It was said that a couple of the drivers complained about a Telecom vehicle (the company is now known as Telstra) towing either a trailer, or a small camper during the final leg of the race. The complaint was on the Alice Springs to Darwin leg in the latter stages after the speed restriction was put in plac.
This is how the story goes:
“A Telecom vehicle towing a trailer or small camper over-took us (the competitors) whilst we were restricted to the speed of 180 kilometres per hour. We (the competitors) had a speed limit placed on us of 180kph, however the general public could go faster if they chose to. So, the Telecom car and trailer was “leap frogging” us all. To add insult to injury, the car occupants were taking pictures of every competitor’s car as the Telecom car, trailer and occupants over-took each and every one of us at speeds of in excess of 200Km’s per hour. The ‘photographer’ was even leaning out of the car at this speed to take photos of us.”
As a bit of general background information, and for our overseas readers who don’t yet see the irony, Telecom, or Telstra as it is known now is a Government owned organisation, and not normally known for doing anything fast.
