Newton's Repco Retrial 2019 Launch and Fundraiser
It's going to be a family affair. With Greg Newton as the driver, his wife Liz, and their daughters Katie and Nickie will be taking it in turns to navigate their very well prepared 1980 Holden Commodore on the Repco Reliability Retrial which commenced in Melbourne on Monday 5th August, 2019. The route basically follows the 1979 event and does a full loop of Australia in just 26 days, and around 14,500 kms of driving.
The Newtons are also using the event as an opportunity to raise money for a very worthy cause - backpack beds for the homeless - details are below.
The Newton's held a fundraiser in July launch party in July an below is Greg's report from the day. Greg would like to thank everyone who donated.
Despite the best efforts of the cold westerly winds the launch of our entry in this year’s Repco Re-Trial went off without a hitch. No one froze, no doubt assisted by copious bottles of fine red, and the winds abated as the day went on and the liquid flowed. Oh yes, and sausages on a roll went down a treat!
As members may know, we are self-sponsoring and using the opportunity to raise much needed funds for a great cause - Backback Beds for the Homeless. Barry Goobe held the audience's attention as he related stories of the thousand of homeless on our streets every night and that just $100 buys one of these amazing backpack beds to provide them with comfort, security and dignity. We have now raised almost $6500 with a target of $7500 so if you haven’t already, hop onto our dedicated donation site at https://fundraise.backpackbed.org/fundraiser/kathrynsmythe and give generously.
So it's off to Melbourne in 2 weeks time for the start on Monday 5 August at the Melbourne Showgrounds. It’s then across to Perth, up to Darwin, head east to Cairns then the long run south back to Melbourne for the finish on Sunday 1 September. 15,000kms, 20% on dirt and 31 Special Sections - it should be great.
Check out our route and car below and if any ERCA members are around in Melbourne for the start then we’d love to see you there.
A map of the Repco Retrial Route can be found by clicking here.
Details of all the days and distances can be found by clicking here.