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The third round of the Australian Tarmac Rally, the Great Tarmac Rally, was held in the Victorian High Country on September 8th and 9th.
74 teams lined up to take on 14 stages, from the tight and twisting Reefton Spur, to the fast-flowing Eildon-Jamieson road.
Strong winds and severe weather had impacted the stages through Cumberland and Reefton, with many trees down and the road scattered with debris. But a mammoth effort by local services saw over 20kms of roads swept clean ensuring the stages were pristine for the event.
Modern Super Rally saw a small but competitive field, with Jason and Fiona Wright keen to continue their winning form and extend their championship lead. However, the ultra-fast pairing of Jeremy Dennison and Casey Rumble in their BMW M140i would take on the Wrights in a see-saw battle.
From the outset, Wright looked to be struggling, with Dennison taking the early stages and a 27-second lead. However, Dennison was forced to pull over early in SS4 with a gearbox glitch that required a reboot, losing just over a minute in the process and watching Wright jump away to a 51-second lead.
Greg Bass and Peter Cooke were parked up after blowing an oil line, which unfortunately also saw several cars hit their oil and go off-road. They would eventually re-join after overnight repairs but were nearly an hour down the leaderboard.
SS5 saw Dennison put in a stellar drive to take the stage by 3.5 seconds, but the gap to Wright was still 47 seconds and appeared insurmountable.
In the final stage on day one, SS6 went to Wright by over 7 seconds, extending his lead to 55 seconds.
SS7 and 8 were downgraded due to time constraints after a massive effort by officials to clean up the oil spilled by Bass. The crews were lined up to tackle the last two stages when an emergency ambulance required access to the stage to attend to a resident, so the stages were abandoned.
Early Sunday saw Dennison relish in the cooler conditions and take 36 seconds out of Wright, reducing the gap to 18 seconds. After rectifying the oil line issue Bass was a further minute off the pace behind the leading pair.
However, drama unfolded in the following stage, with the R35 of Wright losing oil pressure and forcing the husband and wife team to withdraw from the event. Dennison would still push hard as he battled for outright contention but would take Modern Super Rally by a staggering 53 minutes over Bass.
Modern Super Rally
1st (911) Jeremy Dennison /Casey Rumble - BMW M140i
2nd (940) Greg Bass / Peter Cooke - Toyota GR Yaris
3rd (935) Jason Wright / Fiona Wright - Nissan R35
Modern AWD saw the ever-determined pairing of Matt Close and Cameron Reeves back with their Audi TTRS, keen to make amends for a disastrous start to their championship. After suffering a mechanical failure in round 1, and an electrical gremlin in round 2, they were keen to press on, and press on they did.
From the opening stages, Close was on the pace, taking 7 outright stage wins. Angus Kennard and Dale Moscatt were in the hunt in their Nissan GTR and holding second place over the Crichton Lewis and Anthony Carr Subaru WRX STI.
Close would hold a 28-second lead before Kennard suffered gearbox issues on SS4 which saw him withdraw. This opened the door for Scott Coppleman and Steve Glenney in their Subaru WRX STi to battle it out with Lewis while Close romped away.
Barrie and Jan Smith had a late run in their Audi TTRS, taking the later stages in second place, but it was too little too late as Close took out the category by over 4 minutes to Lewis, with Coppleman a further 90 seconds behind.
Modern AWD 2008+
1st (888) Matt Close / Cameron Reeves - Audi TTRS Sport
2nd (840) Crichton Lewis / Anthony Carr - Subaru WRX STi
3rd (814) Scott Coppleman / Steve Glenney - Subaru WRX STi
Modern 2WD saw the favourites struggling in the opening stages, with Xavier Franklin and Jaidyn Gluskie taking their Porsche GT4 to the early lead, however the reigning champions Paul Dowie and John Allen in their Porsche GT3RS didn’t take long to find their feet and climb to the top of the leader board.
Maxwell Williams and Bruce Bush put in a dominant run early in their Porsche Cayman GT4, placing second behind Dowie on the final stage on day 1.
Dowie was unphased, and would top the score card on 7 stages, but was challenged late by Mark Griffith and Neill Wooley's stunning Mercedes Benz AMG GTR, with Griffith taking out the last two stages.
However, Dowie had done enough to build an unsurmountable lead, taking out the category by nearly a minute and a half over Griffiths.
Franklin and Williams would battle it out for the final podium step, both pushing themselves and their machines to the limit before Franklin stamped his authority in the final stages to finish third, some 40 seconds behind Griffiths.
Modern 2WD 2008+
1st (1) Paul Dowie / John Allen - Porsche GT3RS
2nd (719) Mark Griffith / Neill Wooley - Mercedes Benz AMG GTR
3rd (726) Xavier Franklin / Jaidyn Gluskie - Porsche GT4
Early Modern AWD was a battle of the Lancers, with 7 of the 8 entrants all sporting the Mitsubishi favourite.
Michael Mansey and Julie Winton-Monet would come out of the blocks strong, taking an early lead over husband and wife Neil and Sue Cuthbert, who had stepped out of their familiar Lotus into a visually stunning EVO.
Cuthbert wasted no time getting to know the new car and quickly closed the gap to Mansey, taking the class lead after two stages. Former champions Allan and Kerry Hines, who were also debuting a new car to them would also throw their hat in the ring, taking stage wins.
However, the battle was between Cuthbert and Mansey, with the pair trading blows throughout, going into the final stage with Mansey only 30 seconds in arrears. A dominate drive on the last stage by Cuthbert saw him take the class out by over a minute over Mansey, with Hines struggling toward the end to take third.
Early Modern AWD 1986-2007
1st (510) Neil Cuthbert / Sue Cuthbert - Mitsubishi Lancer
2nd (546) Michael Mansey / Julie Winton-Monet - Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X RS
3rd (542) Allan Hines / Kerry Hines - Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X
Early Modern 2WD saw the always present pairing of David Blunden and Rob Sheppard in a Nissan Skyline R33 GTST take an early lead, having a tight battle with Mark Balcombe and Ian Wheelers Mazda RX7, with Blunden a mere 2 seconds clear after three stages.
Steve and Cate Winning would join the fight in their Maserati Gransport before finding the scenery on SS4 and retiring, while Blunden seemed to struggle and dropped down the order.
Chris Exner and Dean Lillie paired up in the ultra-fast RX7 with Exner taking driving duties on day one. The pair struggled early on, falling nearly a minute behind before finding their groove late on day one to move into second, 10 seconds behind Balcombe with Blunden 19 seconds further back.
Day 2 saw Dean Lillie step into the driver's seat, and straight away dominated, winning every stage and walking home with the class win by nearly three minutes over Balcombe, with Blunden in third just under a minute behind.
Early Modern 2WD 1986-2007
1st (507) Chris Exner / Dean Lillie - Mazda RX7
2nd (555) Mark Balcombe / Ian Wheeler - Mazda RX7
3rd (564) David Blunden / Rob Sheppard - Nissan Skyline R33 GTST
Classic Super Rally saw the battle between Mick Downey and Jarrod Akker in their Group C Commodore against husband and wife Jon and Gina Siddins Datsun 240Z.
However both were left blindsided by the debut of the Mk2 Escort of Johnathon Moir and Rian Calder, as the amazingly engineered, yet untested Escort took out the opening stages.
Downey would mount a charge taking out all remaining stages on day one, with Moir just under 40 seconds behind as the Escort chewed through its tires quicker than expected.
Siddins would struggle early on as they battled with yet another Escort, driven by Brian O’Neill and Padraig Cronin. However, O’Neill suffered mechanical failure in the later stages and Siddins had a lonely run in third.
Moir came out hard on day 2, taking every stage, chipping away at Downey's lead, heading into the final stage a mere 5 seconds behind.
Despite Downey's best effort, he couldn’t hold off the hard-charging Moir who took the class out by just 3 seconds over Downey, with Siddins 3 minutes behind for third.
Classic Super Rally Pre 1985
1st (485) Johnathon Moir / Rian Calder - Ford Escort Mk2
2nd (408)Mick Downey / Jarrod Akker - Holden Group C Commodore
3rd (464) Jon Siddins / Gina Siddins - Datsun 240Z
Classic saw the ever reliable father and son team of Michael and Lachlan Nordsvan dominate from the outset in their Mazda RX7, taking out every stage to end day one with a lead of over 90 seconds over Cam Lepp and Josh Herbert in their Datsun 240Z.
Classic stalwarts Peter Gluskie and Sam Winter followed close behind in their BMW E30 325e, however, neither Gluskie or Lepp had anything for Nordsvan.
Day 2 saw the continuation of the Nordsvans push, but disaster struck on the final stage when they left the road and retired from the event. But in a twist of fate, the cancellation of the final stage due to their offroad excursion meant they maintained their lead, taking out the class by over two minutes from Lepp, with Gluskie a further 3 minutes behind.
Classic 1972-1985
1st (384) Michael Nordsvan / Lachlan Nordsvan - Mazda RX7
2nd (344) Cam Lepp / Josh Herbert - Datsun 240Z
3rd (355) Peter Gluskie / Sam Winter - BMW E30 325e
Rally Challenge saw some new faces, new cars, and the return of familiar entrants to battle it out for the hotly contested class.
Joel and John Argentino debuted their VU SS ute, and despite finding the early stages challenging, soon threw their hat into the ring as they climbed the leaderboard.
Familiar face Glenn Ridge opted to navigate for his son Oliver in their Nissan Silvia, and set the early pace, while Carrie and Sean Priestley driving an Audi TT made sure they stayed in the hunt, with all three cars taking stage wins throughout the event as the leader board shuffled.
The Audi of Jason Killen and Andrew Thompon was a big surprise, as the usually reliable crew struggled on day one, falling to the bottom of the list.
However, Day 2 saw Argentino come into his own, taking time out of Ridge and Priestley, while Killen found his feet and took every stage win. It was too little too late for Killen, as Argentino took the class by over a minute from Ridge, with Priestley a further 4 minutes behind.
Rally Challenge
1st (150) Joel Argentino / John Argentino - Holden VU SS
2nd (177) Oliver Ridge / Glenn Ridge - Nissan Silvia
3rd (187) Carrie Priestley / Sean Priestley - Audi TT
Matthew Gibbens and Tim Jurd driving a Lotus Exige dominated Rally Sport, taking every stage win, finished day one a staggering 2 and a half minutes in front of Ben Williams and Clint Wrights Toyota Yaris GR, while Xavier Lawrence and Alexander Byrne had their work cut out to maintain third in their VW Golf R, as they developed a water leak and had to feather the car throughout the later stages.
Gibbens would be unchallenged throughout, taking the class by nearly 5 minutes ahead of Williams, with Lawrence a further 4 minutes behind.
Rally Sport
1st (111) Matthew Gibbens / Tim Jurd - Lotus Exige
2nd (174) Ben Williams / Clint Wright - Toyota GR Yaris
3rd (142) Xavier Lawrence / Alexander Byrne - VW Golf R
Matt Close and Cameron Reeves stamped their authority on outright contention, taking out the event by a staggering 2 minutes over the hard charging Jeremy Dennison and Casey Rumble, with defending champ Paul Dowie and John Allen a further 40 seconds behind.
Jason and Fiona Wright were in a tight battle with Dennison for second place before retiring on SS11 with oil pressure issues.
Crichton Lewis and Anthony Carr showed their return to tarmac rallying was justified, pedalling their Subaru to 4th outright , while the big surprise was the debut of the exquisitely engineered Escort of Johnathon Moir and Rian Calder rounding out the top five outright a mere 4 minutes behind close.
The final round of the Australian Tarmac Rally Championship will be held at Mt Baw Baw on October 26-27th.
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