The Ultimate Sunday Drive

No cops and no traffic – sounds like bliss. We discover the joys of tarmac rallying in a Japanese icon

- Tony O'kane

I’m not the kind of guy to admit to feelings of anxiety, but I’ll level with you: lately I’ve had trouble sleeping.

Sure, 2020’s been a stressful year, but it’s thoughts of ‘what if’ that are sitting heavily on my brain, making grim hypotheticals float around my cranium.

See, I’ve signed myself up for a tarmac rally. My first one. The Great Tarmac Rally is part of the Australian Tarmac Rally series and encompasses 246km of challenging Victorian alpine roads, so I feel like I’ve dived into the deep end. I’ll be wearing metaphorical floaties given I’ll be driving in the noob-tier “Tour” category where speeds are limited to 130km/h, but trees and physics are still harsh mistresses at such velocity.

Though there’s less Scando-flicky, roostertaily action than a gravel rally, the combo of high-grip tarmac, girthy tree trunks and approximately zero runoff elevate the danger factor.

However, balancing that out is the safety of being able to use the entire road, coupled with the fact there’s no oncoming traffic. I’ve driven the road stages of the Great Tarmac Rally before, but I’m expecting them to be almost unrecognisable without a 100km/h speed limit, traffic, or the need to keep left.

Adding a smidge more stress is the fact I’m doing this in someone else’s car. Toyota has provided a shiny Supra GT (Cam Kirby’s old long-termer, in fact), and it already has enough dramatic creases and bulges – it doesn’t need me to add any more. Another sobering thought is that Peter Brock lost his life competing in a tarmac rally, and I have nowhere near his skill. Then again, Elvis died while sitting on the toilet, and I run that gauntlet on a daily basis...