Troy Wilson has continued his domination at the GT Fabrication Targa Bunbury Sprint after claiming his third consecutive win in the popular event.
With 130 entrants getting up to seven runs on the event’s 4.5km course, it was a momentous occasion as more than 2500 spectators were in attendance to witness the rally run at night for the first time.
Driving alongside Willie Thomson in the 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, Wilson was on song throughout the whole event, eventually coming away with a 35 second win over Will White and Matthew Thompson in the 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9.
Despite struggling in the dark, Wilson was thrilled to come away with the win.
“We only put in a new motor last week and we almost didn’t make it here,” Wilson said.
“I hit a kerb on the first run and drove half a lap with a flat tyre, luckily I didn’t damage the tyre and boys changed the tyre using tyre levers – I’ve never seen anyone do that before. I went back out there and had a ball, and just drove the wheels off it.
“I’ll be investing in better lighting; it wasn’t easy in the dark.
“It’s an awesome event and I had so much fun, loved it, and it was an unbelievable job by the organisers and all the volunteers.”
Rounding out the podium behind the front two crews was a familiar name in Alex Rullo, who had his famous father Peter Rullo sitting beside him in the 2020 SSC Lotus Exige Targa GT.
Remarkably, Peter ended up getting runs of his own in the car, calling upon regular navigator Jimmy Marquet, and the Make Smoking History Targa South West winner managed to clock in a solid result, finishing in fourth place and one second slower than Alex.
“I’ve got a new appreciation for what the co-driver goes through. Not only was it a first for Alex, it was a first for me as co-driver, I didn’t understand how difficult co-driving is,” Peter said after the event.
“It was awesome, really fantastic to be in this sort of environment with my son, and then to see him get better and better with each run.”
Finishing the event fifth was another big crew in the West Australian tarmac rally scene with October’s Make Smoking History Targa West winners Mark Greenham and Stephanie Esterbauer just beating husband and wife duo Bill and Glenys Stagoll.
The Targa West season for 2020 has been completed with the next event being the Targa Albany Sprint in February.