Targa Tasmania field is fully booked months before its long-awaited return in November

Targa Tasmania isn’t set to be held for another six months but the demand for entries has forced organisers into an unprecedented move. Here’s what we know.

Porsche field lined up for a stage of Targa Tasmania.

A flood of entries has seen the re-boot of Targa Tasmania booked out six months before a wheel is turned in the world’s premier tarmac rally coming in November.

The popularity of the event, which pumps an estimated $8m into the Tasmanian economy each time is it held, forced Targa director Mark Perry to launch a wait list for competitors not quick enough off the mark to get their entries in for the first Targa in three years.

Perry has also created a Golden Ticket for competitors who complete this year’s course to get automatic entry for 2026, making it even more difficult to break back into Targa ranks.

The overall field is limited to 300 cars and their crews, of which 100 will be in full race mode across four competition categories.

In a notification to competitors, Perry said: “There is a cap on competition entries of 100, which equates to just ten in each competition.

Targa Tasmania - a Porsche on a twisting stage in the state’s north. Picture: Aaron Wishart

“Whilst some may think we won’t adhere to that, we will, as we strive to improve the on-event experience for those who attend and reduce the overall risks of the event.

“More cars equal more risk and more likelihood for delays and stage downgrades etc.

“What this means is that the four competitions are already over-subscribed and wait lists are now in place.”

That makes the Golden Ticket with its weight in gold.

“Those who receive the `Willy Wonka Golden Ticket’ this year and successfully complete every stage of the course, thus winning a Targa plate, will have exclusive priority access to a Golden Ticket for next year’s event,” Perry said.

“It will be theirs to lose, or forfeit, at which time it will be offered to the next eligible crew.”

Targa 2026 will be held from November 16-21, and will cover roughly the same distance and same number of stages as a traditional course.

Perry said there were no significant course changes, particularly to the event’s iconic stages in the North and West Coast.

“That is not something we have said and in fact we have said the opposite for the last few years in that if Targa Tasmania was to successfully return it had to retain two things, the types of cars allowed to compete and the course,” he said.

“Shortening iconic stages like Cethana and Mt Arrowsmith would destroy the very thing that made the event so iconic _ it would be like cutting Bathurst in half.”

Originally published as Targa Tasmania field is fully booked months before its long-awaited return in November