winning.

t The Finnish ace, Ari Vata» • nen, and his British 'codriver, David Richards, i brought their battered Escort i home in third place, 24 mini utes behind Carr after, an in- ■ cident-packed drive. - . i Mechanical problem® took their toll with two of the ■ Datsun fancies, George Fury • and Geoff Portman, forced i out by engine failure, both ‘ when they were leading. > A four , times Australian • champion, Dunkerton, howi ever,-nursed his car for his first Southern Cross win. i By finishing fourth in an : Escort, the Gosford crew of i lan Hill and Ann Heaney took out the leading privai leer’s award in a car far less i powerful than the works ve« ■ hides. They finished well clear of ■ Melbourne’s David Jones in a Holden Commodore that i ran in last year’s Repco triaL