ATC round 1- Mt Buller Sprint 2009

As the first round of the newly created Australian Tarmac Championship (ATC), the 7th running of the Pacific Hire Mt Buller Sprint was an opportunity for leading tarmac crews to get a jump start in the standings.

The championship spans four rounds with Buller run on the first weekend in December being followed by Targa Wrest point in January and March’s Lake Mountain sprint, before culminating with the jewel- the 2010 Targa Tasmania from 27 April to 2 May.

Though this year’s edition had 77 entrants vying for honours across Classic and Modern classes, the absence of 2008 winner George Miedecke along with Targa Tasmania winner Tony Quinn and Jim Richards robbed the event of some ‘top-line’ quality depth. This was further reduced when the newly finished Weeks/Crunkhorn Gallardo, pre-race favourite and stage record holder, was sidelined with electrical problems after only managing one clean run on the Saturday morning. “The crew did a wonderful job in even getting the new car to the start line, but there was no point continuing if it wasn’t right,” Weeks said of his new mount, which was hastily completed over the 3 weeks between his Porsche RS victory in Classic Adelaide and the start of Buller.

Regardless of the reduction, the remaining cream (bad cooking pun) rose to the top and an intense battle ensued with 2006 winners Jason and John White eventually taking overall honours in their flame-spitting Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera Type R and scoring 250 points towards the ATC.

The Whites beat out Steve Jones/ Ben Searcy (230 points) in their impressive R35 GTR (known amongst the start line spectators as the ‘silent assassin’- so quiet, yet so efficient) with rally star Dean Herridge and co-driver Chris Murphy taking the final step on the podium in their wastegate fluttering 2008 Sti Impreza.

Another formerly victorious team in Ray Vandersee/ John Allen finished 4th in their manic Skelta G-Force- “There wasn’t much grip in the early going and we had a couple of spins, but it came together as the event went on,” explained co-driver Allen of their performance.

‘Showroom’ modern was won by journalist and committed racer Dean Evans with co-driver Simone Bachmann (10th overall) in a Lancer Evo X Club Spec, complete with dual-clutch SST gearbox.

In classic, the experienced duo of Rex Broadbent and Chris Randell took their wailing 1974 RS 911 to victory, beating rivals Pye and Lenne in another RS by 40 seconds after the 10 runs. In overall rankings these classics were 12th and 15th. The Porsche domination of this category was a suitable nod to the German marquee, who were the initial sponsors of the first Buller Sprint back in 2004.

The White’s also took kudos for the fastest run of the weekend with a staggering 8.26.01 which translated to an average speed of over 114km/h for the 16km course. However, word amongst the quickest teams was that times were around 15 seconds faster this year, due to the removal of the final left hand hairpin so favoured by spectators. This means that Weeks’ 8.36 from 2008 remains the time to beat.

New for this year was a ‘thoroughbred touring’ category, whereby curious enthusiasts could bring a helmet and enter their road car to enjoy the climb behind a pace car, all under closed road competition conditions. It appears that the intent- to whet competitive appetites in preparation for further participation in tarmac rallying- rubbed off on many of the group, with Audi S3 driver Steuart Meers vowing to return: “That is 15 minutes of pure adrenalin…surely a roll cage wouldn’t be that impractical,” he laughed. He added that event organisers Mountain Motorsports had really made the touring drivers feel part of the event, with merchandise and social functions allowing the group to mix with the professional racers.

Despite the eminently reasonable entry price of $10 for the weekend, it appeared as though spectator numbers were reduced compared with previous years (which had been held over the Melbourne Cup weekend). Sentiment amongst racegoers was that there needed to be more opportunity for spectator movement between stages, along with more viewing sections on the climb as in previous years, where some of the offset car-parks scattered along the climb were utilised for this purpose.

Also under scrutiny was the prologue, run over the last 2.5km of road for the last couple of years, which worked well for competitors and crew alike but limited spectator and community involvement. Perhaps a return to the days of running through the Mansfield streets, and involving the largest local town needs to be considered to showcase the magic of tarmac rallying to a broader audience. Thankfully the organisers are in negotiations for this to happen.

The championship focus now shifts to Targa Wrest Point, which features the finest sections of Southern Tasmanian tarmac. With Broadbent not entered at the time of writing, team Pye/Lenne has a chance to take a clear lead in the classic standings- though they will face strong competition from Andrew Miedecke/Daniel Wilson in their V8 powered Capri Perana. In modern, the White’s bring a 20 point buffer over Jones/Searcy, but with Quinn, Richards and Weeks back online, the action at the front is sure to be fierce.

© 2009 lautista.com.au.