RallySport Magazine October 2016

CARR’S CARS
Ford Cortina Mk 1
CARR’S
CARS
Datsun 180B SSS
Ford Escort RS1800
Greg Carr
For two decades, Greg Carr was one of Australia’s standout
rally drivers in both the local and international rally
arena.
From inauspicious beginnings in a Mark 1 Cortina and
graduation to a Datsun 1600 in the early 70s, Carr was
then recognised early for the talent that would make him a
household name in rally-mad Australia in the late 70s and
early 80s (and beyond).
Winning three Australian Rally Championship titles is an
amazing achievement.
Displaying consistency, speed and longevity, Carr also
finished second in the ARC on three occasions, third in one
year, and fifth on the scoreboard twice – over a period of 12
years from 1977 to 1989.
Unlike some of Carr’s compatriots, however, he showed
diversity and skill to adapt to an incredible range of vehicles
of various technologies and styles, and yet remain incredibly
competitive.
While other great Australian rally drivers stayed loyal to a
limited number of manufacturers for much of their career,
Carr took the bull by the horns and proved his speed in both
2WD and 4WD cars, from various Japanese, European and
Korean manufacturers.
In 1976, Carr was thrown behind the wheel of the legendary
Gerry Ball Datsun 180B SSS, winning four major events and
showing his capability in an era when factory support was
present in Australia, and the Southern Cross Rally was still an
event that drivers from all over the world aspired to contest,
and hopefully win.
It wasn’t long before Colin Bond, then boss of the newly
formed Ford Australia Escort Rally Team, brought Carr into
the two-car team to drive the initial works RS2000 and in
1977, Carr took his first Australian Rally Championship win in
the Bega Valley Rally.
Proving this was no fluke, Carr led the Southern Cross Rally
that year until alternator failure on the last night of the event
forced his retirement.
1978 saw Carr win the Australian Rally Championship in the
Mk 2 Escort RS1800, clashing constantly with not only teammate
Bond, but also the Datsun factory team cars of Ross
Dunkerton and George Fury.
As part of the Ford factory effort in the 1979 Repco Round
Australia Reliability Trial, Carr was lead driver for another
most unlikely rally car, the 6-cylinder Ford Cortina developed
by Colin Bond to combat the then-new Holden Commodore
team, sent out by GMH to win the event at (almost) any cost.
Against the might of the GMH team, Carr finished fifth in
the 6-cylinder Cortina (with Dave Morrow and Fred Gocentas),
the best of the factory Fords.
In recognition of his extraordinary abilities behind the
60 | RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE - OCTOBER 2016