Dancing with the stars

Targa Tasmania 2006

Targa's shortest day makes up for its lack of kilometres with a surfeit of challenging crests corners and bumps... Oh, those bumps.

After a gala wave-off in Hobart's historic Salamanca Place, the Targa troupe headed south onto eight stages that alternated between criss-crossing the ranges and winding along yet more picturesque coastline.

Yep, we're sounding like a broken record, but Tasmania's views and roads are spectacular. To be able to combine the views with an event like Targa that effectively gives competitors unfettered access to some of the most challenging roads on the planet is almost too much for a petrolhead like yours truly to take.

Today saw Spencer (Lowdnes) vacate the driver's seat of the #993 Cooper S in favour of Dancing with the Stars and Sunrise personality, Grant Denyer. Grant's no stranger to MINI having driven a Challenge Cup Cooper at Misano in Italy last year, however, today he had to not only learn to drive to pace notes, but also get up to speed on some of the Targa's most challenging stages.

Like the professional he is (in the car and on the dance floor it seems) Denyer was fast from the outset, finishing the fast flowing but still tricky Oyster Cove stage (number two of the day) at just over 19sec over base time in 22nd placing overall.

He went on to put the Team MINI #993 Cooper into 36th placing overall before bring it home safe and sound.

"It's been pretty wild," said an excited Denyer. "You get intimidated by the crowd you know that they're there for a good reason, usually to either watch you tip it over or whack it into the bank.

"Today's been one of the greatest driving experiences I've ever had."

Much to the disappointment of many of his fans Grant's television commitments mean it was the only day he will compete. Spencer jumps back into the car tomorrow -- expect fireworks!

Fastman Tim Leahey and yours truly had event-free days -- remarkable given the types of stages and the day's attrition rate across the field. At the end of the leg, Tim had retained his 38th placing.

The Team MINI CarPoint #989 Cooper S JCW gets better with every stage. Today's stage at Cygnet and Longley showed the car at its best. At Cygnet, loose gravel in the first few kilometres emphasized the surefooted stance of the Cooper S and the downhill charge and sinuous run along the banks of the Huon River estuary showed up its ballistic brakes and accurate turn in. The Longley stage's damp patches kept the car and driver honest but we were neat and brought it home.

Two stages in particular showed the track-biased suspension set-up as too hard to Targa's bumpy stages, however. The Woodbridge Reverse stage rattled our cage while the last stage of the day at Hobart's Ridgeway Park rattled our fillings. We finished the day in 66th place.

Tyre wear looks more than manageable at this time despite a couple of smoky starts (For the cameras only, honest!) Targa requires competitors to use just four tyres for the whole event and penalizes team that change rubber. Organisers regularly measure tyre tread depth to ensure safety and with rain predicted for the weekend we'll need every millimetre we've got.

AT THE POINTY END
Targa officials revised Leg Two results after a timing system failure, yesterday. The stage affected was the Winnaleah, the results of which were removed from the event. This meant Mitsubishi Evo driver Warwick Rooklyn was gifted a fresh start (and third place overnight) in the event after having yesterday missed the stage control.

On Leg Three today, however, Porsche's Jim Richards continued his strong performance while a number of hot contenders fell by the wayside.

The day's stages claimed two popular Australian motorsport personalities, former 500cc GP winner and Network Ten commentator Daryl Beattie and Subaru factory driver Dean Herridge.

Beattie crashed out on the Cygnet stage. The accident caused a grass fire which was extinguished by attending emergency crews. Damage to Beattie's car was minor and the pair is confident of a restart tomorrow.

Herridge meantime hit a chicane on the second last stage of the day, Longley, incurring a five-minute time penalty.

Richards extended his lead over Subaru privateer Steve Glenney who also struck trouble late in the day. The Porsche GT2 driving seven-times Targa winner now has a 22sec gap.

‘Re-born' Rooklyn and nav Linda Long are firmly on the tail of Glenney and co-driver Bernie Webb, with the wild-looking Skelta in fourth.

Defending champion Jason White continued to experience problems with the clutch in his Lamborghini Gallardo today. White and his navigator John White currently sit in sixth position.

Tomorrow's fourth and penultimate leg starts in Hobart, taking the competition field up the State's midlands via Symmons Plains racetrack and finishing in Burnie after 110.09km of competitive stages.

For full results log on to www.targa.org.au