Day 2 of Perth’s premier tarmac rally, the four-day Lance East Exotics Tarmac West saw competitors tackle nine stages, 58 competitive kilometres and cover a total distance of 277 kilometres.

A warm sunny spring day welcomed competitors to the Perth Hills. Starting in Parkerville for two stages, the competition then moved to Kalamunda for another four stages including the famous zig zag stage, then to Bullsbrook for the final three stages.

This morning, 60 cars lined up at the start line and by the day’s end, 52 finished.

In the open class, Competition T200, Heuson Bak and Roger Tan in their 2017 Lotus Exige S 350 maintained their lead to finish fastest after Day 2 of Lance East Exotics Tarmac West.

The nine-time Tarmac West competitor said that the car is going well, needing a few suspension tweaks each stage.

“We had a lot of pace in Kalamunda, our car likes the tight, twisty stages,” Bak said.

“Our goal hasn’t changed, we’re going for a win.”

Bak and Tan have a 40-second lead ahead of 2023 Tarmac West winner Peter Rullo in his Porsche 992 RGT with co-driver Steve Glenney. The duo won six of today’s nine stages.

According to Rullo, his Porsche 992 Rally Grand Tourer, or RGT, is the first one in Australia, renowned for bringing pure rear-wheel drive GT race car platform into the world of rallying.

Yesterday, Rullo’s car had a faulty paddle on the steering wheel, which was fixed before the start, and today, Rullo said he lost time on SS12 Zig Zag.

“Around the hairpin, we turned and kept rotating, then the car wouldn’t go into reverse, and it took several attempts to get going again and we lost some time, but that’s ok, that’s why there’s more stages,” said Rullo, optimistically.

Rounding out the top three in the T200 class is Will White and Matt Thompson in their Nissan R35 GTR, 56.5 seconds off the leader’s pace and 16 seconds behind Rullo. Both from the south west, they climbed two places on the leaderboard today.

Like Rullo, White is also driving a new car this year purchased by his co-driver, one sporting numberplates ‘TaxBrk’.

Hot on the heels of White in T200 is Matthew O’Neill in his 2006 Subaru WRX STI Spec C with co-driver Michael Lloyd, trailing by just 1.5 seconds in fourth place.

Today saw the one of the favourites to win the rally out of contention after an incident at the end of SS 11. Mark Cirillo and co-driver Daymon Nicoli had shown promising times in their 2024 BMW M4, which won’t be able to be fixed in time to rejoin the rally.

In the T185 category, a new class for modified classics, Byron Ellement and Dean McIardy in the rally’s oldest car (the shell at least), a 1964 Ford Anglia increased their lead by the end of Day 2 to 1:44 minutes ahead of Mike Doyle and Brett Hale in a 1991 Subaru Liberty RS.

“This car is a rocket, it’s driving so well, no problems at all,” Ellement said.

Competitors in T185 are limited to speeds of 185km/h.

In the T165, Simon Brenan and Sylvia Hamerlik in their 2021 BMW M4 Competition won four stages today and capitalised on the misfortune of others to finish the day 45-seconds ahead of Ben Pang and Brandon Chin in their 2020 Toyota GR Yaris.

Keith Hamilton and David Humphreys in their 2009 Subaru Impreza WRC STI round out the top three 1:56 minutes off the top pace.

Winning five stages today was yesterday’s leader, rookie Anthony Jewell with co-driver Rachael Ferrante driving a 2022 Toyota Supra A90, the car that won last year’s Tarmac West (driven by Bryce Moore).

On SS10, Jewell said that the car went into ‘limp mode’ twice, forcing them to stop on stage, turn the car off and restart it again as a reset.

After showing impressive pace on Day 1 and today, Jewell and Ferrante finished Day 2 in fourth place in T165.

Competitors in T165 are limited to speeds of 165km/h.

In the T130 category, rookie father and son duo, Daniel McGuckin and Colin McGuckin driving a 1996 Nissan 180sx, finished Day 2 the fastest.

“We’re happy, so we’ll manage it and see what we can do but we know that there are other strong competitors around us, so we’ll see. I just want to keep the car straight and get to the end,” said Daniel McGuckin, a mechanic by trade.

Another father-and-son duo who were leading yesterday, Joshua Brown, 36, and Rodney Brown, 69, had a nightmare day. In the first stage, engine issues plagued their 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9 putting them on the back foot. Adding to their woes were time penalties and then an incident on Zig Zag which ended their day.

Joshua Brown said that the crew were working on the car to rejoin the rally tomorrow, albeit out of contention.

In second place in T130, 26 seconds off the pace is rookie Gavin Dixon with co-driver Joe Crabtree in their 2011 Volkswagon Golf, and finishing the day in third place is Xia Chen and Nick Chua in their 2007 Mitsubishi Evo 9, 1:33 minutes behind the lead.

In the Time Speed Distance or TSD category is ex-Australian cricketer Brad Hogg, experiencing rallying for the first time, and it clearly agrees with him judging by his beaming smile.

Hogg, with co-driver Lachlan White need to drive each stage in their 2016 BMW M140i to a target time.

TSD competitors need to complete each stage as close as possible to the target time allowed and incur penalties for an early finish more so than finishing late.

“We got out first zero today which is sensational, and that last stage was brilliant,” said Hogg referring to SS11 Kalamunda East 2.

“On our first timed stage yesterday, I was five seconds under and then five second over on another, I’m having too much fun,” Hogg said.

Introduced in 2024, Tarmac West’s TSD category is for those who like spirited driving. Designed for standard road cars, the category requires only a helmet and an Australian Auto-Sport Alliance (AASA) General Speed Licence to qualify for entry.

An all-rounder noted for his fitness, Hogg represented Australia in 123 One Day International matches, seven Test matches, and 99 other first-class games before first retiring from international cricket in 2008. He came out of retirement to play T20 for Australia and in the BBL for the Perth Scorchers.

Looking ahead

It’s down to business tomorrow, the marathon Day 3 of competition, when drivers, co-drivers and crew endure the rally’s biggest day featuring long flowy stages and technical sections around Toodyay, Chittering and Bullsbrook. Toodyay is about 83 kilometres east of Perth and Chittering is about 65 kilometres.

The marathon day includes 12 stages, racing the clock on 120 competitive kilometres and driving a total distance of close to 444 kilometres.

The goal for every team tomorrow is to finish the day with a healthy gap to their nearest rival so they can go into the final day on Sunday without the need to push on the shorter city stages where clipping a kerb might end their campaign.

Lance East Exotics Tarmac West, held from 17 to 20 September, is the only event of its kind in Western Australia that tests the endurance of both man and machine.

Competitors in modern and classic cars will race the clock along 34 stages and a total of 218 competitive kilometres along closed roads around Whiteman Park, Ellenbrook, Parkerville, Kalamunda, Toodyay, Maryville, Bullsbrook, Malaga and the City of Perth.

Run by Tarmac Events WA, the rally is made possible thanks to sponsors with a special acknowledgement of title sponsor Lance East Exotics, and the 300 volunteer officials who ensure the event is run safely.

Spectating is free at Lance East Exotics Tarmac West. For full results and to be kept up to date, visit www.tarmacevents.com.au.

Photography credits: R-Dev Media, Tim Allot, Dianne Bortoletto.