The future of Targa Tasmania in doubt after racing fraternity is rocked by tragedy

A driver killed during Targa Tasmania has been remembered as a passionate competitor, loved and respected by his peers and competition organisers. LATEST >>

BRISBANE driver Anthony Graeme Seymour has been identified by Tasmania Police as the man killed in Targa Tasmania when he crashed his Lotus in a remote road in the state’s North-West on Wednesday.

Seymour, 59, died when his 2013 Lotus Exige rally car left the road, fell down an embankment and hit a tree.

His wife, Sandra, 59, who was navigator, survived the crash.

She was attended by Targa’s highly-specialised medical response teams and spent the night in Launceston General for treatment to what organisers described as minor injuries.

The pair was competing in Targa Tasmania’s competitive GTO category. Officials said Seymour was an experienced Targa competitor.

Seymour’s last posts to social media were pictures of his Lotus with excited captions about the upcoming Targa competition.

His final update, posted on the day of his death, said: “Let’s go Day 2!’.

The dead man’s body remained in the car until late on Wednesday night.

A recovery team extracted the body in difficult, dark and wet conditions, and a crane was brought onsite to lift the car from its resting place 20m down a bank.

Targa CEO Mark Perry said the loss is being deeply felt by the event.

“Tony was a much loved member of our TARGA family and we are just crushed by what has happened,” Perry said.

“We are all just devastated by this tragedy and all of our thoughts are with Tony’s wife Sandra and his extended family and friends.”

The Seymours have been regular visitors to the podium in previous events highlighted by a third-place finish in GT Sports Trophy at TARGA Tasmania in 2019.

Future of Targa in doubt as racing fraternity is rocked by tragedy

TARGA Tasmania has been cancelled as a competitive tarmac rally after the death of a Brisbane driver on Thursday but the Targa Tour goes on as the future of the event comes under a cloud.

Targa CEO Mark Perry said this year’s 30th anniversary event came close to being completely called off.

“We definitely considered that,” Perry said.

“There’s no doubt it brings it [the future of Targa] into doubt, we won’t shy away from that.

“We need to work through it because we don’t know what happened.

“If it was unrelated to the car or the safety or his training or any of that, then that will change the conversation dramatically.

“Until we know all that we won’t speculate on the future or what it looks like.”

Motorsport Australia’s head of motorsport, Michael Smith said it may not be the end for the iconic event, which injects $8m into the state’s economy each year and $11m this year with a record entry of 502 cars for the 30th instalment.

“I certainly think there’s a future for Targa Tasmania,” Smith said.

“We will work with Mark and his team and all the other stakeholders to see what Targa Tasmania might look like in the future.

“It’s too early to say there’s no future for Targa Tasmania. It might look different but it’s too early to speculate.”

The touring side of the event continued and some of the full competition drivers also went onto the course to drive the closed stages but under normal road restrictions.

“In fairness to everybody in the tours section, who are just having a driving holiday, they are still out there having a driving holiday,” Perry said.

“We need time to assess the situation. It’s just so early and raw.

“Unlike last year, this has happened so early in the event, so it’s a different set of circumstances to last year when we were able to go straight into post-event analysis. This year is just so different.

“In fairness to all the people here for the driving holiday, they had every right to continue their holiday and we all agreed on that.”

A 59-year-old Brisbane man, whose name will be released later by Tasmania Police, died when his Lotus left the road on the Mt Roland stage late on day two.

It crashed over a steep embankment and came to rest against a tree about 20m down.

His wife, also 59, was taken to Launceston General where she spent the night being treated for “minor injuries”.

Family members are flying from Queensland today.

“The family has requested again today the man’s name be withheld,” Perry said.

“They come from a very big family and there are a lot of people they are trying to get a hold of, so we need everyone to bear with us and continue to respect the family’s wishes.

“We are all shattered, especially for their family and friends – we are devastated for them.”

The car’s RallySafe device – rallying’s equivalent to an aircraft’s black box – will shed light on the nature of the accident.

“It’s very different to the accidents last year. It’s quite a remote area and there were no spectators and no external vision like we had access to last year,” Perry said.

“I won’t speculate on what caused it, how it came about, what they were doing in the lead-up.

“The RallySafe device will be key to that. The car has been recovered and impounded by Tasmania Police and the information will be analysed by the police.

“Until we know all of that we can’t have cars out there racing, and we won’t have any of that information until after the event.”

Smith said there was a “feeling of solidarity” among the competitors.

“Everyone’s extremely upset about what’s happened but there is a real sense of community and togetherness,” he said.

“Over the coming days we will work with police to go through the data on the RallySafe to try and get an understanding of what happened.

“A lot of work went into making sure this event was as safe as possible.”

Tasmania Premier Jeremy Rockliff expressed his condolences to the victim’s loved ones at a press conference on Thursday morning.

“My heartfelt condolences to the person’s family who lost their life yesterday. It’s an absolute tragedy and my sincere condolences to the person’s family and friends of course at what is a very, very sad time,” said Mr Rockliff.

“And of course with every crash, particularly causing death, there will be an investigation.”

Originally published as The future of Targa Tasmania in doubt after racing fraternity is rocked by tragedy