The 1979 Australian Rally Championship was a series of five rallying events held across Australia. It was the twelfth season in the history of the competition.
Ross Dunkerton and navigator Jeff Beaumont in the Datsun Stanza won the 1979 Championship.
The twelfth Australian Rally Championship was held over five events across Australia, the season consisting of one event each for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.[1] The 1979 season saw the Datsun Stanzas of Dunkerton and Fury regain some of their dominance with the main challenge from the Ford Escort of Greg Carr.
The five events of the 1979 season were as follows.
| Round | Rally | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Akademos Rally (VIC) | |
| 2 | Rally of the West (WA) | |
| 3 | Lutwyche Village Rally (QLD) | |
| 4 | Bega Valley Rally (NSW) | |
| 5 | Endrust Forest Rally (SA) | |
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colin Bond | John Dawson-Damer | Ford Escort RS1800 | 91.18 |
| 2 | George Fury | Monty Suffern | Datsun Stanza | 97.56 |
| 3 | Ross Dunkerton | Jeff Beaumont | Datsun Stanza | 123.35 |
| 4 | Peter Gaudron | Graeme Pigram | Datsun 1600 | 134.50 |
| 5 | Paul Nudd | Barbara Nudd | Datsun 120Y | 142.10 |
| 6 | Ian Swan | Phillip Rainer | Datsun 120Y | 149.17 |
Final pointscore for 1979 is as follows.[2]
| Position | Driver | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ross Dunkerton | Datsun Stanza | |
| 2 | Greg Carr | Ford Escort RS1800 | |
| 3 | Colin Bond | Ford Escort RS1800 | |
| 4 | Geoff Portman | ||
| 5 | George Fury | Datsun Stanza | |
| 6 | Dean Rainsford | ||
| Position | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jeff Beaumont | Datsun Stanza | |
| 2 | Fred Gocentas | Ford Escort RS1800 | |
| 3 | John Dawson-Damer | Ford Escort RS1800 | |
| 4 | Ross Runnalls | ||
| 5 | Monty Suffern | Datsun Stanza | |
| 6 | Jerry Browne | ||