BP Desert Rally Hattah

[Hardex]

Hi Guys I have a couple of old photo's from around 1976 at the BP Desert Rally at Hattah that give you an idea as to how big an event it was back then.I remember one of the most challenging parts of that race believe it or not was getting to the start line in one piece.You see the scrutineering took place about 5 klm away from the start line and between the scrutineering and the start line was Hundreds of spectators and heaps of testosterone and with a bit of sand and mud thrown in and the end result was very predictable.The number of riders and drivers that didn't even make it to the start line was amazing.There were some spectacular crashes and blow ups in that section, that it became the number one spot for spectators to watch.

[Freakshow]

Some blokes from our club did what i though they said was the hattah  but i have no idea where they went, is it always in the same place or does it move ? or is it like the Finke ? where is it run ?

[Hardex]

Hi Freakshow The original event was run by the light car club of Victoria back in the early 70's and it ran till about 1980.There is a event run at the moment at Hattah once a year but it's not on the original property and i don't think it is as big as the old event but it sure was a great event to ride in.

[Freakshow]

well the guys that do it also do the finke and reckon its a winner where ever it is.  they mentioned from what i rmeber that it went for a set time like 4 hr in a 20 min circuits, or so many laps or until the first rifder comes in.  from what i heard the lads spend more time in the dirt although one came 3rd and the other 8th not sure if thats overall or in the over 35, but they did have fun but said they got absolutly Kaned.

[Tony T]

It is a great event but I've only done it once in 2000 as preparation for the Safari. I did it on a fully loaded Husky. 26 litres of fuel and all!  So didn't really get to experience it from a competitive stand point.
It was still pretty big then but not like it was in the 70's it seems. Thanks for those photos, Hardex.

[Hoony]

another good one in that area was the Sea Lake desert race.

4 laps around a 95 km loop encircling Lake Tyrrell in north wester Victoria. very sandy in the first section and this caught a lot of blokes out with 2 strokes as they all seized in the first 10km. top speed was needed for the last 15-20 which was top gear stuff.
the go was to do jetting runs before the event with the gearing that needed to be run (tall for top end). on my CR250 i ran 14/43 (standard was 14/51) so it was quiet a jump. the big 500's run 1 up on the front and what ever the smallest size was that would fit without chewing out the hub (38-40T). i had a IMS 14.5 litre tank and had about 0.5 - 1 litre to spare after 95 km. it was a real adrenaline ride that one.

Sadly like most great unique events the green movement killed it off.

[Tony T]

My KX ran similar gearing. 17/39. You couldn't go much smaller on the back as the chain would hit the sprocket bolts. Good for 190kph on bitumen and 170 on dirt.
I only entered Sea Lake once on my KX250, so '89 I think it may have been. I had just walked inside after finishing the bike to a phone call from the organisers telling me to stay home as the whole place was underwater. The cancelled it and I never got to go back.

[Hoony]

yes i too Tony was entered that year and had talked a lot of MX mates into going and helped them set up bikes etc and told them it was a 95Km motocross. well i copped heaps of shit when it was cancelled due to water as the guys had bought sprockets they could never use again and 1 or 2 had long range tanks.


17/39 gearing huh was that on the KX500 "flying W" model 

[Tony T]

17/39 gearing huh was that on the KX500 "flying W" model 

  Yeah, that's the one. Geoff Eldridge ran 17/37 on his '83 model for Finke but had to grind down the sprocket bolts to clear the chain. But the track was a fair bit different to now with far more road sections. Some of the fast guys even had fairings on the front.
For Sea Lake on my '88 KX250, I bought a big tank from the U.S too. Ended up selling without ever using it. 

[squirtmoto]

Good Times Boy,
I loved the BP Rally's   It was our annual "Big One" for the year
About 5 of us riding and a few fluffers would make the trip north
We used to stay at a little place near Lake Tyrrell. The camp site was around a small lake about
2-3km around and during the afternoon and into the night, we would do a few jetting runs on the bikes before the event. 3km flash past pretty quick when your doing 100mph plus.
around 100 or so competitors and friends stayed at this place, and it became the stuff of legends
Lots of blown engines, crashed bikes and bodies. lots of partying and many a sore head at scrutineering
the next day
The race was always serious business though!! my results were mixed
1982 3rd Class 9 (MX Open) and 3rd Outright. CR480RC
1984 3rd MX 500 and 3rd Outright. CR500RE
1988 DNF was coming 2nd outright with only 15km to go when the big KATO let go (flywheel disintergrated) KTM 600 LC4  Sadly this was the last time they ran the event!!!!
Here's a couple of momento's

[squirtmoto]

The Bikes

[GMC]

Going through magazines at a church fete a few years back I found "Off Road Australia"
When I flicked it open to check out a story on the 75 BP Hattah Rally lo & behold a picture of Ray Ryan racing. He wrote the article about Hattah & bagged it big time.

That's Len Willaimson on 77, he rode into a fence & took the helicopter out.

The results are an intersting mix of familair names.

[Mick]

Sea Lake Mallee Rally, i only rode there once in 1985 on my XR 250 RF which i over geared , the night before the race it rained, the first lap was ring that XR out in  5th gear and then only to see it slowly bog down in 6th through the sandy conditions, at that point i was wishing i had my IT 250 there, i had a ok first lap and was real keen to go faster on the second lap.

Going around this track there is a spot that went over a dirt road and when hitting this at around 100k's it was a buzz and the crowd would gather around here to watch and see who landed the longest or stacked, moving around to the back of the track i was in a bunch of 5 bikes and haveing fun getting ahead of them in spots and then them getting me back.

We were going around 100k's when this gate way came up, 5 bikes tried to get through and someone got the wrong line and 3 of us came down, i lost count of how many cart wheels i did, 10mins later when i finally got my breath back and checked to see if all my bones were ok , i looked over at my very bent frame, from seat it was bent to nearlly my rear tyre, but  better off than one of the other blokes bikes that had forks and rear end bent, the third bloke was winded for a bit and then got up and rode off.

Some blokes near by came over and bent my frame up again as best as they could, i finished that second lap slow and that was it for the day, i wanted to go there again ,  it was not on for a couple of years after this one, but i never did get back there.

I have the video tape of this event, does anyone know how i can put this onto dvd ?? as i dont have a vcr anymore.

[GMC]

I never got around to riding Hattah, it was on my must do list but they stopped running it before I got a chance.
I spectated at the 78 Mallee Rally whcih turned out to be a very wet one. Glad I didn't ride it as their were a lot of DNF's. I rode the 79 on a KX 250 A3 for a mediocre finish. The following year I rode a KX 250 A4. I remember fitting around a 17 tooth front & 42 tooth rear. I really had to slip the clutch to get her moving but then you only did this once per lap. Being the cautious type I took it easy the first lap. Their was only 2 laps in those days. Feeling comfortable with the track I opened it up for the 2nd lap & with the tall gearing I was passing guys like they were standing still.

and then



Everyone was passing me when I was standing still.  :'( :'(
I still keep this DNF trophy on the mantle piece.

I rode the Mallee Rally again in 88 on a TT350. What a dud of a bike that turned out to be. I took it out on a quiet road to see how fast it would go with stock gearing... 125 Kph. I then went one tooth up on the counter shaft sprocket & took it out on the same road.... 125 Kph
Bugger
I rode the event with the tall gearing anyway hoping for a tail wind, the first half or so was sandy & I was forever changing up & down from 5th to 6th. It seemed like I didn't back off the throttle at all for most of the event. I did get a bit of a tail wind on the hard pack coming into the finish that seemed to up the speed a bit & the last loop in it seemed to be running rough.
I changed the plug & cleaned the carby & thought I had fixed it on a short test run & then rode it in the Pyrenees Enduro. It ran like a dog from the start. It would start easy enough but had a big dead spot in the middle but would eventually start pulling when held flat. I nursed it through the event with no throttle control for a finish & a few days later spoke to my mate Sean who also rode his TT 350 in the Mallee Rally but had blown his up in the final stages but still managed to finish.
When he pulled his down he found that the cams had jumped 2 teeth on the cam sprockets letting the valves do a tap dance on the piston. When I checked mine I found the exhaust cam had jumped one tooth. Once reset it ran fine with no damage but I had lost faith in it & moved it on not long after.
And to reset that cam chain tensioner took a vice & 5 pairs of hands, buggered if I know how the chain got the slack to jump

[firko]

There are some great names in the results that GMC posted. I see vintage racers Brian Clarke  John Boag and Jim Vandersluys, John Berhens(who will be in Kamp Kevlar at CD5) Garry Benn (owner of the trick HL VMX cover bike) and American/Swedish racer Gunnar Lindstrom.
My old mate Brian Clarkson won the first Hattah Rally in 1972 (I think) on a TM400 (I think). I was prepping my Maico for the event in 1973 or '74 but ripped my achilles tendon playing rugby and had to miss it. I never had another shot at it.