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 |
|---|---|---|
| DQ | Charles Kovacs, Len Walsh | 32h 22m 5s |
| 1 | John Hassard, Ian Bray, John Crowle | 33h 4m 16s |
| 2 | Murray Buchan, Darryl Penley | 33h 5m 0s |
| 3 | Andrew Csaszar, Russell Morton | 33h 11m 17s |
| 4 | Graham Collins, Robert Harvey, Don Ogilvie | 33h 33m 44s |
| 5 | Warrick Jacobson, Ron Flanigan | 33h 57m 13s |
| 6 | Ron Reid, Robert Pollit, Chris Ohlin | 34h 6m 57s |
| 7 | Peter Martin, Lindsay Williams, Robert Shanahan | 34h 15m 25s |
| 8 | Wayne Haw, Allan Fielding, Jeff Haire | 34h 36m 59s |
| 9 | Carlo Aloi, Ted Camilleri | 34h 46m 26s |
| 10 | Phil Hansen, Scott Sieger | 35h 9m 34s |
| 11 | Leigh Cohen, Graham Callaghan | 35h 23m 32s |
| 12 | Neville French, Jim Fernance, Simon Fraser | 35h 36m 31s |
| 13 | Barbara Langshaw, Mark Kent | 35h 57m 41s |
| 14 | Jerry Reinisch, Jerry Revay, Lucas Hagan | 36h 1m 32s |
| 15 | Ken Hourigan, Philip Hourigan | 36h 2m 38s |
| 16 | Peter Pearce, Geoff ?, Gary Colton | 36h 19m 49s |
| 17 | Jock Calder, Jim Rosenthal, Rob Tolano | 36h 22m 23s |
| 18 | Robert Paterno, Alfio Paterno | 36h 59m 44s |
| 19 | Geoff Muclahy, Paul Mulcahy, Bill Mulcahy | 36h 59m 57s |
| 20 | Indo Saarelaht, Heino Saarelaht, Kurt Seeberg | 37h 33m 19s |
| 21 | Steven Swan, Noel Dey | 38h 33m 27s |
| 22 | Gerald Brown, Les Dean | 38h 33m 28s |
| 23 | Peter Dale, Andrew Fraser, Gerard Ellis | 39h 21m 49s |
| 24 | Andre Razums, Lance Dickinson, Steven Mears | 39h 33m 33s |
| 25 | Joe Cincotta, Tim Nolan | 40h 17m 45s |
| 26 | John Gregory, Axel Tworowsky | 40h 57m 44s |
| DNF | Walter (Butch) Hollier, Greg Bailey | |
| DNF | Rick Illes, Robert Altarac | |
| DNF | Alan Squires, Rick Wilcox | |
| DNF | Graham Stevenson, Chris Colangelo | |
| DNF | David Westbury, David Krant, Darren Mcmullen | |
| DNF | Ray Ellis, James Maude | |
References
- ↑ "Advertisement".
- ↑ "Press release page 1".
- ↑ "Press release page 2".
- ↑ "Cannonball 2 all set to roll". Truth. 1985-07-27.
- ↑ "Police probe race debts". Daily News. 1985-01-09.
