Targa Tasmania rocked by fatal crash on second day
Targa Tasmania has made the ‘difficult decision’ to downgrade their 30th anniversary competitive event to a tour following the tragic death of a Queensland driver overnight. LATEST >>
News
Don't miss out on the headlines from News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Following the tragic death of a Brisbane driver overnight Motorsport Australia and Targa have confirmed that the remainder of the Targa Tasmania 2022 event will be downgraded to a non-competitve tour.
The decision comes a year after a triple tragedy shocked the racing industry.
Targa Tasmania said this means that drivers will now be limited to signposted speed limits for the remainder of the event and that those who have entered into the competetitve stages will be given the opportunity to join the tour.
Targa CEO Mark Perry said the decision to downgrade the event was a difficult one to make but necessary so the fatal crash could be fully investigated.
“It has been another tough day for all our Targa community and we offer our sincere condolences to the family and friends so impacted by this tragedy. Their loss is immense and we feel their pain. This is a very sad time,” Perry said.
“So much has been done to make this sport safer since our event 12 months ago but we have still lost a member of the Targa family, and we all need time to further reflect.”
Motorsport Australia Director of Motorsport Michael Smith said the governing body supported the decision.
“On behalf of everyone at Motorsport Australia, we offer our sympathies to those impacted by this tragedy,” Smith said.
“We are now working closely with the Tasmanian Police and emergency services, along with TARGA event organisers as the investigation into the incident begins.
“We will continue to offer our support to the entire TARGA community, including our officials and competitors.
Driver killed on day two of Targa Tasmania
THE Targa Tasmania family is “shattered” says event CEO Mark Perry after the death of a driver on day two of its 30th anniversary event in the state’s north and crisis talks held overnight to decide whether to continue the rally.
Tasmania Police said a 59-year-old Brisbane man died on Mt Roland, the final stage of the day, when his car left the road at 3.30pm, went down an embankment and hit a tree.
The man’s 59-year-old wife survived the crash and was taken to Launceston General Hospital. She asked that her husband’s name not be released.
At a briefing at Launceston police headquarters, Inspector Darren Hopkins said the man’s body was still inside the car on Wednesday night. It was hoped it could be recovered overnight.
“The vehicle is in a very difficult location to recover from and the recovery will progress through the night. It’s in a very remote part of northern Tasmania and communication is difficult with our people on the scene,” he said.
“We don’t know specific injuries to the man’s wife other than she walked from the vehicle herself and she is being kept overnight for observation.”
It was the fourth death in two years for Targa Tasmania.
In last year’s event, veteran Targa competitor Shane Navin, of NSW, died after his 1979 Mazda RX-7 crashed at Double Barrel Creek on the West Coast.
The next day Hobart’s Leigh Mundy and his Queensland navigator Dennis Neagle died when their Porsche veered off the road into a tree at high speed on the Cygnet stage.
As a result, Targa Tasmania was operating under its toughest safety guidelines in three decades following an independent investigation into last year tragedies.
Perry said the dead man was an “experienced competitor”.
Slippery conditions may have be a factor in Wednesday’s accident, but Inspector Hopkins said it was too early to make assumptions.
“I’m told the road was wet but it wasn’t raining at the time,” Hopkins said.
“The single vehicle is over a steep embankment, it’s about 20m down against a tree.
“The recovery requires a crane to extract it from where it is currently located.”
Perry said the entire event was saddened by the loss of a family member.
“It’s shattering for everybody. We are a close knit community. Everyone knows everyone at Targa so we are all shattered,” he said.
Officials will make the call on whether to continue this year’s event after a series of meetings.
“There’s a lot of event to go. There are a lot of hotels booked and we’ve got 500 officials sleeping out all over the north tonight, so there are a lot of moving parts to consider,” he said.
“We have been having those discussions in the past couple of hours but we will be going well into the night to make some definitive decisions on what we do next.
“We are under pressure over a long night to make the right call not only for the event but for everyone involved in the event.
“We’ll have to make a call in the early hours. Cars are due to leave at 7.30am on Thursday. We’ve got direct communication with everyone inside the event, but we need to make some call tonight at some point and advise the competitors as soon as we do.”
Rarest Mercedes in Australia is doing Targa Tasmania – DAY TWO
IT’S the rarest Mercedes Benz in Australia and certainly the most expensive car in Targa Tasmania’s 30th anniversary event, a 1955 Mercedes 300SL gull wing valued at $2.7m.
Chris Bowden, 45, of Queensland, grew up with the car and its iconic gull wing doors and feels comfortable driving it, albeit with some nervousness given it was his dad David’s dream car.
The 300SL was the world’s first supercar and the Bowden’s is completely original from the red leather seats, Becker radio, aluminium body and a steering wheel that drops down to let the driver out.
Chris is driving the rare coupe in the more serene Targa Tour with his son Oscar, 15.
“It’s the only Australian-delivered 300SL gull wing,” Chris said.
“It was pictured on the front cover of a magazine that dad got as a young boy, he would have been 11 or 12.
“He fell in love with it, and still has that magazine to this day.
“He always wanted a gull wing, and tried many times in his life to get one but circumstances conspired against him.
“He finally got the opportunity to buy this car, and it wasn’t until he bought it that he realised _ about three months later _ it was the very same one that’s on the cover of the magazine, cause there’s only one that ever came to Australia and this is it. He loves the car.”
David is flying to Hobart on Sunday for Targa Tasmania’s finale at PW1.
“The technology in it, the for the ‘50s, is mind-boggling. It’s an engineering masterpiece and the styling is ridiculously gorgeous,” Chris said.
“Everything on it is functional too, there’s no marketing bullshit _ every button, nook and cranny is there for a purpose.
“I’ve grown up with the car so I didn’t feel nervous about driving it until I had so many people come up to me here and remind me how much it’s worth, then all of a sudden it is a sobering thought.
“It’s a great old part of the family and it is built to do these things, but I do get a bit nervous, probably not as much as people think I should, but I am very conscious I’m driving a piece of motoring history.”
WATCH: Sports car smashes into power pole on Targa’s opening day – DAY ONE
THE party was over before it really began for NSW pair Peter and Tristan Taylor after they smashed into a power pole and wrecked their Lotus Exige Sports 350 at the George Town street stage on the opening day of Targa Tasmania’s 30th birthday event on Tuesday.
The 500-car anniversary rally was stopped for 40 minutes after Peter Taylor rounded a 90-degree corner and nosedived into a pole.
“There was a huge bang when it hit the Hydro pole and pieces of the car went everywhere,” said a spectator.
Both walked away from the crash and the car is going home on a tow truck.
The biggest field in the history of Targa Tasmania set off from Launceston’s CBD for three stages on the opening day of the six-day event.
The 500-strong field created traffic jams in the inner city, and some did not even make it to the ceremonial start because they got lost, and simply headed for the first competition stage instead.
Defending champions Eddie Maguire and Zak Brakey, of Burnie, seized an early lead in their Dodge Viper, topping the field by seven seconds.
While it was a solid start for Maguire, fellow Dodge Viper campaigners and seven-time winners Jason and John White struck oil and hit a curb, forcing them to limp through the stage to finish down in 43rd, almost 3 minutes 20 seconds from the lead.
Maguire said he hit the same oil and had a few “moments” through the stage but was fortunate to make it through without incident.
“It was incredibly slippery,” Maguire said.
“We had a big moment where the Whites went off and hit the curb but we were lucky enough not to collect the gutter.
“We are a bit devastated because we were looking forward to racing properly and I really feel for the Whites.”
Sydney’s Jeff Morton and Daymon Nicoli (Porsche 911 GT2 RS), who stormed to their maiden outright win at Targa High Country in February, are equal second.
Matching Morton were Angus Kennard (NSW) and Ian Wheeler (Tas) in their Nissan GT-R.
Sharing fourth overall are Hobart’s Michael Pritchard/Gary Mourant (Ultima RS) and Queenslander Tony Quinn and Kate Catford (Nissan GT-R).
In Classic GT, Queenslanders Jon and Gina Siddins blitzed George Town, covering the 4.8km run in 3min16 to lead by eight seconds.
In Classic Handicap the experienced Victorians Peter Gluskie and Samantha Winter (BMW 325e) scampered to a 2s lead.
Early Modern 2 sees NSW pair Andrew Bollom and Collins Greaves (Mazda RX-8 SP) lead by six seconds with Jason and Fiona Wright (NSW) holding a 1s lead in Early Modern 4.
GT Production is topped by Tasmanians Stephen Maguire and Stuart Benson in their 2011 Mitsubishi Evo X, and TSD Trophy is led by NSW team Tracey Hoven and Garth Davies (2018 Alpine A110).
Targa has six more stages in the state’s north on Wednesday.
DAY 1 RESULTS
Overall
1 Eddie Maguire/Zak Brakey (2016 Dodge Viper ACR)
2= Jeff Morton/Daymon Nicoli (2019 Porsche 911 GT2 RS) +7s
2= Angus Kennard/Ian Wheeler (2015 Nissan GT-R) +7s
4= Jason Wright/Fiona Wright (2008 Nissan GT-R) +10s
4= Trevor Macleod/Steve Glenney (2009 Nissan GT-R) +10s
GT Outright
1 Eddie Maguire/Zak Brakey (2016 Dodge Viper ACR)
2= Jeff Morton/Daymon Nicoli (2019 Porsche 911 GT2 RS) +7s
2= Angus Kennard/Ian Wheeler (2015 Nissan GT-R) +7s
GT Production
1 Stephen Maguire/Stuart Benson (2011 Mitsubishi Evo X)
2 Ben Newman/Adam Kudra (2010 Subaru WRX Sti) +2s
3 Mark Griffith/Neill Woolley (2017 Mercedes-Benz AMG A45) +10s
Early Modern 2
1 Andrew Bollom/Collins Greaves (2003 Mazda RX-8 SP)
2 Adam Spence/Lee Challoner-Miles (2004 BMW M3 CSL) +6s
3 Paul Henry/Katharine Henry (2006 Porsche Cayman S) +13s
Early Modern 4
1 Jason Wright/Fiona Wright (2008 Nissan GT-R)
2 Trevor Macleod/Steve Glenney (2009 Nissan GT-R) +1s
3= Larry Howarth/Liam Howarth (1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec) +12s
3= Andy Tudor/Nathan Quartermaine (2004 Porsche 911 Turbo) +12s
Classic GT
1 Jon Siddins/Gina Siddins (1970 Datsun 240Z)
2 Michael Bray/Daniel Bray (1975 Holden Torana) +8s
3 Adam Kaplan/Aleshia Penney (1988 Giocattolo) +12s
Classic Handicap
1 Peter Gluskie/Samantha Winter (1989 BMW 325e)
2 Charlie Hughes/Mary Hughes (1982 Ford Falcon) +2s
3 Peter Ullrich/Sari Ullrich (1964 Studebaker Avanti) +3s
GT Sports Trophy
1 Steven Sher/Fergal Murphy (2016 Lotus Exige)
2 Scott Coppleman/Matt Van Rooye (2015 Subaru WRX Sti) +16s
3 Brad Robinson/Brian Robinson (2017 Ford Focus RS) +22s
Thoroughbred Trophy
1 Matthew Carey/Jason Spotswood (1979 Holden Commodore)
2 John Loth/Ethan Jones (1971 Nissan Datsun 1600) +17s
3 Jack Waldron/Vin Gregory (1981 Mitsubishi Sigma) +18s
TSD Trophy
1 Tracy Hoven/Garth Davies (2018 Alpine A110) 1 point
2 Daryl Marshall/Peter Marshall (2002 Ford Pursuit Ute) 2 points
3= Steve Brumby/Heather Brumby (1999 Alfa Romeo GTV) 13 points
3= Michael Graver/Nicholas Graver (2020 BMW M3409) 13 points
30th Targa Tasmania welcomes safety overhaul after horror 2021 – April 25
IT will be the biggest, longest and slowest Targa Tasmania for the event’s 30th birthday event this year and officials are hoping it will also be the safest.
Targa has implemented all 17 recommendations after a review into last year event, in which three competitors died _ NSW driver Shane Navin, Hobart driver Leigh Mundy and Queensland navigator Dennis Neagle.
It has not put the brakes on the event, with a record 500 cars entered for the 30th anniversary, making it the world’s largest tarmac rally as well as arguably the world’s premier tarmac event.
The 2022 Targa Tasmania – also known as TT30 – starts at George Town on Tuesday, and cars and crews in 10 categories will compete in 35 stages over six days.
Following the “exhaustive independent investigation”, the recommendations included a cap on maximum speeds of 200km/h for the top categories, an allocation of four wet weather tyres in addition to the maximum of six tyres for each car, along with course design changes and ensuring cars are fit for purpose.
Targa boss Mark Perry said all changes would add up to a safer event, specifically tighter rules around the licensing of full competition drivers.
“Anybody new to the competition will no longer be able to go straight into the Outright class,” Perry said.
“One of the points to come out of the recommendations is that you can’t come into a full competition for your first event and you can’t come into full competition at Targa Tasmania even if you have done a speed limited class at another event.
“So at Targa Tasmania you have to do a speed limited class to start the process of progressing through the system.
“For full competition in future you will have to have a Superlicence, a bit like Supercars, to actually do it.
“Over the next three or four years it will mean that you will see your best 20 drivers in the 20 best cars and they will be the only ones allowed in the Outright class.
“It will look a bit like the World Rally Championship. Everybody else in the event will be doing speed limited [maximum of 130km/h] or involved in the popular touring groups which are speed restricted and not timed.
“Older drivers or people just coming in for the first time, those days are done.
“And that is where GT Sports Trophy is going to grow even more because anyone new will now have to go through that competition structure to get into the full competition.”
Targa has three days of competition in the state’s north and north-east then heads for two days of competition in the state’s North-West and West Coast before heading for the finish line at PW1 in Hobart on Sunday.
Originally published as Targa Tasmania rocked by fatal crash on second day
Join the conversation
‘How dare you’: Grandfather’s outburst to accusation
A grandfather has defended his wife in an abuse case alleging depraved punishments of her four grandchildren. Here’s what he said.
Read more
Meet the Wooden Boat Centre’s first ever apprentice
All hands on deck are needed at the Wooden Boat Centre following a surge in restoration projects. It led to Tynan Herington joining the crew as the centre’s first apprentice.
Read more