IN PICTURES: Blistering times set by competitors despite numbers being down on Albany Rallysprint’s return

It took less than 84 seconds for the fastest car to make its way up to Apex Drive from Binalup/Middleton Beach when the Albany Rallysprint returned at the weekend. Troy Wilson and co-driver Gav Rusell’s 2010 Mitsubishi Evo X completed the 2.8km climb via Marine Drive in 1min. 23.59sec. on their fifth of six runs, eclipsing the next best time by more than two seconds on Monday. The time was also nearly two seconds quicker than the winning 2022 time of 1:25.33. Numbers were down at the event as it made its return to Albany after a year off, with 44 cars taking part on Monday. Tarmac West’s Ross Tapper said it had been an “excellent” weekend and he could not be certain why numbers were down, but he knew that “those that were there absolutely loved it”. “They were making comments saying we need to encourage more competitors down next year,” he said. “There was certainly some very nice cars down there and some really great competition.” Markets on the beach foreshore proved popular for spectators in between runs and allowed many families to make a day of it on the public holiday. Mr Tapper said Sunday’s racing at Quaranup, where 26 cars took part in the rallysprint and 16 in the sprint, also proved popular among drivers. “It ran pretty smoothly, but there was a couple of little instances of competitors having incidents,” he said. Mark Greenham and Steph Esterbauer recorded the fasted cumulative time in the Quaranup rallysprint in their 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9. The pair completed four runs in a total time of 6:45.16, with a quickest run of 1:37.15. Stan Wilkins was the quickest in the Quaranup sprint, recording a time of 1:25.45 on his fourth of four runs in his 1993 Honda Integra.