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.
Matt Close and Cameron Reeves secured victory at #TheGreatTarmacRally2024 after overcoming challenges from their previous events.
They consistently led from the first stage and finished Saturday with a 29.6-second lead over the Wrights in their 2011 Nissan R35. Unfortunately, mechanical issues forced Jason & Fiona to withdraw from the event on Sunday, allowing the Audi TTRS Sport to claim a clear victory ahead of Dennison/Rumble.
In the Early Modern AWD category this weekend, an overwhelming majority of the cars entered, more specifically 7 out of 8, reflected a dominant presence of Japanese machinery.
Neil and Sue Cuthbert showcased their skill with the debut of their metallic blue 2009 Lancer, securing a convincing victory over Mansey/Winton-Monet. Allan and Kerry Hines performed admirably, clinching 3rd place in their new 2008 Mitsubishi Evo X.
Father and Son duo, Joel & John Argentino made quite the impression this past weekend. The boys showed up in their impressive looking 2002 Holden VU SS ute and claimed 1st place by +1min.18secs, despite a penalty for exceeding the categories set speed limit of 130.
Motorsport stalwart, Glenn Ridge took on the navigator role with his son Oliver in the driver’s seat of their 1992 Nissan Silvia.
Husband and Wife regulars, Carrie & Sean Priestly finished the event comfortably in 3rd place. Jonathan Moir & Rian Calder’s 1976 Ford Escort Mk2 dominated the weekend, securing a thrilling victory in the Classic Super Rally by a thin margin of just +0.03 seconds over the current championship leaders Downey/Akker.
Mick Downey and Jarrod Akker appeared to have secured the win until the final stage, during which Moir/Calder gained 7 seconds on them in SS12, ultimately clinching Moir’s victory in his first drive in seven years.
Throughout the event, the husband-and-wife team of Jon and Gina Siddins consistently maintained the third position in their 1970 Datsun 240z.
The reigning champions, Paul Dowie and John Allen, driving a 2016 Porsche GT3RS, quickly established themselves at the top of the leaderboard.
Dowie and Allen led on 7 stages but faced a late challenge from Mark Griffith and Neill Wooley in a stunning 2019 Mercedes Benz AMG GTR, with Griffith winning the last two stages.
However, despite the late challenge, Paul and John had built a significant lead, finishing nearly a minute and a half ahead of Mark and Neill.
Xavier Franklin and Jaidyn Gluskie, as well as Max Williams and Bruce Bush, fiercely competed for the final podium spot, pushing themselves and their cars to the limit. In the end, Franklin and Gluskie secured third place, finishing about 40 seconds behind the Mercedes.
In an impressive display of dominance, the father and son duo of Michael and Lachlan Nordsvan utterly controlled the classic, piloting their Mazda RX7 to victory in every stage. As a result, they concluded day one with a commanding lead of over 90 seconds ahead of Cam Lepp and Josh Herbert in their Datsun 240Z. Classic drivers Peter Gluskie and Sam Winter closely followed in their BMW E30 325e, but both Gluskie and Lepp were unable to match Nordsvan’s performance.
On the second day, Nordsvan continued to dominate but encountered disaster on the final stage, forcing them to retire from the event. However, the cancellation of the final stage due to their off-road incident worked in Nordsvan’s favor, allowing them to maintain their lead and secure victory in the class with a lead of over two minutes from Lepp. Gluskie finished a further 3 minutes behind.
In the Early Modern 2WD category, David Blunden and Rob Sheppard in their 1997 Nissan Skyline R33 GTST took an early lead and had a tight battle with Mark Balcombe and Ian Wheeler’s 1995 Mazda RX7. After three stages, Blunden was just 2 seconds ahead.
Chris Exner and Dean Lillie, who teamed up in the fast 1995 Mazda RX7, initially fell behind by nearly a minute before finding their rhythm late on day one and moving into second place, just 10 seconds behind Balcombe, with Blunden trailing by 19 seconds.
On day two, Lillie took over as the driver and dominated by winning every stage, securing a class win by nearly three minutes over Balcombe, with Blunden finishing in third place, just under a minute behind.
Matthew Gibbens and Tim Jurd completely dominated the Rally Sport event while driving a 2020 Lotus Exige, winning every stage. They finished day one with a remarkable 2 and a half minute lead over Ben Williams and Clint Wright in their 2020 Toyota GR Yaris. Meanwhile, Xavier Lawrence and Alexander Byrne had to work hard to maintain third place in their 2015 VW Golf R due to a water leak issue, causing them to drive cautiously in the later stages.
Despite the speed limitations of the Lotus to 160km/h, Gibbens & Jurd pulled off an outstanding 7th place overall.
Gibbens remained unchallenged throughout the event, securing a commanding lead of nearly 5 minutes over Williams/Wright, with Lawrence/Byrne finishing a further 4 minutes behind.
The final round of the Australian Tarmac Rally Championship will be held at Mt Baw Baw on October 26-27th.
Photography: Angryman Photography
