WA young gun Alex Rullo hits 200km/h and wins Auto One Targa Albany Sprint for second year running

Perth racing sensation Alex Rullo hit 200km/h as he took out the Auto One Targa Albany Sprint for the second year in a row.

One hundred drivers competed across three courses at the long weekend, with classic and modern cars converging on Albany for the fourth edition of the event.

Former V8 Supercars driver Alex Rullo went back-to-back in Monday’s headline race, the Targa Albany Sprint.

The course takes drivers along a picturesque 2.8km route from Hybla Tavern in Middleton Beach to the National Anzac Centre atop Mt Adelaide.

It was a nailbiting finish, coming down to the fifth and final runs between the top two competitors.

Rullo, in a 2014 Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, finished with the winning time of 1min. 25.33sec. — improving on his 2021 time of 1:28.19.

Second-placed Steve Jones, in a 2010 Mitsubishi Evolution 10, finished in a time of 1:25.69.

On Tuesday, Rullo said he was “still on a post-event high” and “couldn’t have asked for a better weekend”.

“That last one, I didn’t leave too much on the table to be honest,” he said.

“It was a pretty tight competition with myself and Steve Jones.

“I knew I had one run left so I gave it all I had, luckily it was enough and he put in an awesome final run as well.

“It was pretty cool to see, just two guys in two awesome cars, pushing them to the absolute limit.”

The 21-year-old said he cracked the 200km/h barrier along Marine Drive, surpassing his top speed of 194km/h in last year’s event.

He plans to return to Albany next year to defend his title.

The fastest local driver in the Targa Albany Sprint was Ray Panizza who placed 23rd with a time of 1:37.71 in his 1976 Ford Escort Mark II.

Sunday’s Auto One Targa Quaranup Ralllysprint was taken out by Troy Wilson and co-driver Gav Russell in a time of 1:15.92 in their 2010 Mitsubishi Evo X.

The Auto One Targa Quaranup Sprint, also run on Sunday, was won by 2019 champion Matt James-Wallace in a time of 1:23.09 in his 1993 Nissan GTR R32.