With only five seconds splitting them at the start of the day, and the pair traded times during the morning and afternoon stages. And although Liddle managed to come within three seconds of the Maximum Motorsport boss, Rob was able to extend that margin over the first two of three passes of the super special stage and take fifth place by seven seconds.

Ironically, Liddle’s Subaru WRX STi had been tuned by Maximum Motorsport in the week prior to the event. And the result means Rob has not only competed in each running of Quit Targa West, he has finished in the top-10 each time.

Behind them Graham Furness held on to 10th place, a position that didn’t really reflect the pace he showed across all three days of the event. A miscalculation during day one meant he incurred a 70 second time penalty, causing him to drop seven places to 14th.

If not for the penalty, he could have finished a few positions higher.

At the end of day two Bryan McGrath found himself locked in a battle with three other crews for 11th place. But on the transport to the first of Sundays stages, the clutch in his Impreza failed. Although the Maximum Motorsport mechanics quickly fitted a new clutch, Bryan incurred time penalties for missing the opening loop of three stages. He did rejoin for the final six stages, and brought his Subaru home in 32nd place.

The Maximum Motorsport team now begins to prepare for Targa High Country in November, with both Dean Herridge and Graham Iddles set to contest the first round of the Australian Tarmac Championship.

Quit Targa West – Final Results

1. Peter Major, Nissan GTR 35, 1:31:15.0
2. Jim Richards, Porsche GT2, +51.0
3. Peter Rullo, Nissan GTR 35, +1:15.0
4. Ross Hamilton, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8, +2:31.0
5. Rob Herridge, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, +3:13.0
6. Stewart Liddle, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, +3:20.0
7. Troy Wilson, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7, +4:31.0
8. Simon Gunson, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 RS, +4:40.0
9. Jon-Paul Van Loenhout, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, +5:07.0
10. Graham Furness, Subaru Impreza WRX Spec C, +6:02.0

Photos courtesy of Peter Evans – peterevans.smugmug.com

After finishing leg 1 in 14th place, Furness quickly began to pick up positions, and completed Saturdays stages 9th, 43 seconds behind 8th-placed Jon-Paul Van Loenhout.

Meanwhile, both Rob Herridge and Bryan McGrath have consolidated their positions. Rob maintained 5th throughout the day, and remains just 21 seconds away from 4th-placed Ross Hamilton.

But Bryan McGrath has a real fight on his hands, in a four-way battle for 10th place with Rohan Green, Kym Illman and Michael Steele, just 10 seconds covering four positions.

The final leg of Quit Targa West will see the crews return to Toodyay and Coondle, north-west of Perth, for five special stages, before returning to Perth city for three passes of a short, spectator-friendly, super special stage.

Quit Targa West – Leg 2 Results

1. Peter Major, Nissan GTR 35, 1:10:16.0
2. Jim Richards, Porsche GT2, +1:00.0
3. Peter Rullo, Nissan GTR 35, +1:34.0
4. Ross Hamilton, Mitsubishi Evo 8, +2:10.0
5. Rob Herridge, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, +2:31.0
6. Stewart Liddle, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, +2:52.0
7. Simon Gunson, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 RS, +3:43.0
8. Jon-Paul Van Loenhout, Mitsubishi Evo 9, +4:15.0
9. Graham Furness, Subaru Impreza WRX Spec C, +4:58.0
13. Bryan McGrath, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, +5:45.0

Photos courtesy of Quit Targa West and Circlework.

“We were on fire early on”, exclaimed Rob at the end of day service stop. “Pre-event we were aiming to finish in the top five. I’ve not been in a rally car since last years Targa West, so I’m a little rusty. We were certainly not expecting to be 5th at this stage. But the car has been great, and we found ourselves in 3rd place during the morning.”

The two-time Australian rally champion stepped in to lead the trio of Maximum Motorsport Subarus, when regular driver Dean Herridge was forced to withdraw due to a busy schedule of promotional commitments with Subaru Australia. And with Dean watching from the sidelines, Rob was more than happy to step into Dean’s 2008 Subaru WRX STi. “Compared to the previous generation WRX STi which I drove last year, this car just has more of everything. It’s more predictable, more stable, it’s easier to drive. There’s a huge difference in the braking. At the moment brakes are a lot better than the driver! I’m not really getting the most out of them right now.”

“We dropped a couple of places in the afternoon. There was no problem in the car, it was just that everyone else was attacking. We had a little hiccup with our timing on one of the stages. You can’t exceed a set average speed, and we were a bit too cautious. I think we gave away three seconds, but at least we avoided a larger penalty.”

Along with Rob, Graham Furness and Bryan McGrath both completed the first day without incident and are split by just three seconds.

Tomorrow the crews head north of Perth, with stages run near the towns of Toodyay in the morning and Bullsbrook in the afternoon.

Quit Targa West – Leg 1 Results

1. Peter Major, Nissan GTR, 35:36.0
2. Jim Richards, Porsche GT2, +41.0
3. Peter Rullo, Nissan GTR, +50.0
4. Ross Hamilton, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8, +1:09.0
5. Rob Herridge, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, +1:14.0
13. Bryan McGrath, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti, +2:39.0
14. Graham Furness, Subaru Impreza WRX Spec C, +2:42.0

Photos courtesy of Peter Evans – peterevans.smugmug.com

“We had a great time at Targa West last year”, said Maximum partner Dean Herridge. “It’s our local tarmac event, but last year was the first time I was able to compete in it, and a second-place result was pretty pleasing.”

“This year the dates clash with some of my promotional commitments with Subaru Australia, so I’ve had to pull out. But Dad (Rob Herridge) will be there again. He’s competed in all the Targa West events and has scored top-10 places each time. This year will drive an ’08 WRX STi for the first time. Plus we’re running cars for Graham Furness and Brian McGrath. So even though I won’t be driving in the event, there’ll be plenty of Maximum entries ‘flying the flag’ for Subaru.”

And although Dean won’t be competing at Targa West, he’s been focused on the Australian Tarmac Championship.

“Our 2011 tarmac season starts in November with Targa High Country. It’s the first time this event has been run, and although it includes the same road used in the Mt Buller Sprint, it also incorporates roads around Mansfield and Eildon. In some ways it’s similar in format to Targa Wrest Point, I can’t wait to see if it and I think it will be an event that suits our Subaru WRX STi.”

“Late last year we took just one car and a small crew to the Mt Buller Sprint, and were very pleased to scored a podium at our first attempt. This time we are hoping to take multiple cars from Maximum Motorsport; one for myself and one for Graham Iddles, and we’ll have the full team and a full support team. So we’re going there to have a good hard ‘crack’ at it.”

Along with his tarmac rally commitments, there’s a possibility Dean will return to gravel rallying later this year. “I’ve been talking to one of the leading teams in the Malaysian Rally Championship. We are hoping that I’ll be able to going up there for the final two rounds of the national series in October and December. It’s still early days, but it would be great to get back onto gravel, and in a series I’ve never contested.”

Targa West starts on August 26, Targa High Country on November 5, with information about the progress of all the Maximum Motorsport cars available here on www.maximummotorsport.com.au.

Photos courtesy of Angryman Photography, Peter Evans, Rhianon Smyth and Cusco.