The 1986 Australian Rally Championship was a series of six rallying events held across Australia. It was the 19th season in the history of the competition.
Barry Lowe in the Subaru RX Turbo won the 1986 Driver's Championship. Kate Officer took out the Navigator's championship. Lowe's navigator Mark Stacey placed second as he didn't compete in the opening round.
The 19th Australian Rally Championship was held over six events across Australia, the season consisting of one event each for New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and West Australia. The 1986 season saw Barry Lowe silence his critics by winning the ARC title for the second year in a row. It was the last season for the Group G contenders, as the 1987 championship would only be open to Group A cars. Group A cars dominated the season accounting for wins in four of the six events. Lowe only had one outright win for the season, but his consistent high placings saw him victorious at season's end.
The six events of the 1986 season were as follows.[1] [2]
| Round | Rally | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Advocate – Fairfield Stages Rally (TAS) | 5–6 April 1986 |
| 2 | The Forest Rally (WA) | 10–11 May 1986 |
| 3 | Bega Rally of the Valley (NSW) | 7–8 June 1986 |
| 4 | The Keema Classic Rally (QLD) | 18–19 July 1986 |
| 5 | The Tile Supplies Rally (SA) | 18–19 October 1986 |
| 6 | BP Visco Bright Alpine Rally (VIC) | 22–23 November 1986 |
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Glennie | Coral Taylor | 264.14 | |
| 2 | David Officer | Kate Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 264.34 |
| 3 | Barry Lowe | Kevin Pedder | Subaru RX Turbo | 268.52 |
| 4 | Graham Alexander | Graham Sedgwick | Toyota Corolla GT | 271.22 |
| 5 | Phil Reader | Rod Coenan | Mazda RX-4 | 275.02 |
| 6 | Balt Vandenberg | Bill Worsley | Datsun 1600 | 275.24 |
| 7 | Philip Smith | John Howard | Datsun 1600 | 277.25 |
| 8 | Graeme Walkem | Bill Cromarty | Mazda RX-7 | 281.21 |
| 9 | John Brock | Greg Preece | Subaru RX Turbo | 281.53 |
| 10 | Jon Waterhouse | Russ Witty | Mazda RX-7 | 284.07 |
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wayne Bell | Dave Boddy | 243.10 | |
| 2 | Peter Clark | Wayne Kenny | Subaru RX Turbo | 244.33 |
| 3 | Barry Lowe | Mark Stacey | Subaru RX Turbo | 247.28 |
| 4 | John Atkinson | Jim Gleeson | Subaru RX Turbo | 247.45 |
| 5 | John Macara | Rod van der Straaten | Toyota Corolla GT | 248.08 |
| 6 | Greg Carr | Fred Gocentas | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | 249.57 |
| 7 | Peter Myers | Keith Moyes | Toyota Corolla GT | 253.59 |
| 8 | David Officer | Kate Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 254.28 |
| 9 | Jim Marden | Alan Stafford | Toyota Corolla GT | 254.46 |
| 10 | Clive Slater | Steve Owers | Mitsubishi Galant | 257.54 |
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Eadie | Chris Shearer | Datsun 1600 | 223.56 |
| 2 | Ron McKinnon | Steve Owers | Datsun 1600 | 223.59 |
| 3 | Greg Carr | Fred Gocentas | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | 224.53 |
| 4 | David Officer | Kate Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 226.05 |
| 5 | John Atkinson | Jim Gleeson | Subaru RX Turbo | 226.19 |
| 6 | Barry Lowe | Mark Stacey | Subaru RX Turbo | 229.28 |
| 7 | Peter Glennie | Coral Taylor | 229.48 | |
| 8 | Andrew Murfett | Tony Jackson | Mazda RX-2 | 230.45 |
| 9 | Arthur Jackson | Roger Mail | Datsun 1600 | 232.53 |
| 10 | Hannu Ropolla | Geoff Jones | Datsun 1600 | 233.27 |
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrew Murfett | Tony Jackson | Mazda 323 4WD | 177.26 |
| 2 | Barry Lowe | Mark Stacey | Subaru RX Turbo | 177.50 |
| 3 | Murray Coote | Ian Stewart | Mazda 323 4WD | 178.50 |
| 4 | Peter Glennie | Coral Taylor | 179.11 | |
| 5 | Peter Marcovich | Greg Weale | Subaru RX Turbo | 187.13 |
| 6 | David Officer | Kate Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 187.47 |
| 7 | John Atkinson | Jim Gleeson | Subaru RX Turbo | 189.23 |
| 8 | Greg Batts | Rob Kimmons | Holden Gemini | 194.05 |
| 9 | Glenn Sommerville | Martin Darch | Datsun 1600 | 194.36 |
| 10 | Doug Stewart | Wayne Stewart | Toyota Corolla GT | 198.00 |
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Lowe | Mark Stacey | Subaru RX Turbo | 1:36.11 |
| 2 | Andrew Murfett | Tony Jackson | Mazda 323 4WD | 1:36.17 |
| 3 | David Officer | Kate Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 1:37.12 |
| 4 | Mark Tolcher | David Tolcher | 1:38.48 | |
| 5 | Peter Glennie | Coral Taylor | 1:43.37 | |
| 6 | Ed Ordynski | Lynn Wilson | 1:48.50 | |
| Position | Driver | Navigator | Car | Penalties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Officer | Kate Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 6:36.06 |
| 2 | Murray Coote | Ian Stewart | Mazda 323 4WD | 6:40.50 |
| 3 | Peter Clark | Wayne Kenny | Subaru RX Turbo | 6:42.46 |
| 4 | Neil Bates | David Jorgensen | Datsun 1600 | 6:44.14 |
| 5 | Geoff Portman | Ross Runnalls | Datsun 1600 | 6:47.30 |
| 6 | Greg Brown | Arthur Davis | Datsun 1600 | 6:48.27 |
| 7 | Barry Lowe | Mark Stacey | Subaru RX Turbo | 6:50.05 |
| 8 | Mark Tolcher | David Tolcher | 6:52.13 | |
| 9 | Leslie Adams | Ian Enders | Datsun 1600 | 6:53.38 |
| 10 | Paul Bramble | Barrie Nicholl | Holden Commodore V8 | 6:55.33 |
Final pointscore for 1986 is as follows.[3]
| Position | Driver | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Lowe | Subaru RX Turbo | 83 |
| 2 | David Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 66 |
| 3 | Andrew Murfett | Mazda 323 4WD | 64 |
| 4 | Peter Glennie | 49 | |
| 5 | Greg Carr | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | 30 |
| Position | Navigator | Car | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kate Officer | Mitsubishi Starion | 67 |
| 2 | Mark Stacey | Subaru RX Turbo | 66 |
| 3 | Tony Jackson | Mazda 323 4WD | 64 |
| 4 | Coral Taylor | 49 | |
| =5 | Fred Gocentas | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | 30 |
| =5 | Steve Owers | Datsun 1600 | 30 |