Alpine Rally SHORTS – Murray Coote

My memories of the Alpine

It was like an end of year pilgrimage for me – the last rally for the year.

Rally crews taking over the friendly town of Bright creating a special atmosphere.  Winning the Alpine (to me) was even more of an achievement than winning the Australian Rally Championship.

Scantily clad girls cleaning the windscreens at the end of stages.

The cricket matches on the oval at Bright at the end of the event were something I will never forget.  John Dawson-Damer acting as umpire with a bottle of wine stored at the base of the wickets.

I guess in my memory it was the entire package, the area, the roads, the social atmosphere before and after and during the event yet so highly competitive as everyone wanted to win the Alpine.

Murray Coote has competed in many Alpine Rallies

 from the mid-1970s to 1991, 

when he won BP Alpine Rally 

that year on his way to secure the

 Australian Rally Championship as well.

Murray also made a cameo appearance to compete in the 2005 Alpine Rally of East Gippsland.

 

The second of the new generation of Alpine Rallies to be based in Lakes Entrance, 

in a borrowed Datsun Stanza that I arranged and sponsored by my new internet 

start-up Datunparts-In-Oz, which is still going strong

Credits

Pictures

John Doutch - B Team Media

Lyndon Mechielsen

Simon Brown

Auto Action

Research

Simon Brown

Additional Material

rallypedia.com.au

Mazda Motor Sport

BP Australia

Light Car Club of Australia files