Targa Tasmania: Day Two review
Reeves continues to charge; Quinn shares the outright leadBrendan Reeves has taken his Mazda3 MPS to second position in the Showroom class after the second day of competition in Targa Tasmania. The 20-year-old, who is co-driven by his sister Rhianon Smyth, has now set his sights on wrestling the lead from the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO of Greg Johnston.
Reeves' teammate Rick Bates moved into third place in class with both helped by yesterday's second-placed Mitsubishi pilot, Tony Warren, dropping to fourth with clutch problems. But Bates also benefitted from some good luck and quick work of his Mazda Motorsport crew. He damaged the sump on his MPS but the crew of mechanics were able to patch it together for the rest of the day before replacing it overnight.
"It was another great day in the Mazda3 MPS," Reeves said. "Today's stages were very competitive and it will only get more so as the event progresses over the weekend.
"As always Rhianon and I are working really well together, but we need to keep tyre preservation at top of mind while maintaining a competitive pace."
Mazda's third entry also enjoyed a competitive day moving up the leaderboard. Steve Glenney and navigator Bernie Webb moved their RX-8 SP from 11th to equal ninth in the Modern competition.
"Steve and Bernie are doing a fantastic job in the Mazda RX-8 SP and the car continues to be developed as we go along," said Mazda Motorsport manager, Allan Horsley. "We're dealing with a few niggles but we're confident they won't interfere with the car's strong performance.
"It's been really light on its tyres and hopefully that means it will only get quicker over the coming days."
The battle for Modern honours is tight at the front with only a single second separating the top three. Tony Quinn continues to hold the lead in the Modern class in his Nissan GT-R but now shares it with the Lamborghini Gallardo of Kevin Weeks. Jim Richards is only one second back in third place in his Porsche 911 GT2.
Class competition is led by Ben Wooster driving a 1990 Nissan Skyline GTS but he is being closely pursued by Rex Broadbent and Bill Pye who are both driving 1970s vintage Porsche 911.
Day three will run over eight stages travelling from Launceston to Devonport and back.
You can follow the Mazda team's progress at mazda.com.au
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