london to sydney marathon
A lthough Ford started the London-Sydney Marathon 40 years ago as hot favourite, the effort ended up in chaos and disarray. Roger Clark’s Lotus Cortina led the event until two days from the end, and instead he had to settle for 10th.
The German Fords faltered too, yet the Australian Fords surprised everyone by their pace and strength.
When it was originally announced in 1968, a marathon from London to Sydney sounded like the answer to a question that no-one had bothered to ask. Works teams were already busy enough, their budgets were already spoken for, and drivers used to going flat-out for four or five days did not warm to the idea of taking 24 days to reach the other side of world.
It all began, they say, at a lunch in the Daily Express building, towards the end of 1967. Looking to gain a great deal
