The Australian Cannonball Cup was a car race held in 1984 on public roads between Melbourne and Perth, Australia.

Although the event was originally promoted as timed race with very few rules similar to the US Cannonball Run!,[1] after significant negative publicity the organisers insisted the event was a navigation and endurance rally and instituted a disqualification rule if drivers were caught by police for a driving offence.

The entry fee was $550 per team, and first prize was $10,000.

The race started on Friday 2 November 1984 at a private farm in Diggers Rest on the outskirts of Melbourne.

76 teams had entered but a significant number pulled out prior to the start, leaving 33 teams to contest the race.

Teams could choose any route but had to pass through two checkpoints. The first checkpoint was at Berri, South Australia and the second at Albany, Western Australia.

The race was closely followed by police in all three states that it passed through. Many drivers were booked or arrested. Vehicles were checked for roadworthiness, some on more than one occasion, and at least one vehicle was ordered off the road in Western Australia.

On Sunday 4 November the first team arrived at the finish in Fremantle, Western Australia, in 32 hours and 22 minutes.

Some weeks after the race the organisers disqualified the winning car due to the drivers having been caught by police for a driving offence.[2][3][4] The second placed team was then awarded the win. No other disqualifications were announced, despite a significant number of other teams having been caught by police.

The race organiser suffered financial problems and no prize money was paid out.[5]

A second event was planned for 1985 but never ran.

Results

Position Entrant Race Time
DQCharles Kovacs, Len Walsh32h 22m 5s
1John Hassard, Ian Bray, John Crowle33h 4m 16s
2Murray Buchan, Darryl Penley33h 5m 0s
3Andrew Csaszar, Russell Morton33h 11m 17s
4Graham Collins, Robert Harvey, Don Ogilvie33h 33m 44s
5Warrick Jacobson, Ron Flanigan33h 57m 13s
6Ron Reid, Robert Pollit, Chris Ohlin34h 6m 57s
7Peter Martin, Lindsay Williams, Robert Shanahan34h 15m 25s
8Wayne Haw, Allan Fielding, Jeff Haire34h 36m 59s
9Carlo Aloi, Ted Camilleri34h 46m 26s
10Phil Hansen, Scott Sieger35h 9m 34s
11Leigh Cohen, Graham Callaghan35h 23m 32s
12Neville French, Jim Fernance, Simon Fraser35h 36m 31s
13Barbara Langshaw, Mark Kent35h 57m 41s
14Jerry Reinisch, Jerry Revay, Lucas Hagan36h 1m 32s
15Ken Hourigan, Philip Hourigan36h 2m 38s
16Peter Pearce, Geoff ?, Gary Colton36h 19m 49s
17Jock Calder, Jim Rosenthal, Rob Tolano36h 22m 23s
18Robert Paterno, Alfio Paterno36h 59m 44s
19Geoff Muclahy, Paul Mulcahy, Bill Mulcahy36h 59m 57s
20Indo Saarelaht, Heino Saarelaht, Kurt Seeberg37h 33m 19s
21Steven Swan, Noel Dey38h 33m 27s
22Gerald Brown, Les Dean38h 33m 28s
23Peter Dale, Andrew Fraser, Gerard Ellis39h 21m 49s
24Andre Razums, Lance Dickinson, Steven Mears39h 33m 33s
25Joe Cincotta, Tim Nolan40h 17m 45s
26John Gregory, Axel Tworowsky40h 57m 44s
DNFWalter (Butch) Hollier, Greg Bailey
DNFRick Illes, Robert Altarac
DNFAlan Squires, Rick Wilcox
DNFGraham Stevenson, Chris Colangelo
DNFDavid Westbury, David Krant, Darren Mcmullen
DNFRay Ellis, James Maude

References

  1. "Advertisement".
  2. "Press release page 1".
  3. "Press release page 2".
  4. "Cannonball 2 all set to roll". Truth. 1985-07-27.
  5. "Police probe race debts". Daily News. 1985-01-09.
  1. Australian Cannonball Official Time Sheet

Further reading

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