TARGA: Out on the West Coast

Another Targa day, another blue sky over Launceston… normally a spot of rain has hit by now.

For Targa crews day four is about moving from Launceston over to Strahan, taking in some majestic roads along the way, including Cethana in the morning trek to Burnie for lunch, followed by Hellyer Gorge on the streak south to Strahan for a remote overnight stay in the wilderness.

But the morning’s first test at Mole Creek was cancelled when oil was found deliberately poured over some road sections in-stage, sparking a police investigation.

That forced a move to the Cethana start line, which had been shortened due to road works. Not exactly an inspiring start to a traditionally mammoth day.

The first test shocked in a different way with the Dean/Cole Mustang taking fastest stage time in the Showroom class, demoting Grant Denyer/Alex Gelsomino to third behind usual adversaries Tony Quinn/Naomi Tillett in their McLaren 650S. Mike Sinclair/Julia Barkley had “a couple of moments” on Cethana that resulted in a sixth fastest time.

From there team motoring.com.au Buckby Motorsport Renault Meganes consolidated on Castra, Denyer finishing second, Sinclair fourth, though it was Dean at the top once more, the open sections playing into the hands of the powerful Mustang.

Denyer went one better on Gunns Plains, taking the stage win to close the overall gap to Quinn to a minute and 13 seconds.

After lunch Quinn appeared to pick up the pace once more, winning two of the final three stages of the day to eke out the gap to 1:23 by day’s end.

Denyer was thrilled to have made up four seconds through the course of the day.

“I still can’t believe I am chasing down a McLaren,” he grinned. “We went a little too stiff [in the suspension] for the morning but softened it off slightly and it was the right way to go. We can’t wait for tomorrow.”

Sinclair meanwhile rued a couple of small mistakes on stages that saw his times oscillate, though he maintained a solid fourth outright, behind Dean but ahead of Jim Richards/Barry Oliver in the Porsche Cayman S. The time losses were compounding by catching slower traffic on some of the longer stages.

“I had a couple of big moments but overall I feel my driving is getting better. I went slightly stiffer in the front-end for more response in the high-speed corners and that increased my confidence. Tomorrow has Mount Arrowsmith, which is one of my favourite stages of all.”

That mammoth stage highlights another busy day for the team, as they depart early from Strahan to tackle the climb into Queenstown and beyond to Hobart.

Images: Angryman Photography