RULLO WRAPS UP WA RALLY OPENER

Former Supercars driver Alex Rullo is now a star on the dirt and claimed a nail-biting opening round of the Western Australian Rally Championship.

Rullo and James Marquet won by just four seconds over Dylan King and Daymon Nicoli in their Hyundai i20 Rally2 in the Winvale Stages round based on a private property in the Bakers Hill region just east of Perth.

A total of 32 crews would tackle 10 short special stages, ranging from 4.6km to 7.6km in length and attracting 50% of championship points in very warm and sunny conditions.

Rullo kicked off his journey to victory perfectly by winning the opening 7.5km Helena special stage.  He was chased by King in his recently acquired Toyota Yaris AP4, sparking a battle that would continue throughout the day with the pair swapping times finishing first and second on all remaining stages.

Chasing down the duo on SS1 was Subaru pairings Craig Rando/Scott Beckwith, plus Dale Faulkner/Rachel Ferrante.

Fifth on the stage was newcomer Thomas Loughton and the highly experienced rookie, Michael Lloyd debuting their Mitsubishi Evo X.  Peter Rullo and Ben Searcy fresh from their return from the WRC in Sweden were sixth in their Hyundai i20 Rally2.

Tim Miles and Morgan Ward fly through the air. Image:Aaron James Media

The highly anticipated debut of Tim Hiles and Morgan Ward didn’t go as planned with the pair hitting a big jump too fast and launching through one of the many gates and fences throughout the property.  

They limped home in seventh place on the stage but didn’t continue too much further after losing a windscreen and then blowing their engine.

King would take SS2 from Rullo, before the positions swapped in SS3 where Gary Mills and Mitchell Gray in the Peugeot 208 AP4 slipped into the top five on this stage.

The re-runs of the first three stages, as SS4 to SS6 saw much of the same, with the top six crews exchanging places frequently.

Stages 7 to 9 were the same three stages all run in reverse and as Rando had an issue in SS7 and dropped time, Rullo Snr grasped the opportunity and moved into third place.  

Alex Rullo kicks up some dust on his way to victory. Image: Aaron James Media

From there until the end of SS10, there were no further changes in the overall result, with Alex Rullo and Marquet taking the victory four seconds ahead of King and Nicoli.  

Peter Rullo and Searcy grabbed the final place on the podium ahead of without doubt the drive of the rally from newcomers Thomas Loughton and Morgan Lloyd in fourth and first in the very competitive Production Cup championship.

The two-wheel drive win went to Tony Oates and Niamh Nairn in a Honda Civic ahead of the Mitsubishi Mirage of Sam Moody and David Christian.

The championship moves south to Busselton and Nannup for round two, the piggy back event to the ARC round next month.

Image: Aaron James Media

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