Tarmac: Tony Longhurst Rally Tasmania final summary

Longhurst finishes fourth in Rally Tasmania

Two-time Bathurst 1000 winner, Tony Longhurst, has finished a strong fourth in the Rally Tasmania, held around Burnie in north west Tasmania this weekend.

Driving his Les Walkden Rallying-prepared Subaru Impreza WRX STI, the Gold Coast driver was unable to match the speed of the leading Nissan GTR of Tony Quinn and Porsche 911of Jim Richards over the final day's stages, but was happy with his performance.

Longhurst was involved in a ding dong battle with local hot shot Jamie Vandenberg over the final two days of the event, however the Burnie driver's local knowledge proved decisive in the run to the flag.

"It's a solid result, but it's not the result we had hoped for coming into the event," Longhurst said. "We thought we could battle for the lead, but the dry conditions gave the Nissan and Porsche a big advantage. They have a lot more power than our Subaru, and it made them tough to catch."

After winning his last tarmac rally, last October, Longhurst was using Rally Tasmania as a test for the forthcoming Targa Tasmania at the end of April.

"At this stage we're still not sure which car we'll use in Targa," Longhurst added. "The Les Walkden team have a new Subaru and a new Mitsubishi that have just been built, so we need to sit down and work out what the best car for Targa is going to be."

-credit: tl