Category: Targa Tasmania

As we type the Targa Tasmania crews will be tackling the final day of competition, including the monster 58.55km Mt Arrowsmith stage. We bring you three videos to show what happened on Day 4.

Well, mostly. Matt Close crashed his Audi TT RS on the Riana stage and injured his back. According to the official Targa Tasmania update driver Matt Close was taken to Burnie Hospital for observation, while navigator Casey Close was okay. So far we’ve not seen any footage of the crash, but wish Matt a speedy recovery.

Jason White (Lamborghini Gallardo) led the event at the end of Day 4, with a 2 minute 25 second margin over Tony Quinn (Nissan GT-R). Following the retirement of the Closes, Brendan Reeves (Mazda RX8-SP) moved into third place, 4 minutes 4 seconds behind White.

The top two placings in the Classic outright class remain the same, Rex Broadbent (1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS) holds a 3 minute 12 second lead over Jon Siddin (1970 Datsun 240Z). While former third placeholder Donn Todd has struck trouble and dropped down the field. John Ireland (1977 Porsche 911 Carrera) is now third in Classic, almost 15 minutes off the lead.

For access to full Targa Tasmania results click here: ausm.tv/tt2012

As Targa Tasmania enters its fourth day here’s an update of what happened on Day 3. Mostly it was a good day for the leaders of the two main categories, with both Jason White (Lamborghini Gallardo) and Rex Broadbent (1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS) extending their leads in the Modern and Classic outright classes respectively.

White holds a lead of 1 minute 48 seconds over Tony Quinn (Nissan GT-R), with Matt Close (Audi TT RS) 2 minutes 16 seconds behind the leader.

Broadbent extended his lead on a tricky third day to a comfortable 3 minutes 7 seconds, with Jon Siddons (1970 Datusn 240Z) holding on to to second place. Siddons has a 1 minute 41 second buffer over Donn Todd (1971 Ford Capri Perana).

Simon Evans (Mazda3 MPS) leads the 2WD showroom class from Gavin James (Renault Megans RS 250), while Jamie Vandenburg (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) currently tops the 4WD showroom category  ahead of Dean Evans (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X).

For access to full Targa Tasmania results click here: ausm.tv/tt2012

Wet weather greeted the field in Targa Tasmania on Day 2 of competition. Sadly, that meant a fair bit of bent metal, as you’ll see in the videos below.

Jason White continues to lead the Modern outright class in his Lambo. He enjoys a 48 second buffer to defending champ Tony Quinn in a Nissan GT-R. The big mover was Matt Close in the Audi TT RS,moving from sixth place into third, an even one minute behind White.

In the Classic outright competition things are a bit tighter, Rex Broadbent has his 1974 Porsche Carrera RS 14 seconds ahead of the awesome sounding 1970 Datsun 240Z driven by Jon Siddons. In third place, only 29 seconds behind the Porsche is Donn Todd in his 1971 Ford Capri Perana.

For quick access to Targa Tasmania stage results click here: ausm.tv/tt2012

UPDATE 21 April: New Day 2 highlights clip added below.

Targa Tasmania began in earnest yesterday. As you can see Matt Rickards didn’t make the best of starts having a minor off in his Mazda RX8-SP in the early part of the day.

At the end of the day Jason White (Lamborghini Gallardo) held a 13 second lead in the Modern outright category over Tony Quinn (Nissan GT-R), while Brendan Reeves (Mazda RX8-SP) was 48 seconds behind in third.

Leading the Classic outright category was the seemingly unstoppable Rex Broadbent (1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS), a slender eight seconds ahead of Jon Siddons (1970 Datsun 240Z). Donn Todd (1971 Ford Capri Perana) was 23 seconds behind Broadbent.

For quick access to Targa Tasmania stage results click here: ausm.tv/tt2012

If you’ve not been paying attention you’ll have missed that Targa Tasmania started earlier in the week. We’ve not helped the cause by being a bit lax with our updates. To help make up there’s a selection of videos after the break showing the action from Day 0, otherwise known as Prologue day. It’s a pretty informal day of ‘competition’ where the results only count to the daily starting order for the rally proper.

Previous winner Jason White got off to a poor start when he blew an engine in his Lamborghini Gallardo on the media day. Thankfully he was able to put things right before the prologue. So much so that he posted the fastest time in the Modern outright category on the George Town stage.

Five-time Classic outright winner Rex Broadbent was back on form in his 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS, too; quickest in George Town by 2.8 seconds from Jon Siddons in his 1970 Datson 240Z.

For quick access to Targa Tasmania stage results click here: ausm.tv/tt2012

After another dramatic day on Tasmania’s roads it now appears as though the 2011 Targa Tasmania title is Tony Quinn’s to lose. At the wheel of his Nissan GT-R, the 2009 Targa winner has extended his lead in the modern outright category to over two minutes.

The Audi TT RS of Matt Close remains in second place, while Matthew Sims in a Nissan GT-R has held on to his third place. More fancied competitors such as Steve Glenney (Mazda RX8 SP) and Kevin Weeks (Lamborghini Gallardo) suffered accident and mechanical problems that put them out of the race.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the Porsche 911 SC of Walter Röhrl at the Silverdome this morning and he rejoined the action with a 20 minute time penalty following yesterday’s issues.

Andrew Miedecke (Ford Perana) is leading classic outright by 53 seconds. Brendan Reeves continues his stranglehold on the 2WD showroom category enjoying a lead of more than five minutes.

It was a better day for AUSmotive’s team leader Andrew Robinson too. While the MINI John Cooper Works is still failing to make boost Robbo was able to negotiate an otherwise trouble-free day. Importantly, all times were met to maintain eligibility for Targa plates and that now remains the goal for the next two days.

Televsion highlights from Southern Cross TV can be seen after the break. This includes footage the Alfa Romeo GTV accident shown above.

Targa Tasmania claimed some big scalps today, enabling Tony Quinn (Nissan GT-R) to extend his lead in the Modern outright category to healthy 1 minute 32 seconds. Quinn’s closest rivals, Jason White (Lamborghini Gallardo) and  Steve Glenney (Mazda RX8 SP), both suffered dramas today and sit outside of the top 10.

Matt Close (Audi TT RS) now sits in second place, with Matthew Sims (Nissan GT-R) in third a further one second behind.

Unfortunately for rally organisers, international drawcard Walter Röhrl was forced to retire from the event today after his Porsche 911 SC succumbed to mechanical gremlins.

Meanwhile, AUSmotive’s fortunes also took a dive with Andrew Robinson’s MINI John Cooper Works having boost issues for the latter part of the day. During our afternoon service checks we also discovered some suspension damage that needed urgent attention. The car is ready to race again tomorrow, but the boost problem was not resolved and the MINI will be running more like a standard Cooper.

Televsion highlights from Southern Cross TV can be seen after the break.