Aaron Wuillemin is this year’s Motorsport Australia Motorkhana Championship winner, the first since 2019.
 
And Wuillemin believes his second national motorkhana title came as a result of a successful battle of mind games with long-time rival Corinne East-Johnston.
 
Both Wuillemin and East-Johnston have long been two of the powerhouses of Australian motorkhana and they were again in the thick of the action at Willowbank for the 2022 Championship.
 
With a huge field of 48 competitors tackling 10 tests in the national championship, Wuillemin ended up claiming a nine second victory over the three-time champion in East-Johnston, while Reece McIntosh rounded out the podium a further 11 seconds off.

In what was an entertaining battle for the win between the two, East-Johnston came away with more test wins, however Wuillemin had the event won within the first half of the event.
 
East-Johnston, who last won the title in 2018, got the better start between the two, taking out the first test before Wuillemin gained a lead of one second after winning the second test – a regular test East-Johnston has usually won.
 
A slippery surface on test three allowed East-Johnston to regain the lead after winning the test; however, that was as good as it got for the 2018 champion after a mistake on the fourth test saw her finish five seconds behind Wuillemin.
 
East-Johnston’s campaign went from bad to worse when she hit a flag on fifth test, adding a further five seconds to her time and putting her around 10 seconds behind Wuillemin.
 
Holding a significant lead, Wuillemin spent the rest of the event protecting his lead and playing it safe over the remaining tests.
 
Although he only won one of the second half’s five tests, there was little East-Johnston could do to recover from her disappointing fourth and fifth tests and it remained a sizable gap for the rest of event.
 
In winning his second national title, Wuillemin was thrilled with his performance and revealed that it was his victory on the second test that proved the difference.
 
“To back my 2019 title is absolutely fantastic as there aren’t too many people to have won consecutive titles,” Wuillemin said.
 
“I think that with the extra two-year wait of due to COVID, there was a bit of unknown as to what people had done to their cars, but it was really good to get the event completed and to have such a consistent run.
 
“It was a bit of relief to know that even after the long wait, I still had it in me to win and cemented the fact that I am the best in Australia and proved the first one wasn’t a fluke.
 
“I had her (East-Johnston) rattled from Spiro (test two) which is one she always wins and then after she hit the flag on test five, my mission was to not hit anything and to stay as consistent as I could – it was playing it safe about protecting that lead.
 
“I controlled myself and my car to achieve the results that we did. My foot was slipping off during Accordion (test three), but that was the only one I had trouble on.
 
“It’s great to have won it twice. Looking forward to going to the 50th next year and going three in a row.”

As for East-Johnston, it was an event of missed opportunities as she drove well outside of two tests.

“It was quite wet and difficult conditions,” East-Johnston said.

“However congratulations to Aaron, who drove extremely well. It’s very exciting for him.

“For my own performance, I am very disappointed because I got a lot of fastest times, so the car was handling well and I was driving well but a couple of costly errors lost me the event. 

“It was disappointing and sad to let the team down but I can’t be too upset with second in Australia either, as well as having four women from our family competing and doing well, which was fantastic. 

“I am looking forward to next year as it will be a big event for my dad, who is the only driver to have been to every Australian motorkhana event – making it his 50th.”
 
Wuillemin wasn’t the only driver to walk away from the event as a national champion with Simon Caplet claiming the Australian Junior Championship after finishing 18th overall.
 
Following what was a highly successful event, event secretary Anette Truscott paid tribute to all the officials who braved the challenging conditions to help put the motorkhana on.

 
“I would like to give a big thanks to the volunteer officials for their wonderful work across the weekend,” Truscott said.
 
“Some came from other clubs, giving their time and working tirelessly all day without a break in not very good conditions for some of the day to keep everything going all day without complaint.
 
“Also, a big well done to the Holden Sporting Car Club of Queensland for running such a fantastic event.”
 
Click here to view results.
 
The next Motorsport Australia Speed and Auto Test Championship is the Motorsport Australia Supersprint Championship at Sydney Motorsport Park on 16 October.

Top 10 

Aaron Wuillemin              
Corinne East-Johnston
Reece McIntosh 
Daniel Wuillemin              
James Newell     
Phillip East          
Brant Rayment  
Noel Caplet         
Gary Kotzur         
Lauren East-Wuillemin   
 

Class Winners

Class B: Brett Davidson – Queensland
Class C: Brian Shanahan – Victoria 
Class D: Richard Marken – Queensland
Class E: Reece McIntosh – ACT
Class F: Corinne East-Johnston – New South Wales
Class G: Aaron Wuillemin – New South Wales