TARGA: motoring.com.au on the podium

Rallying is an emotional rollercoaster at the best of times, and for the motoring.com.au Buckby Motorsport Renault Meganes, there was jubilation for one and heartbreak for the other by the end of six days and almost 500km of competitive tarmac rallying.

After taking the Showroom class victory back in 2013, Grant Denyer defied the odds to follow that performance up with second place this year alongside co-driver Alex Gelsomino.

With the Showroom rules now allowing a wider range of vehicles, it’s arguable that the 2015 result is even more impressive.

They duo also finished seventh outright, capping an extraordinary performance.

Denyer was denied Showroom victory only by the Quinn/Tillett McLaren 650S, while finishing ahead of a 650hp Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 and several Porsches.

His last-day fight to keep the Dean/Cole Shelby behind produced some giant-killing stage times. He equalled the Mustang on the opening test in Oyster Cove, taking seven seconds off Quinn in the process.

Denyer was then able to beat the McLaren to the end of the Woodbridge stage by a further two seconds, just one second off the barging Mustang.

It was the 14.72km Cygnet stage where Denyer had a “real crack”, finishing the stage a whopping 15 seconds ahead of Dean and 19 seconds ahead of Quinn. It enabled the Renault to increase the gap back to the Mustang to 41 seconds and solidified second place for the team.

At Longley’s final stage Dean was able to take back some time by winning the stage. Denyer was three seconds slower with Quinn seven seconds adrift, but it didn’t matter: The McLaren 650S won the category by 1:42.

For Denyer, it was still satisfying. “We kept the pressure on him all rally, and the car was fantastic. We made a couple of small set-up changes overnight [after yesterday’s spin] and it balanced the car out again. It’s great to be back on the Targa podium,” he said.

Co-driver Alex Gelsomino was enamoured with the Targa roads. “Even after the recce, I didn’t realise just how challenging these roads can be,” he said. “I want to thank Buckby Motorsport and Grant for the opportunity… we really had a go on Cygnet and it was fantastic today.”

Motoring.com.au Editor in Chief Mike Sinclair and Julia Barkley started the morning afresh, their Renault Sport Megane repaired overnight after yesterday's coolant leak to tackle the final day. But after managing to make it to the Oyster Cove opening stage, the Renault overheated once more and they were out.

“After yesterday, our aim was to go out and do some little skids, but unfortunately the car had a related problem and overheated again," said Sinclair.

"It’s a pity for it to end like this but we’ve had a good week otherwise, and the Buckby Motorsport Renault Megane proved its pace. We want to congratulate Grant and Alex on a top result.”

“I’m still a little deflated from yesterday, and that we couldn’t make it to the finish of the event,” Barkley continued. “But we had a good time in the car and the other boys did a great job.”

As night falls on another autumnal Tasmanian day, that’s it from the motoring.com.au Targa Tasmania team.

Images: Angryman Photography