# 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. 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.
| 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 |

### 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.

### Barry Lowe – Champion Driver 1985

| Position | Driver | Car |
| 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 |
| 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 |