The Make Smoking History Targa South West has been run and won, with Peter Rullo taking out the modern and outright titles and Tim Wolfe the classic class.
A number of spectators were in attendance across the one-day event’s 16 stages in the Pemberton and Northcliffe area, as Rullo in his first event for a while enjoyed an entertaining 10-second victory alongside co-driver Jimmy Marquet.
Behind the wheel of their Land Surveys / Autostrada 2019 Lotus Exige Targa GT Spec, the duo were locked in a tight battle with Mark Cates and Declan Stafford in the Axis Hire 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 RS for much of the event.
However, after taking out five outright stage wins, they secured the victory, which made it a dream Targa South West return for Rullo.
“It was awesome to be competing again, doing what we enjoy,” Rullo said.
“The rally was good right from the start, and truth be told, I had a happy-nervous feeling jumping into the car after a long break and nothing was coming naturally to start with.
“The car was quick straight off the mark and by the third stage, everyone was getting into the groove. There were some of the stages where I thought our car would have had an advantage, but it was really close.
“The stages were good and the event was really fun. The one-day format is a great idea, good for everyone, spectators and officials.”
Rounding out the top three, a minute behind the two front runners was Dennis Heller and Keian Guy in their 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9.
In the classic class, Tim Wolfe made it back-to-back victories after guiding his Dieselcraft 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS to a comfortable 40-second victory with a new navigator in Scott Beckwith.
It was a near perfect drive from the duo, with Wolfe lauding Beckwith for his performance as well as the team’s strategy.
“The car didn’t miss a beat, I made a few mistakes, but no big ones,” Wolfe said from Kalamunda.
“It paid off to have Scott next to me, with his WRC rally experience he assisted me well beyond reading notes. He’s so experienced and gave great advice on where to position the car and lots of other tips that helped us do well on the day.
“We had a strategy, knowing it was dry, and knowing there was some good competition in the Classics this year, we knew that we’d have to go hard early to get runs on the board, which we did, then we had to do well on longer stages.
“Everyone was so glad to be back racing again. We celebrated long into the night and did our bit to provide a boost to the local economy.”
Husband and wife duo Jurgen and Helen Lunsmann were one of the standouts of the event as they dominated the Targa 130 category, steering their Gemtek Group 2019 Tesla 3 Performance to a four and half minute victory over the second placed Gareth Evans and Mark Stutt.
It was a similar story in the Targa 165 competition, as rally veteran Andy van Kann and Megan Logue also took out a win of more than four and half minutes.