Albany Rallysprint weekend delivers two days of fast-paced road action at Quaranup and Middleton Beach

Tarmac Events’ annual rally racing extravaganza returned to Albany over the Labour Day long weekend, with drivers tackling both the windy road to Camp Quaranup and the hill climb up Mt Adelaide. Jensen Herbert and Ben Searcy took the overall win in the Rallysprint, coming ahead of second-placed Mark and Lachlan Greenham by more than 30 seconds in their 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX STI. Searcy said it was his first visit to Albany and he was equally impressed with the competition and the city’s natural splendour. “There was some tough competition, some great cars and great drivers, so it was pretty special for us to be able to get up the top, especially for our first time in Albany,” he said. “I rally all over the world, and Albany has some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen. “The drive up Mt Adelaide is spectacular. “The roads were in great condition, the whole event ran incredibly smoothly. It was just a perfect race weekend as a whole.” Jurgen and Helen Lunsmann made up the podium in their Tesla Model 3P+, with a total time just seven seconds behind the Greenhams. Rallysprint events have two people in the car: a driver and a co-driver, who helps navigate the various turns and obstacles on the track at the highest speed so their driver can focus on handling the car. Sprint events however, are solo. The driver is left alone to contend with whatever the track has in store without a second set of eyes in the passenger seat. Julian O’Hara took the top prize for the sprint event on Monday, March 2 in his 2006 Lotus Exige S, closely followed by Rehan Mehta in his 1996 Subaru WRX. Yannis Hondros was third, four seconds behind in his 2004 Mazda MX5, with Cody Smith and Steph Esterbauer making up a tightly competitive top five. The first day of racing kicked off at Quaranup on March 1, with drivers facing narrow, winding roads and tight corners. Troy Wilson and Bianca Zahra fared best overall, clocking a total time of 6min. 38.47sec. in their 2010 Mitsubishi Evo X. Monday’s winning pair Jensen Herbert and Ben Searcy came in second in their 1998 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, with Mark and Lachlan Greenham in third. Jody Waghorn and Aaron Williams claimed fourth in their 2020 BMW M2, and Jamie McGloin and Esterbauer made up the top five in their Nissan Silvia. Matt James-Wallace claimed the overall win in the Quaranup Sprint with his 1993 Nissan GTR R32, with Sam Lloyd and Rehan Mehta chasing him in second and third. Second, third and fourth placings were less than a second apart, with Julian O’Hara coming in fourth in his 2006 Lotus Exige S. Chris Tottman filled the final slot in the top five, coming in 11 seconds behind the leader.