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.

For the spectators, watching this balancing act as each stage progresses produces vivid highlights that burn into your memory instantly, a kind of internal camera ‘snap’ rendering the image internally to be remembered forever.

Our team here at l’autista really get into the spirit of the event, setting up a luxurious camp (OK, a tent, a fire and some jaffle irons to make toasties) within metres from the start line. Past traditions have included a relaxed beer at the base with the rest of the team (Brendon, Daniel and Greg) to watch the competing cars take off from the line on a Friday evening for an early reconnaissance run, which really whets the appetite for the following morning.

To determine starting order the 2008 edition unfortunately followed 2007 practice, with the competitors assembled on the Saturday afternoon and released for four practice runs each, rather than prologue events of the path that utilised the country town of Mansfield. These runs were not over the full climb but over the last 2.5kms from service-park to finish. Curiously a solid lightpole was just to the left and no more than 10 metres ahead of the start, immediately asking the drivers a commitment question with cold machinery.

Given this more limited opportunity to dial in for the event proper, the competitors were keen to push through this phase to ensure their cars were bedded in for the full course runs laying ahead on the Sunday. Jason White (co-driven by John White) in his Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera was the first to take off, streaking black lines from all four wheels to the accompaniment of hard edged V10.

Cold brakes and tyres made the cars particularly squeamish as they approached the first corner; a lifting, lightly cambered 2nd gear right hander past the first spectator area. This camber washed away post apex giving the drivers plenty to deal with as they stabbed at the throttle. Watching as the myriad Lancer Evo’s and STi Impreza’s launched one could already discern different approaches. With a surfeit of grip over grunt, especially on race tyres, the drivers of such rally specials either had to dump the clutch at high revs (murder for drivelines) to get all four spinning, or ease off the line and consequently drop some time. Tony Longhurst (co-driven by Jahmeil Taylor) showed his experience by placing his Impreza on an angle at the start line so he could launch dead straight into the first corner without having to counter steer away from the aforementioned pole.

Of course, the newly instituted classic car class had the V8 fans in raptures, the 1970 Dodge Challenger of Oliver/Shepherd and the Woodman/Kastelic A9X coupe battling with the 351ci XY Falcon of Harris/Barkley for crowd pleasing launches. Autiste Greg was stationed at the startline and suggested upon his return that ‘when the Falcon launched the bow wave generated from the twin 3 inch exhausts nearly blew the marshals over!’

After 2 practice runs, the stage was opened to allow spectator movement towards the top of the hill. The last 750 metres or so to the finish are lined by the Mount Buller village, and consequently this is the most popular section for race fans. The lead up to this section is truly spectacular for spectators, the cars bursting into view from behind the trees, digging deep through 4th gear, bodies bouncing and rears squabbling as suspension struggles to quell the bumpy surface. From here, a slight left running alongside a concrete wall is morphs into a braking zone for a tightening 1st/2nd gear right, complete with surface undulations. Combine this with a change in road texture to a more concrete base during the turn-in phase and you have a section that truly separates the contenders from the pretenders. To see the drivers fighting, demanding the car to tolerate these variables is something extraordinary and leaves the hairs standing on the back of your neck. No wonder why it’s a favourite spot for the spectators.

As sunlight receded over the mystical mountains surrounding the region talk between the local marshals suggested a return of the wet weather that plagued the event in 2007, one even commenting “They are forecasting snow on the top tomorrow!” Thankfully after a relaxing and free ranging chat around the camp fire, Sunday morning dawned chilly, and windy, but with no rain to speak of.

Brendon and Daniel busied themselves with cameras at the startline while Greg and I went in search of an appropriate viewing area further up the hill. We settled on the outside of a former spectator area called caravan corner, which due to a lack of volunteer spectator marshals is now no longer available to the general public (we donned our lovely fluro pink media vests for the occasion!). The corner itself arrives at the end of a sharp braking zone, becomes a climbing and cambered 2nd gear right hander that spits the cars towards the unwelcoming gravel on its outside as camber neutralised on exit. Once straightened the cars ricocheted snappy upshifts through to 3rd then 4th gears to tackle the more open, weaving left-right section that followed.

We smiled in anticipation as sounds arising from the bottom of the mountain started echoing through the trees, and burst into laughter as the clerk of course thrashed past in his Mitsubishi Outlander, high profile tyres protesting as the vehicle panted and groaned up the hill. What came next was a sound of varied thunder- another official in the latest model BMW M3 displaying that cars miraculous rev range, exiting the hairpin in a high gear and giving us a taste of its vocal range from just off idle through to 8500rpm.

As the Beemer passed, a layering of highly tuned exhaust notes mingled with each other from somewhere below as the slower cars from the day before made their initial climb up the mountain.

Early on, whining rotaries old and new (Power/Wannop 1979 RX7 and Ridge/McAlister 1995 RX7 SP) battled for attention amidst bellowing V8’s and singing BMW sixes. As the quicker guys approached, these sounds were added to with the unmistakable Porsche flat-six growl; either naturally aspirated and revving to the heavens (Summers/Arnold 997 GT3 RS) or the more offbeat tome combined with boost levels that tore at the incoming air (Purdey/Burrey 996 Turbo S). Similarly eager to devour any oxygen that remained at altitude were the heavily turbocharged Lancers and Imprezas (some with that endearing warble that came in the original WRX) that thrust forward as if digging into the road itself as driver’s snapped home gear after short ratio gear. All, however, failed to achieve the majesty that is the sound of an opened up Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera. Edgy and manic, both Lambos were simply majestic and garnered the most cheers of all in the modern class, their massive exhausts sending a haunting tune through the woodland. Of course, the biggest Aussie whoops of delight were saved for the thundering V8’s in the classic class and judging by the way the classic competition victors Bailey and Bowden in their Perana Capri were leaving trails of black in their wake the crowd clearly inspired them to a fine 21st overall. This South African V8 beast also recorded fastest time overall for the classic class, with a 9mins 27.87 pass.

As the stages progressed, the myriad differences between car/driver combinations became further focussed. Tightly sprung evos would pitch an inner rear wheel into the air at the apex before putting down power seamlessly, while the Gallardos and turbocharged Porsches, still all-wheel drive but with more weight over the rear, had their front tyres slipping for grip momentarily as power was applied, the rears then hunkering down as drive was shuffled momentarily to exchange wheelspin for absolute traction and quite incredible drive through the exit. The BMW M3R of Walsh/Denahy displayed near perfect front-engined, rear-drive balance as it sung sweetly by, lacking the outright grunt of the others but making up for this deficit with sublime agility on their way to 19th overall.

Through the rest of Sunday and into Monday the competition continued with 10 runs in all, with the rain that threatened Sunday morning easing without fanfare before moving into a fine Monday. All was not so fine for some of the crowd favourites, with the big Harris/Barkley XY Falcon sadly failing to record a time on the full circuit after a promising practice and disappointing the partisan locals in the process. Another notable retiree was the Hendy/Hendy 2005 Daytona coupe, which recorded a highly competitive first stage time of 9mins 06.75 before failing to complete the second and subsequent passes. A shame because the pretty coupe with the big block beat was plowing through its sequential gears in practice and was tipped to be well within a shot at digging under 9 minutes. Perhaps the biggest names on the retirement list, however, were those of former Targa Tasmania winners, Jason and John White. Perennial contenders at events such as this, their demonic White Superleggera lasted only 3 stages, but each of these was covered in comfortably below 9 minutes. Unfortunately this only hinted at what might have been.

After 2 days and 10 competitive stages the overall spoils went to sprint rookies George Miedecke, son of Andrew, and his co-driver Daniel Willson in their Mitsubishi Evo 9 RS. Their consistently quick passes enabled them to see off the challenge of the Longhurst/Taylor Spec-C Subaru Impreza and the Weeks/Crunkhorn Gallardo Superleggera. Indeed, Weeks sliced up the pass with an inspiring 8mins 36.91 on stage 9 to grab the fastest time of the weekend, whilst Longhurst on an 8mins 38.91 also beat Miedecke’s fastest (8 mins 39.01). Incredibly, after 1 hour and 20 minutes of competitive stagework Longhurst and Weeks were separated by just over a second at the final bell. Both were lagging around 13 seconds of Miedecke’s total time.

As we gathered our thoughts on the way home we all agreed that it is a fantastic event overall, but while the organisers brought in initiatives designed to increase spectator involvement, such as the people’s choice award and the classic car class, it was disappointing to see that many of the original spectating areas have been closed off. This is perhaps due to a lack of sponsorship funds and volunteer crowd marshals. Hopefully the new initiatives coupled with fine weather and a close result for this year’s event will increase public interest and allow the people at Mountain Motorsports to run the event to its full potential in future. Hopefully event stalwart Jim Richards can return next year to add another big name star to a list otherwise dominated by highly competent but not particularly well known compeititors. As it stands though, the Mount Buller Sprint remains a must-do event in our l’autista calendar.

Full results can be viewed at www.mtbullersprint.com