The 2008 Targa Tasmania event marked the international racing debut for the new R35 Nissan GT-R. Sadly, the event didn’t go entirely to plan for the big Nissan, forced to withdraw from the event on Day 2 with suspension problems.
You can read more about the car’s involvement at Targa at gtrblog.com. There are also more pics below of the car at Targa Tasmania.
Here is my first installment of Targa Tasmania articles. There’ll be a few popping up over the next few days—a few picture essays like this one, and I’ll finish the series with an account of my experience working as a service crew member for Andrew Robinson in his 2002 MINI Cooper S. In the meantime, please enjoy this selection of pictures taken from the George Town prologue on Day 0. The town stages were the only real opportunity for us to get a look at the cars in competition and I’ll also be posting up some images from the Longford town stage on Day 2.
Featured above is the Close/Close entry, a 2000 Porsche 911 Turbo, which took outright honours for the prologue in the modern category, completing the 4.81km course in 3:12.72. Very impressive indeed, considering the Richards/Oliver entry—making the world competition debut for the new 390kW Porsche 911 GT2—was back in third place with a time of 3:16.64. Other cars making their world competition debut were the new R35 Nissan GT-R—14th, 3:22.78—and the Corvette Z-06—51st, 3:34.16.
The fastest outright time in the classic category was 3:22.12 by the Pye/Geelan entry in a 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera RS. Unfortunately, this was as good as it got for car #531 as they encountered mechanical issues coming back into the service area, and their withdrawal from the event was confirmed when we saw the car parked on a trailer in our motel car park the next morning. Still, they fared a bit better than the stunning looking BMW 2002 which missed the first corner of the prologue and crashed out of the event with damage to the front left wheel assembly. Oops!
I hope you enjoy these pictures, as always you can click each image for a larger version, and keep en eye on the site over the coming days for more Targa Tasmania coverage.
South Australian Steve Glenney, driving a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, has taken outright honours in the 2008 Targa Tasmania tarmac rally. Jim Richards was behind the wheel of the Porsche GT2 in it’s world racing debut and was able to steer his car into second place 1 min 31 secs behind Glenney. In third place was Western Australian Dean Herridge in a Subaru Impreza WRX STi. Uniquely, there was no rain at all during this year’s event and yet, all-wheel drive cars still dominated. Glenney’s result to hold off eight time winner Richards, in his rear wheel drive GT2, is very impressive.
“The event was very tough and we probably competed under conditions which didn’t suit our car, which has made the win all the more pleasing,” Glenney said. “Conditions have been hot and dry, which suits the Lamborghinis and Porsches, but we’ve been able to get away with a win, so we’re very happy.”
You can access a full list of results HERE. More detailed reports on the event can be read on the Wheelsmag and Mercury websites.
Postscript: As many AUSmotive readers are aware, I attended this year’s Targa as a member of Andrew Robinson’s support crew. Sadly mechanical issues saw us return home earlier than planned after withdrawing from the event on Day 4. This was Robbo’s first Targa Tasmania DNF in his fifth attempt. Keep an eye out for a more detailed report in the coming days.
One of the great things about being involved in the MINI community is meeting some pretty cool people. A few weeks ago I was asked to join Andrew Robinson’s team at the 2008 Targa Tasmania. He’s a privateer running a 2003 MINI Cooper S and has competed in the last few Targa Tasmanias. I’ll be the gopher in the support crew and am really looking forward to being involved. The event starts on Tuesday 15 April and Robbo is currently on his way to Launceston via the Spirit of Tasmania. A mate and I from Canberra will arrive in Tasmania tomorrow morning and begin our preparations with a chance to recce a few stages tomorrow afternoon.
Robbo’s car has undergone a bit of a rebuild lately, to put it mildly, and by all accounts it is putting out some really good power. Targa will no doubt prove to be a great test for his faithful MINI. The car has been prepped by Peak Performance and one of their mechanics will also be joining our crew which will be a big help should we need to get our hands dirty. Here’s hoping young Dave doesn’t have much work to do!
With thanks to Tim from Perfect Prints you can see a few images of Robbo’s car from last year’s Targa Tasmania. The MINI will be sporting the same number for 2008. So, wish us luck and keep an eye on the results to see how our hard working MINI Cooper S fares. And I’ll be back online in a week and a bit with updates and photos.
A recent article in the Tasmanian rag the Mercury has given the opportunity for a couple of Hobart Alderman to voice their complaints over the impending Targa Tasmania event. The piece, titled Targa racers just ‘hoons and bandits’, details a plan by the aldermen to have the Domain stage of the event cancelled. Opponents to Targa Eva Ruzicka and Bill Harvey hit out with Harvey stating, “It’s organised hooning, and we’ve a problem with hooning on our streets, Targa actively encourages that behaviour.” In support of those comments Rizicka claimed, “It encourages hooning and I get increasingly angry that Targa would appear to result in the attitude of young drivers thinking they can drive their cars like Targa competitors drive theirs,” she said. “After Targa has been, you can see and hear more of it going on, screaming cars late at night.”
The iconic nameplates of Porsche GT2, Nissan GT-R and Corvette Z06 will all make their worldwide tarmac rally debuts at the 2008 Targa Tasmania, held from 15-20 April. The newly launched R35 Nissan GT-R, to be driven by Tony Alford, is one of the most keenly anticipated new cars in recent years and Australia is very lucky to be having the car running in such a high profile local event.
The Corvette will be driven by Neil and Daniel Ford, and there will also be a second Z06 to be used as a support vehicle. I wonder how many spare parts will be removed from that car before the event is over!
The other big name, the Porsche GT2, will see Targa Porsche stalwarts Jim Richards and Barry Oliver in the cockpit. Expect this experienced team to be fighting for outright honours. The GT2 and GT-R will most probably be duelling in this event just as they have been trading Nürburgring Nordschleife lap times. Just another interesting sidenote to this year’s Targa.
Stay tuned for some detailed reports on the event from AUSmotive, more on that later.