Datsuns in the dirt

[HKSZ]

A few vids of a historic rally we had at Bagshot last week link here

http://youtu.be/SVeajT97kAs    thanks to HRA mem Keith wells.

A lot of powerful and expensive cars turned up 2 genuine XU1s  180b sss insane Power play escort.

My car is 43 about half way in each vid.

 

Got to speak to Ross Dunkerton at a function last night, quized him on the 240z he won Aus rally and racing for Datsun in the '70's. Didn't speak in awe of that time, infact I think his preferance lay with the escort mk 2, could be because of the shonky and under the table deals all factory teams used

[dat2kman]

That Escort has cost him a bomb.

He would have far better off buying a genuine Datsun, a original BDA Escort beater, but no, these Fird blokes think nothing of tipping 120,000 into a rebuilt Mk2 Escort.

 

He wont talk of Datsun, cos he has to promote his current car.

Btw i have access to two all steel BDG Escort twin cam engines, on twin carbs, suit race or rally, at $30,000 each.

Thats what these things cost!

Crazy.

 

Oh, the Escort beater, just a little Datsun 120 Y ( 240Y !!!)

 

In 1987 and 1988 we ran a Z in the NSW rally championship, won it outright in 88, and in 87 we scored a fourth outright at Rally Australia.

Pics have been psted somewhere on here in past.

 

 

[boyblunda]

I might well be very much in error here but I think the car he won three consecutive National rally championships in the 1970's was a 260Z - splitting hairs really as it is still an S30. He had virtually nil factory assistance or sponsorship for these wins

 

The story surrounding Dunkerton's involvement in the Australian Rally Championship is well told from his perspective in his recently released book - available from Pitstop bookshop. There would be simply too much detail required to be able to make any meaningful balanced and lasting worthwhile comment in a passing conversation. My impression was that he was never the favoured driver choice for the Datsun team but his results could just not be ignored. He won his first three titles in a Zed with minimal factory support or sponsorship despite the factor that he was a successful Datsun dealer at the time. He was clearly an incredible driver and had the ability to nurse a car to the finish when others would record a DNF and have just gone home to bed. He did not drive a car to flog it until it died but rather rung the full potential of anything he drove to extract the best possible result.

 

Western Australia was one of the first States to run a driver performance based seedings system to determine road position at the start of an event. Dunkerton did not ever top the seedings in this State. This was not due to his lack of performance or undoubted skills and results, but rather because the system at the time did not properly recognise or allow for the canny strategy of driving as slowly as possible to win an event. What was evident in the first few years of this fledgling seedings scheme, was that Dunkerton seemed to drive fast enough to stay with the opposition, but on the key longer stages of the event, often in mid event, could unleash a blinding time on a long stage that would set him up for victory.

 

How he ever got that Volvo to the finish of the 1979 Repco Reliability Trial was tribute to his bush mechanic skills and possibly one of his best ever results - fourth outright behind the dealer team Commodores and first privateer in a car entered at the last minute in one of the toughest rallies ever.

 

I did not know him well but I have enormous respect for his driving ability and for what he brought to Australian Motorsport.

 

Obviously I am a fan but he does not need my opinion to support his position Zed and rally history.

 

Please do read his book.

 

Best regards

Dave