A good idea at the time

By the mid ‘seventies the Castrol Six Hour Production Race had comprehensively demonstrated the reliability of showroom stock motorcycles; and gone some way to lifting the stigma on the reputation of motorcyclists. Yet new motorcycle registrations had almost halved over the past three years.

So it was with some trepidation that Rob Atlee approached the Proudly Australian Owned fuel supplier Ampol for sponsorship of his unique concept; a truly national rally to improve the image of bikers – as opposed to bikies. The Ampol executives anteed up $7,000 and a lot of credibility to a Round Australia event. Now all Atlee had to do was set the course and prepare the Supplementary Regulations. The first involved a three week trip around the continent in Atlee’s ageing Kombi Van, travelling at legal speeds,