Driving for the Launceston-based Les Walkden Rallying team, Longhurst and co-driver, Jahmeil Taylor, had a trouble free day in their Subaru Impreza WRX, but ultimately had to play second fiddle to Burnie hotshots Jamie and Simon Vandenberg.
Longhurst was 25.1 seconds behind the local team, with Simon Gillet in third place, 6.3 seconds further back.
“I’d have been okay if we could ban local cars sponsored by lawnmower companies,” Longhurst joked, referring to the Vandenberg brothers.
“I was a bit lazy on the opening stage today and he (Vandenberg) got away on me a bit. But the car was great and the tyres worked well.
“It might seem strange when I’m driving a four-wheel drive car, but I’m hoping for dry conditions tomorrow because what we had today, which was dry and wet on the same stage, was really hard to pick and made it hard to attack.”
Conditions over today’s six stages were generally slippery, with intermittent rain making tyre selection a real challenge for crews.
“We used the same compound tyres all day, and while they were a little hard for this morning’s stages, they were great this afternoon.”
Longhurst had a day-long battle with former world rowing champion, Simon Gillet, in a Mitsubishi, but pulled ahead over the final few stages of the day. However, he knows it won’t be easy to catch pacesetter Vandenberg tomorrow.
“Whatever the weather holds for tomorrow, it’s going to be tough to beat Jamie,” Longhurst added. “As a local he has plenty of knowledge of the roads the rally uses and that gives him a considerable advantage.”
Pre-event favourite, Jim Richards, fell out of contention early in the day with turbo problems in his Porsche 911 GT2, however the reigning event champion will be back to push for victory in Heat 2.
Tomorrow’s weather forecast is for further rain, with another five stages covering 88 competitive kilometres.
Tasmanian Tarmac Challenge – Heat 1
Results – Modern
1 J Vandenberg/S Vandenberg, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, 46 minutes 56.9 seconds
2 T Longhurst/ J Taylor, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +25.2 secs (behind leader)
3 S Gillet/K Norton, Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +31.5secs
4 Tony Quinn/K Wenn, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, +1:19.0
5 P Leemhuis/N Deniese, Nissan GTR32, +1:33.1
6 T Alford/K Handley, Nissan GTR 35, +2:27.9
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