TARGA: Event preview of 2013 Targa Tasmania
The 22nd instalment of the legendary Targa Tasmania sees a diverse entry of around 230 cars competing across classic, modern and showroom categoriesHosting the final of four rounds in the 2012/13 Australian Targa Championship, Targa Tasmania is fought over six days (known as ‘legs’) of competitive rallying, covering nearly 600 competitive stage kilometres.
On sheer numbers alone, it’s title as the ‘World’s Greatest Tarmac Rally’ is well deserved. Then you look at the course…
DAY BY DAY
Leg ‘Zero’ is the traditional Targa warm-up with the ‘Prologue’ run through the streets of George Town on the north coast.
Leg One heads west of Launceston with the cars taking in a lunch-time stop at Railton.
Leg Two steps up the intensity, with ‘base times’ (the minimum stage time needed required to avoid a time penalty) tightening appreciably. Classically known as the North East Loop, this leg sees the cars cover legendary stages such as Elephant Pass and The Sideling.
Legs Three and Four take the field away from Launceston for two nights of competition focused on the wild West Coast, with crews overnighting in the fishing hamlet of Strahan.
Finally, Leg Five has crews traversing east towards Hobart for the ceremonial finish at Wrest Point. But first, they have to contend with the mighty 52km Mt Arrowsmith stage, a true car-breaker which demands full concentration.
AT THE SHARP END: KEY CATEGORIES
The battle for outright honours centres on the Modern class, where the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera of three-time winners Jason and John White are favourites.
The Tasmanian nephew/uncle pairing will be challenged by a brace of Nissan R35 GT-Rs, including that of former winners and current Australian Targa Championship leaders Quinn/Tillett.
Targa 2008 victors Glenney/Webb will also feature strongly, and have been cited as ‘ones to watch’ by the Lamborghini team.
Matt and Casey Close are also consistent front-runners in their Audi TT RS, the car’s relatively small stature making it a menace for the bigger players on the torturous Tassie stages.
Early Modern -- for vehicles built between 1986-2002 -- is an exciting, hard-fought category that mixes Porsches, Mazda RX-7s, Group A Holden Commodores, Nissan Skylines and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions.
Tied championship leaders Pritchard/Mourant (2003 Porsche 911 GT3) and Berger/Matthews in a 1994 Audi S2 show the true diversity of this field.
Classic Outright will also be hotly contested with Victorian Rex Broadbent looking for his seventh consecutive Targa title with co-driver Paul Batten.
Broadbent’s 1974 Porsche 911 will be pushed hard by some thumping V8s, including the new Garwood/Allen 1977 Holden Torana A9X, which is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
You can also expect to see the Datsun 240Zs of Siddins/Ferguson and Cardineals/Page challenging for the podium, particularly if the weather turns sour.
This year the Showroom specification cars are split into three groups; 2WD Showroom and 4WD Showroom, for vehicles which retail for under $100,000, while the recently introduced Showroom Sports category caters for machines priced between $100,000 and 200,000.
Motoring’s own Mike Sinclair is looking to be at the pointy end of the 2WD Showroom battle, with Bill Hayes calling the notes in their factory-supported Renaultsport Megane 265.
They will fight it out with team-mates Grant Denyer/Dale Moscatt in another Megane, and will also be hurried along by the privateer Meganes of Noor/Challoner-Miles and Spence/Kelly. Championship leaders Crimp/van der Mey’s Ford Focus RS will also be at the pointy end.
4WD Showroom is traditionally a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution/Subaru Impreza STi battlefield, and this instalment should be no exception.
Mair/Mair, Burrowes/Burrowes and Targa High Country winners Dean/Millar will fly the Evo flag against the Norton/Norton and Newman/Lewis STis.
The Porsche Cayman of Mansell (not Nigel!) and Catford will offer a David-style challenge to the Goliaths in Showroom Sports, the Shelby Mustang of Dean/Quigley and a pair of Z06 Corvettes.
motoring.com.au will provide daily Targa result updates throughout the event.
Latest rally news from Targa Tasmania 2013 at motoring.com.au
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