Matthew Sims and father Dennis Sims, in their Nissan R35, took out the 2012 On the Run Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally with a convincing 3 min 40 sec gap to second placed Matthew Selley and Hamish McKendrick, in a Mitsubishi EVO 9.
Third place went to Andrew Booker and Chris Edmondson, a further 47 seconds behind in their Nissan 180SX.
The 2012 Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally was held from May 18th to 20th in the Adelaide Hills and Fleurieu Peninsula attracting a large number of local and interstate competitors. The event was based out of the picturesque Serafino Winery and Resort at McLaren Vale. The Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally was Round 2 of the CAMS Australian Tarmac Rally Championship as well as Round 2 of the South Australian Rally Championship.
Sims and Sims won 22 of the 25 stages during the event and dominated right from the first stage at the Mallala Motorsport Park to the final stages over Paris Creek just outside the township of Meadows.
The Australian Classic Tarmac Championship was dominated by V8 power with brothers Peter and Byran Jones winning in their bright orange 1976 LX Torana V8 over second placed Craig Haysman and Neil Branum in their Triumph TR7 V8. Third placed was WA competitors Glen Crimp with co-driver Frank Brookhouse in their Porsche GTS Club Sport. The Jones brothers were also a staggering 5th outright for the event eclipsing most of the modern vehicles in the field.
Round 2 of the South Australian Rally Championship was run on the Saturday of the event with an additional 22 entries adding to the large field of Vehicles. Declan Dwyer and Craig Adams came out of retirement with their new car and Mitsubishi EVO 6 to show why they have been past State Champions. Declan had flown over his previous co-driver in Craig Adams from Western Australia for the event and it proved a wise decision as the two narrowly beat the Jones Brothers (who were duel entered in both championships) by 11.0 seconds. Third place went to the current State Champions Russel Marker and Karien Heimsohn who were a further 1.7 seconds further back in their Subaru WRX.
The Rookie section was won by Brett and Sandy Watters in their Peugeot 206 Gtl 80, narrowly beating Chris and Maxine Howard in their Spec C Subaru WRX STI.
The Thoroughbred Challenge went to Damien Chwalisz and Patrick Moore accumulating only 72.2 points penalty over the 25 stages. John Amos along with wife Cintra and daughter Rebecca who shared the navigational duties were second with 97.2 points penalty. Third went to NSW pairing of Gerald Knapp and Maurice Lake with 136.4 points penalty.
Event organisers would like to thank all the 300 plus volunteers that helped out before, during and after the event along with the resident and councils that make this event possible.
Full Results are available: 2012 Adelaide Hills Tarmac Rally > Results > 2012 Leg One - Leg Three
