The tempo of the event ramped up over the next two days.

Covering 690km of which 155km or 23% competitive, the day contained five testing sections. The first of 70km, 150km from Birdsville, once only suited to four wheel drives, was exhilarating to drive. ‘Walkers Crossing’ was fast but undulating and sandy in places and rocky in the middle, with the track dividing and rejoining many times.

Then onto ‘Gas Fields’ where oil and gas exploration ruined most of the tracks for rallying in this area. This section was a short blast over smooth and sandy roads, with some twisty bits.

After the second section it was on to the outpost of Innamincka which was enjoying a boom due to the massive gas and oil exploration in the area. With new roads everywhere, all designed for big trucks, it was not easy to find rally roads and, if one did, they would be a hundred metres wide next week.

Next came the ‘Old Strelecki Track’, a section which actually ran off the ’old track’ and was very fast with a few corners and a couple of sand dunes. Then came ‘Bore Track 1’, a great twisting track over hard packed dirt and sand dunes with some crests to add to the driving excitement. A fun section. ‘Bore Track 2’ was next. Faster than Bore Track 1, with long straights and fewer crests. The property owners required a donation of $10 for use of Bore Track, which was fair enough as they maintained it and there was an ‘honesty box’ near the start. Then onto Tibooburra via Cameron Corner.

After what was an enjoyable night at Birdsville, the first vehicle started at 0800 and was into Tibooburra at 1715. Competitive sections of 69, 9, 21, 23 and 33km. 53 started the Leg and 51 finished.