Tony Quinn and Jim Richards again challenged each other on the final day of Rally Tasmania 2009 but Quinn and his GT-R proved too much for the Porsche GT2 and was able to beat it in 5 out of the final 6 stages.

On the penultimate stage Quinn’s lead was just 4.6 seconds but he opened the taps on the final stage to finish 14.4 seconds ahead of second place Jim Richards.

Tony Quinn and co-driver Naomi Tillet’s victory make this the second Australian tarmac rally win for the Nissan R35 GT-R after Steven Jones’ victory at Quit Targa West in September.

“It’s great to win a fantastic event,

“We had to push really hard today to keep Jim (Richards) at bay, but we managed to bring it home.

“We have not had any problems all weekend. The car has been terrific, and will only get better if it is wet in future events.”
– Tony Quinn

Tony Alford and Kelley Handley also finished strongly maintaining their fifth position just 3 minutes 44 seconds behind the race leader.

This year was an extremely close finish but the GT-R is really beginning to show it’s ability in the tarmac rally sport. Tony Quinn is right on the money when he mentions that the competition better look out if it’s wet. Targa Tasmania is coming up fast and any slippery conditions may upset the rear-wheel drive GT2 crews.

Congratulations to the VIP Petfoods and Donut King Racing teams for bringing home these great results!

Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery after the jump!

Link: Rally Tasmania
Link: Joel Strickland Photographics
Link: Rally Tasmania related articles on GTRBlog