TARGA: motoring.com.au and Buckby join forces

motoring.com.au will return to Targa Tasmania later this month as part of a two-car effort fielded by Australia's newest Renault dealer, Launceston-based Neil Buckby Motors.

A long-time supporter of Targa and motorsport in general, Neil Buckby Motors was appointed as Renault dealer for Northern Tasmania on April 1. The two-car Renault showing at Targa is a departure for the Buckby squad which is best known for its Subaru-based efforts at the Tasmanian classic.

"We've been working with Renault Australia for some time and we're excited to launch the brand in Northern Tasmania," Neil Buckby Motors General Manager, Ben Newman told motoring.com.au.

"RenaultSport is a key part of the potential we see in the brand in our marketplace and it made great sense to tie in with Targa," he said.

The Neil Buckby Motors team's spearheads will be accomplished driver and well-know television personality, Grant Denyer, and motoring.com.au's Editor in Chief, Mike Sinclair. Co-drivers for the pair will be Alex Gelsomino and Julia Barkley.

Barkley has a Targa win under her belt as well as Australian Rally Championship credentials. Italian born Gelsomino is perhaps best known for his normal in-car partner, Hoonigan Ford WRC driver, Ken Block. Block is one of the most recognisable competitors in world motorsport.

The team will campaign two freshly rebuilt RenaultSport Megane RS265s in Targa's Showroom category. Both vehicles will be sponsored by Neil Buckby Motors and carry support from Channel Ten, Hog's Breath Cafe and, of course, motoring.com.au.

The operation will be run by the Buckby group's own motorsport division. All up, the squad will fettle nine entries for the 2015 event including five Subaru WRX STIs.

The Neil Buckby Motors Renault team was launched this week. Denyer and Gelsomino were on hand ahead of several days of recce across the event's northern-most stages.

Denyer won Targa's Showroom class in 2013 in a Renault Megane. This year will be his fourth visit to the Tasmanian event.

"I've done a lot of circuit racing in my life, driven a lot of V8 supercars, three Bathurst 1000s, but this is more of a pure motorsport experience," he told local media at the team's launch this week.

It is Gelsomino's first Targa.

"Targa's well known outside of Australia. So, now I'm here, looking forward to experience it for myself," he said.

"It's unlike any other event. It's like the Tour de France of motorsport."

This year's rally will be Editor-in-Chief Sinclair's sixth Targa. He spectacularly crashed out of contention in 2013 but is keen to make amends.

"At the pointy end Targa is one of those events that takes no prisoners. Grant and I are both extremely pleased to be working with the Buckby crew on this year's event. There's a wealth of experience and local knowledge we can tap into and hopefully that will be reflected in the results," he stated.

"The class structure is one thing at Targa, but our aim will be to keep plenty of the exotics honest. The Megane RS might not have the horsepower of some of the entries but we've proven how fast the cars are point to point," Sinclair commented.

This year's event – the 24th running of Targa – kicks off in Launceston on Monday, April 27 and runs over six-days to finish in Hobart on Saturday, May 2. The event comprises over 40 competitive stages and a total distance in excess of 2000kms.

In a departure for Targa, the traditional southern loop, taking in the Huon Valley, has been reinstated for the first time since 2007. This means the 200-plus car field will overnight in the state capital on Friday, May 1 on the eve of the last day of competition.

This has prompted organisers to move Targafest from its traditional Launceston location to Hobart. The display of classic and modern cars, including all the event's entries, will be staged at Macquarie 2 terminal on Hobart's waterfront from 6pm to 10pm on May 1.

The event will also play host to a live Targa TV show to be broadcast on Southern Cross that evening.

motoring.com.au will host a mini-site for our Targa 2015 campaign and post regular updates via social media. Look out for more details soon.