1977 London–Sydney Marathon

The 1977 London–Sydney Marathon, officially Singapore Airlines Rally London-Sydney 1977, was the second running of the London-Sydney Marathon. The rally took place between 14 August and 27 September 1977. The event covered 19,000 miles (30,000 km) through Europe, Asia and Australia. It was won by Andrew Cowan, Colin Malkin and Mike Broad, driving a Mercedes-Benz 280E.

Background

The success of the 1968 London-Sydney Marathon would inspire Australian advertising publicist Wylton Dickson, who had no previous links to rallying to organised the World Cup Rally, which took place in 1970 and again in 1974. But following the controversy over the running of the 1974 event, the World Cup Rally was cancelled and Dickson decided to organise another London to Sydney Marathon in 1977, with sponsorship from Singapore Airlines, who were celebrating their 30th Anniversary, by running the longest car rally in history. The route would see competitors cross Europe and Asia in the first twelve days of the event before the cars would be shipped from India to Malaysia with competitors driving through the country and into Singapore for the next eleven days before being shipped to Australia for the last seven days of the rally.

Results Entrant Drivers Car Penalties (Time) 1 33 The Rank Organisation-Daimler-Benz AG Andrew Cowan Colin Malkin Mike Broad Mercedes-Benz 280E 2hr 42min 18sec 2 48 Johnson Rally Wax-Daimler-Benz AG Tony Fowkes Peter O'Gorman Mercedes-Benz 280E 3hr 37min 22sec 3 45 Total Citroën Australia Paddy Hopkirk Michael Taylor Bob Riley Citroën CX2400 3hr 49min 46sec 4 15 Total Citroën Australia Citroën CX2400 4hr 55min 57sec 5 54 Channel TVW7 Perth-Australian Peugeot Team Ross Dunkerton Bob Watson Roger Bonhomme Peugeot 504 TI 4hr 58min 0sec 6 59 Hildebrand Holztechnik-Daimler-Benz AG Alfred Kling Klaus Kaiser Jorg Leininger Mercedes-Benz 280E 5hr 21min 49sec 7 25 Total Citroën Australia Jean Paul Luc Patrick Vanson Citroën CX2400 6hr 25min 21sec 8 27 Warsteiner Marathon Team-Daimler-Benz AG Herbert Kleint Günther Klapproth Herbert Vormbruck Mercedes-Benz 280E 6hr 26min 31sec 9 1 Frank Johnston Frank Johnston Ben Williams Dick Matson Mazda RX-4 7hr 11min 52sec 10 69 Total Citroën Australia Jim Reddiex Barry Ferguson Doug Stewart Citroën CX2400 7hr 16min 55sec 10 39 Endrust Australia Evan Green John Bryson Tom Leake Range Rover 7hr 46min 6sec 12 52 John Taylor John Taylor Jeremy Browne Robert Hunt Range Rover 8hr 21min 48sec 13 72 Sobiesław Zasada Sobiesław Zasada Wojciecj Schramm Porsche 911 Carrera 9hr 59min 4sec 14 35 Ingleby/Smith James Ingleby Bob Smith Jeep Cherokee 11hr 44min 27sec 15 6 Team Esso Aseptogyl Robert Neyret Marianne Hoepfner Fiat 131 Abarth Diesel 13hr 49min 49sec 16 16 Turkish National Team Aytaç Kot Kayhan Kantarci Renault 12 TS 14hr 11min 57sec 17 22 Jacques Jeandot Jacques Jeandot Werner Koch Volkswagen 1600 44hr 8min 27sec 18 53 Arthur Davies Arthur Davies John Latham Rod James Datsun 180B SSS 89hr 29min 21sec 19 48 Noriyuki Koseki Noriyuki Koseki Yoshio Takaoka Hiroshi Okazaki Subaru Leone 4WD 93hr 34min 10sec 20 60 Victoria Toyota Dealers Wes Nalder Noel Richards Toyota Corolla 95hr 29min 33sec 21 58 Freeway Exhaust & Tyre Service Chris Bruce Peter Carracher Dave Turtle Ford Escort RS2000 Mark II 101hr 20min 12 sec 22 41 Brian Chuchua Brian Chuchua David Howes Kenneth Adams Jeep CJ-6 102hr 52min 38sec 23 24 Team Esso Aseptogyl Giancarlo Baghetti Tommaso Carletti Fiat 131 Abarth Diesel 105hr 15min 40sec 24 42 Turkish National Team İskender Arouba Demir Bükey Renault 12 TS 115hr 26min 53sec 25 40 Basil Wadman Basil Wadman Mark Shand Robert Arthur Peugeot 504 TI 143hr 34min 41sec 26 76 Wally Glass Wally Glass Peter Flanagan Paul Caddey Holden Torana LH 151hr 54min 20sec 27 5 John Stathatos John Stathatos Erling Jensen Peugeot 504 TI 217hr 43min 39sec 28 71 Michael O’Connell Michael O’Connell Anne O’Connell John Keating Citroën CX2400 254hr 1min 54sec 29 67 Brian Chuchua Dennis Lundstedt Erick Hauge Richard Dahn Jeep CJ-6 264hr 27min 58sec 30 74 Australian Peugeot Team Bob Holden Ian Monk Peugeot 504 TI 266hr 15min 58sec 31 20 Richard Beldam Richard Beldam Steve Kimbrell Gary Whitcombe Range Rover 280hr 39min 25sec 32 13 Hank Kabel Hank Kabel Simon Kabel Russell Worthington Mazda 929 305hr 31min 14sec 33 73 Coca-Cola Australia Allen Hausler Barry Allen Doug Francis Leyland Terrier 377hr 56min 4sec 34 14 Greg Nicholson Greg Nicholson Norman Sherlock Chrysler Lancer 450hr 27min 4sec 35 7 Coca-Cola Australia Hans Tholstrup John Crawford Mini Moke 471hr 14min 10sec 36 10 Francis Tuthill Francis Tuthill Tony Sowell Volkswagen Beetle 498hr 48min 34sec 37 56 Apex Leisure Tom Currah Steve Tucker Bedford Autosleeper 509hr 26min 42sec 38 50 Hutt River Province Charles Roberts Len Webb Ray Brooks Renault 30 TS 623hr 16min 17sec 39 31 Kassim Mohamed Kassim Mohamed Kay Fook Syed Adlan Wong Sau Man Fiat 132 GNS 656hr 55min 5sec 40 17 Light Car Club of Australia Ian Baxter Mick Ellis Datsun P510 702hr 4min 43sec 41 61 Mitsuru Eguchi Mitsuru Eguchi Tuto Eguchi Volvo 164 772hr 3min 37sec 42 9 Australian Peugeot Team Brian Hilton Barry Lake Peugeot 504 TI 994hr 59min 32sec 43 23 Pickup Van & 4WD Magazine Don Brown Cam Warren Jeep Cherokee 1099hr 10min 39sec 44 57 G.W. Bartlett-T.W. Hollidge Limited Gerald Bartlett Geoff Eldridge George Harris Citroën CX2400 Estate 1168hr 33min 14sec 45 21 Tom Delashmutt Tom Delashmutt Carlos Neiderhauser Chevrolet Vega Cosworth 1198hr 18min 40sec 46 3 Vincent Wong Vincent Wong Ah Seng Hoe Tee Hoo Tedh Mini Clubman 1343hr 31min 53sec 47 19 Post Office Telecoms Mike Dickin Simon Park Mini 1275 GT 1423hr 23min 27sec Source:

References

Further reading

External links The 1977 Singapore Airlines London to Sydney Rally – website commemorating the event