An experienced field of 40 cars hit the roads but Macleod and Hunter surprised their more fancied rivals in their Subaru WRX STI after an intense battle with Jason and John White in their Dodge Viper ACR.

Macleod and Hunter also claimed the GT4 victory ahead of the Canberra-based combination of Barrie Smith and Bernie Webb in their Audi TTRS.

White had to settle for second overall plus the GT2 ahead of Mike Pritchard and Gary Mourant in a similar Viper.

The conditions were tricky for the one-day event, with the Hellyer Gorge stage dry and Savage River wet.

Having won Targa Hellyer Gorge last year, Macleod and Hunter made the most of their 4WD advantage through Savage River and the stockfeed business owner was delighted with his win.

“We’ve only been doing this for three years and we came into it with no motorsport experience before that, so how cool is it to be able to get out on the roads we grew up with and go out and get a win,” Macleod said.

“We are building up each event – picking up more knowledge and improving every time out.”

Peter Nunn and Keith Johnstone’s Porsche 944 Turbo won classic GT while the Subaru WRX Sti of Joshua Sutcliffe and Jon Mitchell claimed early modern ahead of Igor Van Gerwen and Anthony Brandsema in their Celica GT4.