The 1988 Australian Rally Championship was a series of rallying events held across Australia. It was the 21st season of the Australian Rally Championship.
The series for 1988 had just four events, with Queenslanders Murray Coote and Iain Stewart taking out the title in their Mazda 323 4WD. Four-wheel drive vehicles dominated the series signalling the end of any chances of two wheel drive vehicles being competitive. The Alpine Rally was not included in the year's events, and the Esanda Rally in the ACT was only included at the last minute after the cancellation of the Queensland rally round due to withdrawal of Police permission to use Shire Roads.
Season review
The 21st Australian Rally Championship was held over four events across Australia, the season consisting of one event each for Tasmania, Western Australia, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory.
The Rallies
The four events of the 1988 season were as follows.[1]
| Round | Rally | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | APPM/TT-Line Rally Tasmania | 26–27 March 1988 |
| 2 | BP Visco Forest Rally (WA) | 30 April – 1 May 1988 |
| 3 | 2EC Bega Valley Rally (NSW) | 11–12 June 1988 |
| 4 | Esanda Finance Rally of Australia (ACT) | 12–14 August 1988 |
Round One – APPM/TT-Line Rally Tasmania
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murray Coote | Iain Stewart | Mazda 323 4WD | 4h 17m 06s |
| 2 | Greg Carr | Fred Gocentas | Mitsubishi Starion | 4h 20m 42s |
| 3 | Peter Glennie | Peter Clark | Subaru RX Turbo | 4h 24m 33s |
| 4 | David Officer | Kate Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 4h 25m 57s |
| 5 | Patrick Barber | Simon Brown | Ford Laser TX3 4WD | 4h 25m 36s |
| 6 | Graham Alexander | David Stewart | Toyota Corolla GT | 4h 30m 30s |
| 7 | George Kahler | Tony Best | Mazda 323 4WD | 4h 31m 35s |
| 8 | Adrian Taylor | Dave Ambrose | Honda Civic CRX | 4h 32m 02s |
Round Two – BP Visco Forest Rally
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wayne Bell | Dave Boddy | Mazda 323 4WD | 3h 17m 59s |
| 2 | Greg Carr | Fred Gocentas | Mitsubishi Starion | 3h 20m 08s |
| 3 | Murray Coote | Iain Stewart | Mazda 323 4WD | 3h 22m 09s |
| 4 | Rob Herridge | Steve Vanderbyl | Subaru RX Turbo | 3h 22m 37s |
| 5 | John Macara | Rod van der Straaten | Subaru RX Turbo | 3h 22m 46s |
| 6 | Patrick Barber | Simon Brown | Ford Laser TX3 4WD | 3h 30m 49s |
| 7 | Mark Tolcher | David Tolcher | Subaru RX Turbo | 3h 32m 15s |
| 8 | Tony Flood | Martin Morris | Toyota Corolla GT | 3h 32m 34s |
Round Three – 2EC Bega Valley Rally
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Eadie | Chris Shearer | Mazda 323 4WD | 2h 55m 42s |
| 2 | Mark Roach | Mark Price | Mazda 323 4WD | 2h 58m 27s |
| 3 | Greg Carr | Fred Gocentas | Mitsubishi Starion | 2h 58m 33s |
| 4 | Murray Coote | Iain Stewart | Mazda 323 4WD | 2h 59m 00s |
| 5 | Eric Pietila | Mike Rebbechi | Mazda 323 4WD | 3h 01m 14s |
| 6 | Mark Tolcher | David Tolcher | Subaru RX Turbo | 3h 03m 58s |
| 7 | Ian Hill | Phil Bonser | Subaru RX Turbo | 3h 04m 50s |
| 8 | Patrick Barber | Simon Brown | Ford Laser TX3 4WD | 3h 06m 47s |
| 9 | George Kahler | Tony Best | Mazda 323 4WD | 3h 09m 18s |
| 10 | Graham Alexander | David Stewart | Toyota Corolla GT | 3h 09m 30s |
Round Four – Esanda Finance Rally of Australia
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murray Coote | Iain Stewart | Mazda 323 4WD | 3h 26m 54s |
| 2 | David Eadie | Chris Shearer | Mazda 323 4WD | 3h 28m 17s |
| 3 | Peter Clark | David Boddy | Mazda 323 4WD | 3h 28m 23s |
| 4 | Greg Carr | Fred Gocentas | Mitsubishi Starion | 3h 29m 14s |
| 5 | Ed Ordynski | Mark Nelson | Subaru RX Turbo | 3h 31m 11s |
| 6 | David Officer | Kate Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 3h 34m 58s |
| 7 | George Kahler | Tony Best | Mazda 323 4WD | 3h 37m 11s |
| 8 | Adrian Taylor | Dave Ambrose | Honda Civic CRX | 3h 38m 02s |
| 9 | Jon Waterhouse | Russ Witty | Mazda RX-7 | 3h 40m 56s |
| 10 | Jim Middleton | Dale Payne | Holden Commodore V8 | 3h 41m 12s |
1988 Drivers and Navigators Championships
Final pointscore for 1988 is as follows.[2]
Murray Coote – Champion Driver 1988
| Position | Driver | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Murray Coote | Mazda 323 4WD | 62 |
| 2 | Greg Carr | Mitsubishi Starion | 52 |
| 3 | David Eadie | Mazda 323 4WD | 35 |
| 4 | Wayne Bell | Mazda 323 4WD | 20 |
| 5 | Patrick Barber | Ford Laser TX3 4WD | 18 |
| 6 | Mark Roach | Mazda 323 4WD | 15 |
Iain Stewart – Champion Navigator 1988
| Position | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iain Stewart | Mazda 323 4WD | 62 |
| 2 | Fred Gocentas | Mitsubishi Starion | 52 |
| 3 | Chris Shearer | Mazda 323 4WD | 35 |
| 4 | Dave Boddy | Mazda 323 4WD | 20 |
| 5 | Simon Brown | Ford Laser TX3 4WD | 18 |
| 6 | Mark Price | Mazda 323 4WD | 15 |