Inquest into Targa continues with safety expert ‘shocked’ at speed Anthony Seymour took fatal corner

An inquest has heard a safety expert express his ‘shock’ at the speed Targa Tasmania competitor Anthony Seymour approached a corner shortly before his fatal incident. The latest.

The scene of fatal TARGA Tasmania crash in Lower Wattle Grove, Wattle Grove Road. Picture: Zak Simmonds

A chairman of a motorsport safety board shared his ‘shock’ at the speed Targa Tasmania competitor Anthony Seymour approached the corner shortly before his fatal incident during the third day of the Targa deaths inquest.

Coroner Simon Cooper on Thursday heard from both the Targa Tasmania CEO Mark Perry and the Australian Institute for Motor Sport Safety (AIMSS) chairman Gary Connelly regarding the findings and internal inquiries into the 2021 and 2022 crashes which claimed the lives of four drivers – Shane Navin, Leigh Mundy, Dennis Neagle, and Anthony Seymour.

Mr Connelly was a member of a review panel into the 2022 crash which claimed the life of Brisbane driver Anthony Seymour, 59, and also assessed the status of recommendations made from an investigatory tribunal into the 2021 crashes that he also contributed to.

Lotus drivers Tony Seymour and Sandra Seymour at the lunch stop in Ravenshoe during the final day of the Targa Great Barrier Reef. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE.

Motorsport Australia lawyer Bruce Hodgkinson questioned Mr Connelly on the review panel’s findings, including the review of dashcam footage of Mr Seymour’s fateful Targa race at the Mount Roland stage.

“I was quite shocked at the speed with which Mr Seymour drove into that corner,” Mr Connelly said.

“A large speedometer was clearly mounted in the camera view and that was the same speed reading we read from telemetry information, but what shocked me was seeing how disproportionate the speed was in relation to that piece of road.”

Shortly after the clip, Mr Seymour’s car left the road and crashed down a bank with co-driver and wife Sandra inside the vehicle.

Mr Connelly said the panel also believed it had enough information to conclude why the Seymour’s vehicle left the road.

Victorian driver Michael Mansour and his Queensland navigator Paul Stuart drive through the Sideling in the 2020 Porsche Cayman. Picture: Other Side Productions Targa Tasmania 2022

Driving notes made by both Sandra and Anthony Seymour marked an exclamation mark over the site of the crash, used by rally car drivers as a sign to exercise caution when driving.

Counsel assisting the inquiry Sara-Jane Knott quizzed Mr Connelly on a ‘confidential memo’ filed with the 2021 investigatory tribunal, which listed certain aspects not met or disregarded in the 2021 race.

This includes a safety assessor not being appointed for the race despite requirement for one and the time it took for medical intervention vehicles to be dispatched to the Mt Arrowsmith crash.

“We made many inquiries and we recommended that they document procedures when cars go missing, so it’s clear in headquarters what needs to happen upon review,” Mr Connelly said.

“The information we got was that there seemed to be some assumptions made which weren’t necessarily based on the information presented to people there.

“It’s always a big decision by organisers to intervene on a stage, but it seems a ‘wait and see’ approach seemed to be what was adopted by organisers in this case.”

Despite these, the investigatory tribunal was still ‘satisfied the standing regulations had been complied with, subject to qualifications’ in the 2021 Targa Tasmania event.

The final day of the inquiry into the four Targa rally deaths will begin on Friday and receive evidence from witnesses at the 2021 and 2022 Targa Tasmania events, including course attendants.

Originally published as Inquest into Targa continues with safety expert ‘shocked’ at speed Anthony Seymour took fatal corner