Page 72 - Australian Motorcycle News (January 2020)

WYNN’S SYDNEY TO DARWIN

s much to attract international media
interest as to promote the Wynn’s
Safari locally, the organisers of the
inaugural Sydney to Darwin Rally,
ATom Snooks and Hans Tholstrup,
invited dual Paris-Dakar winner Gaston Rahier
to headline the rider line-up.
Earlier that year, the former World Motocross
Champion had teamed up with Eddie Hau, the
European Enduro Champion, to contest the Baja
1000. Their BMW R 80 G/S was hardly suited to
the notorious Mexican pony express, yet they
claimed a class win and finished fifth outright.
So it was that Eddie would accompany
Gaston in the 1985 Wynn’s Safari, where
the expectations were that the experienced
teammates would be the first to taste the
Champagne in Darwin. And generate
international press coverage for the event.
And just to negate any possibility of
disappointment, BMW Australia had entered
a pair of Nissan Patrols in the names of BMW
Race Technicians, Herbert Wimmers and Hunut
Phol, whose ‘navigators’ were none other than
former Australian Rally Champion George
Fury and Denny Hulme, New Zealand’s former
Formula 1 world champ. Because you see, the
Wynn’s Safari rules stated that competitors – and
only competitors – could assist one another.
So, if Gaston faced a problem that he and Eddie
couldn’t fix, they could expect a very fast Nissan
to arrive in short order; complete with a factory
technician, a comprehensive kit of BMW spares
and, most importantly, so-called competitors.
These logistics were way beyond the level of 1
preparation and expense of the most fancied
local rider to take on the might of the BMW
juggernaut. Cessnock earthmover by trade
and dirtshifter by choice Phil Lovett had
already produced one upset as the first non-
Territorian to win the Finke Desert Race. Then
he became the first Aussie to score a Gold Medal
at the International Six Days Enduro. Always
optimistic, Lovett figured his experience in the
Australian outback would level the playing field.
Entrepreneurial Bathurst Yamaha Dealer and
State Enduro Champion Allan Cunynghame was
another experienced competitor who, with the
backing of Yamaha, Castrol and Yokohama, put
competitive machines under brothers Andrew
and Michael from the Goddard motorcycling
dynasty; with himself as lead rider. All three
riding Yamaha TT600s.
Honda Australia entered a pair of V-Twin
XLV750s before Honda Australia Rider Training
(HART) instructor Peter ‘Duck’ McDonald talked 3
some sense into the marketing department.

BMW AUSTRALIA HAD ENTERED A

PAIR OF NISSAN PATROLS IN THE

NAMES OF BMW RACE TECHNICIANS

72 amcn.com.au