2009 Classic Adelaide

A JENSEN JAMBOREE

Words Brian Dermott

The 2009 Classic Adelaide rally has been one of the toughest on record. Although it has been very hot before, there has never been 5 wet stages right after this hot weather ended and the Gorge has never been damp before. And of course, the tragic accident to Gary Tierney and David Carra has been a major downer.

But after 233 competitive kilometres, the purple 1963 Jensen CV8 has won pretty much everything. Pete and Sari Ullrich have been trying for years to win the Heritage, the handicap competition for all Classic cars up to 1981. Pete's business was designing and building mighty ocean racing yachts which took advantage of blue water racing rules so he has always been challenged by the handicap and now they've won it – and Andy Bryson and Jason Rowley in the little Hillman Imp came 4th. But leaving the handicap aside, the Ullrich's still came 7th out of 73 Classic Cars on the scratch results and in the early Classic Competition – up to 1972 – the Ullrichs also made the podium, beaten to third spot by the Moir's Datsun 240Z by only 2 seconds. And of course, this result also give them the inaugural title of HTCAV Tarmac Rally Champions.

Championship runner up was Richard Woodward and David McCrow's ex London Sydney Monaro GTS 350; Richard has certainly put a horror year behind him with this result, with five stages in the top three and a smooth reliable run. And like Pete Ullrich, Richard did not falter with the big V8 over the wet stages before lunch on Day 3. Third was the Mike Lamprell and Tas Orme in the 1967 Mustang in C3 or Modified trim; this is the first event we have recorded for Mike and Tas this year and they should be very pleased with an 8th in early Classic. They had a very consistent run, moving up as others fell out – although they did suffer a bit in the wet.

This event concludes the 2009 HTCAV Tarmac Rally Championship, in which 55 crews have recorded results. Of these, only 12 have competed in more than one event and only two did three events. When these results are worked out (overall placing in the total scratch Classic event + club points x 233 competitive kilometres) and added to the results after three rounds, there are some big changes; here are the top 10 results (complete scores will be published soon, when all the results, including class results, are confirmed):