FOUNDER of the Sea Lake Mallee Rally Frank Coad is being remembered as someone who was humble, true blue but most importantly a bloody good bloke.
Mr Coad, who died at the end of last year in Bendigo aged 91, first got the idea for the rally when he was attending an off-road event in Hattah and he thought Lake Tyrrell in his own backyard would be a great place to hold an off-road endurance event.
Sea Lake Off Road Club President George Bailey provided details regarding the organisation of the first rally, with Frank receiving help from the Bendigo Light Car Club of Australia to get the wheels in motion for the rally.
“The Club did all the administrative work whilst Frank did all the hard yards in talking with the land owners,” he said.
“I think there was over 15 in total, he also had some help from local clubs in helping to put gates in.”
Mr Bailey first met Mr Coad in the early 1970s, and Mr Bailey was soon roped in to assist in the rally, with his experience in flying allowing him to help out with the recovery team.
“We had similar interests of fast cars and airplanes and we soon became good friends,” he said
“He got me to assist with the recovery of vehicles which I was more than happy to do.”
Mr Coad was also well-known as the first ever winner of the Armstrong 500 which was held at Phillip Island in 1960 alongside co-driver John Roxburgh, driving a Vauxhall Cresta in a time of over eight hours.
The Armstrong 500 moved from Phillip Island to Bathurst for the 1963 race, and has then morphed to become the Bathurst 1000, with Frank being the winner of the very first great race.
Frank was very capable behind the wheel of any vehicle that he sat in, and there have been some funny stories about his driving speed.
“Frank once took a group to Manangatang to watch the tennis,” Mr Bailey said.
“When they got there one bloke jumped out and kissed the ground, he was that glad to be out of the car.”
The Sea Lake Mallee Rally at its peak was an enormous event, with the four to five-lap trip of the 85km circuit drawing in numbers that would sometimes exceed 400 entries across the car and bike divisions.
In more modern times the event would draw closer to 100 entries, however this number was still matching the entries of the Finke Desert Race which was held on the same weekend.
Despite not being involved in an official sense for a number of years, Mr Coad was still always interested in the event with Mr Bailey sure to receive a phone call in the lead up to the event every year.
“He would always call me about a week out from the rally,” he said
“He would always be inquiring about the track and how many entries we had received, he never stop caring about the event.”
Mr Bailey believes that the event would never have been started without the work put in by Mr Coad, with his dedication and drive to get the event off the ground in the first place defining his love for racing and his love of Sea Lake.
“The Sea Lake Mallee Rally is Frank’s race and personally I believe that it is the best thing that has ever happened to Sea Lake,” he said.
