The 2015 Western Australian Rally Championship has been won by Garry Whittle. Whittle crossed the finish line in all five rounds of this year’s championship, putting him ahead of nearest rival Robert Webber by 19 points.
Garry Whittle and Stephen Vass celebrate a great 2015 WARC season. Photo: Paul van der Mey“I was feeling a little stressed out in the lead up to Carrington’s Safari, but it all paid off in the end and winning the championship is a great feeling,” said Whittle.
“For me it was never over until it was over. Particularly with Carrington’s Safari being the final deciding round - anything can happen in that rally! The longest drive for me all year was from the end of the last stage back to the service park - I was just waiting for something electrical to happen to the car or something else to go wrong. I was sweating on it, we had come so far.”
This is Whittle’s first championship win after competing in the WARC for five years. He states that winning the championship in the Rezolt Subaru WRX was not part of the plan going into the year.
“Our aim was to get a podium or two during the year and finish in the top five. We would never have imagined that this would be the year where it just went so well for us. Everything seemed to fall into line, which is different because the two years before that it was just terrible.
“We finished every stage of every rally this year, and that turned out to be what got us to the top. We certainly weren't the fastest car there - but we were the most consistent.”
After a rough start to the year at the Quit Forest Rally, Whittle consistently finished in the Top Five for the remaining rounds, including one round win at the Expert’s Cup in June. He says their success this year is a reflection of the hard work his team have put in.
“People often say ‘it wasn't me, it was the whole crew’ - but in rally this really applies. You just can't achieve anything without a really good team behind you. With me being in Bunbury and the crew being in Perth, they've made so many trips back and forth just to work on the car and make sure everything is right. I’ve been really lucky to have such a great team this year.”
The WARC Co-Drivers Championship was also won by a first-time winner, Toni Feaver. Toni co-drove the 2015 WARC season in the Platinum Motorsport Mitsubishi Evo 9 with championship runner-up Robert Webber. Toni says to win the Co-Drivers Championship in her home state was a great way to mark her 20th year of co-driving.
“It has been one of those championships where we haven't actually won any of the rounds, we have just been there to consistently collect the points through our second, third and fourth places,” said Feaver.
“It's good for me to win it, but it would have been sweeter if Rob and I had won it together. I'll take it anyway!” said Feaver.
The sentiments were echoed by Webber, who went into the final round of the championship with the aim of securing the co-driver’s championship for Feaver.
“Winning the co-driver’s championship was our main aim going into this event - it was the most realistic goal that we could have achieved. Toni’s been co-driving for 20 years, so it was a well-deserved feather in her cap,” said Webber.
The 2WD and Clubman Cup categories of the Western Australian Rally Championship have one more round to run before the points are tallied. The Darling 200 held in the Jarrahdale region on November 14 will be the deciding round for the non-4WD competitors. For more information about this round, please visit the RallyWA website.
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