# 1981 Australian Rally Championship

The 1981 Australian Rally Championship was a series of rallying events held across Australia. It was the 14th season in the history of the competition.
Geoff Portman and navigator Ross Runnalls in the Datsun Stanza won the 1981 Championship.

## Season review

The 1981 season saw the Datsun Stanzas dominate the competition once more, taking out first, second and third places in the championship. It was the sixth championship for Datsun in seven years, with wins in all five rounds. The Nissan Rally Team were the only "works" supported team competing in the championship following the withdrawal of the Ford Rally and Holden Dealer teams at the end of the 1980 season. This was the final season for the Nissan Rally Team when Nissan transferred their interest to circuit racing with the turbo charged Nissan Bluebird.

## The Rallies

The five events of the 1981 season were as follows.
| Round | Rally |
| 1 | Rally of the West (WA) |
| 2 | Lutwyche Village Rally (QLD) |
| 3 | Bega Valley Rally (NSW) |
| 4 | Akademos Rally (VIC) |
| 5 | Alpine Rally (VIC) |

### Round One – Commonwealth Bank Rally of the West

| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Time |
| 1 | Ross Dunkerton | Jeff Beaumont | Datsun Stanza | 262.41 |
| 2 | Clive Slater | Rod van der Straaten | Toyota Corolla | 263.40 |
| 3 | Bob Nicoli | Peter McNeall | Datsun P510 | 268.24 |
| 4 | Jim Marden | Adrian Stafford | Datsun P510 | 281.23 |
| 5 | Chris Hake | Vicki Hake | Datsun P510 | 285.06 |
| 6 | Mark Anderson | Tim Hatley | Datsun P510 | 288.44 |
| 7 | Frank Johnson | Brian Small | Mazda 323 | 288.48 |
| 8 | Peter Flood | Graham Romyn | Holden Gemini | 293.51 |
| 9 | Murray Coote | Brian Marsden | Mazda 626 | 296.43 |
| 10 | Ed Mulligan | Geoff Jones | Escort BDA | 298.21 |

### Round Two – Lutwyche Village Rally

| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Time |
| 1 | Geoff Portman | Ross Runnalls | Datsun Stanza SSS | 5h 15m 31s |
| 2 | Ross Dunkerton | Jeff Beaumont | Datsun Stanza SSS | 5h 16m 52s |
| 3 | George Fury | Monty Suffern | Datsun Stanza SSS | 5h 19m 47s |
| 4 | Murray Coote | Brian Marsden | Mazda 626 | 5h 29m 13s |
| 5 | Peter Phillips | Peter Garbett | Datsun 1600 | 5h 39m 14s |
| 6 | Mark Hankinson | Graham Moule | Toyota T-18 | 5h 53m 58s |
| 7 | John Berne | Bruce Fullerton | Ford Escort RS2000 | 5h 57m 35s |
| 8 | Doug Thompson | Ron Lugg | Datsun Stanza SSS | 5h 59m 33s |
| 9 | Bruce Garland | Allan Brown | Ford Escort | 6h 02m 33s |
| 10 | Peter Kelly | Greg Coonan | Ford Escort | 6h 04m 32s |

### Round Three – Bega Valley Rally

| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Time |
| 1 | Geoff Portman | Ross Runnalls | Datsun Stanza SSS | 4h 31m 22s |
| 2 | Wayne Bell | Col Parry | Holden Commodore | 4h 41m 13s |
| 3 | Chris Brown | Simon Brown | Datsun 180B | 4h 43m 06s |
| 4 | Gordon Leven | Robbie Wilson | Datsun Stanza SSS | 4h 52m 26s |
| 5 | Doug Thompson | Ron Lugg | Datsun Stanza SSS | 4h 52m 47s |
| 6 | Ian McKenzie | Mick Harker | Datsun 1600 | 4h 55m 36s |
| 7 | John Fraser | Guenter Nowacki | Mitsubishi Lancer | 4h 57m 44s |
| 8 | Chris Berry | John Robinson | Datsun | 5h 02m 31s |
| 9 | Paul Bramble | Kelvin Hayes | Mitsubishi Galant | 5h 03m 49s |
| 10 | Peter Glennie | Mike Ryan | Datsun 200B | 5h 04m 05s |

### Round Four – Akademos Rally

| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Time |
| 1 | Geoff Portman | Ross Runnalls | Datsun Stanza SSS | 2h 46m 13s |
| 2 | George Fury | Monty Suffern | Datsun Stanza SSS | 2h 48m 22s |
| 3 | Wayne Bell | Col Parry | Holden Commodore | 2h 57m 34s |
| 4 | Chris Brown | Simon Brown | Datsun 180B | 2h 58m 32s |
| 5 | John Atkinson | Bob Comley | Datsun Stanza SSS | 3h 03m 36s |
| 6 | John Bramman | Geoff Cuttriss | Ford Escort Twin Cam | 3h 09m 38s |
| 7 | Peter Glover | Sue Wiseman | Ford Escort | 3h 09m 51s |
| 8 | Gordon Leven | Robert Wilson | Datsun Stanza SSS | 3h 12m 03s |
| 9 | Garry Harrowfield | Ian Ellis | Datsun 1600 | 3h 18m 29s |
| 10 | Gary Crealy | Barry Collins | Datsun 1600 | 3h 18m 59s |

### Round Five – Alpine Rally

| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Time |
| 1 | Geoff Portman | Ross Runnalls | Datsun Stanza SSS | 5h 58m 12s |
| 2 | George Fury | Monty Suffern | Datsun Stanza SSS | 6h 07m 14s |
| 3 | Doug Thompson | Ron Lugg | Datsun Stanza SSS | 6h 14m 07s |
| 4 | Alex Fitcher | Noel Richards | Datsun 1600 | 6h 18m 24s |
| 5 | John Berne | David Pieti | Ford Escort BDA | 6h 25m 32s |
| 6 | Ian Swan | Mike Prendergast | Datsun Stanza SSS | 6h 30m 23s |
| 7 | Chris Wall | Lloyd Minifie | Datsun P510 | 6h 33m 42s |
| 8 | Greg Trotter | Phil Yeomans | Mazda RX3 | 6h 34m 53s |
| 9 | Peter Nelson | Graham Moule | Datsun H510 SSS | 6h 40m 41s |
| 10 | John Atkinson | Bob Comley | Datsun Stanza SSS | 6h 41m 09s |

## 1981 Drivers and Navigators Championships

Final pointscore for 1981 is as follows.

### Geoff Portman – Champion Driver 1981

| Position | Driver | Car | Points |
| 1 | Geoff Portman | Datsun Stanza SSS | 80 |
| 2 | George Fury | Datsun Stanza SSS | 42 |
| 3 | Ross Dunkerton | Datsun Stanza SSS | 35 |
| 4 | Wayne Bell | Holden Commodore | 25 |
| 5 | Chris Brown | Datsun 180B | 24 |
| 6 | Doug Thompson | Datsun Stanza SSS | 23 |
| 7 | Clive Slater | Toyota Corolla | 15 |
| 8 | Gordon Leven | Datsun Stanza SSS | 14 |
| =9 | Ed Mulligan | Escort BDA | 12 |
| =9 | John Berne | Ford Escort BDA | 12 |
| 11 | Murray Coote | Mazda 929 | 11 |
| =12 | Bob Nicoli | Datsun 1600 | 10 |
| =12 | Allan Fitcher | Datsun 1600 | 10 |
| 14 | John Atkinson | Datsun Stanza SSS | 9 |
| 15 | Jim Martin | Datsun 1600 | 8 |

### Ross Runnalls – Champion Navigator 1981

| Position | Navigator | Car | Points |
| 1 | Ross Runnalls | Datsun Stanza SSS | 80 |
| 2 | Monty Suffern | Datsun Stanza SSS | 42 |
| 3 | Jeff Beaumont | Datsun Stanza SSS | 35 |
| 4 | Col Parry | Holden Commodore | 25 |
| 5 | Simon Brown | Datsun 180B | 24 |
| 6 | Ron Lugg | Datsun Stanza SSS | 23 |
| 7 | Rod van der Straaten | Toyota Corolla | 15 |
| 8 | Robert Wilson | Datsun Stanza SSS | 14 |
| 9 | Geoff Jones | Escort BDA | 12 |
| 10 | Brian Marsden | Mazda 929 | 11 |
| =11 | Noel Richards | Ford Escort BDA | 10 |
| =11 | Peter McNeil | Datsun 1600 | 10 |
| 13 | Bob Comley | Datsun 1600 | 9 |
| =14 | Adrian Stafford | Datsun Stanza SSS | 8 |
| =14 | Peter Garbett | Datsun 1600 | 8 |