Coroner’s findings reveal cause of four Targa Tasmania deaths

Three fatal crashes killed four racers over two years of Targa Tasmania rallies rocked the state. The coroner has handed down his findings into what went wrong.

Three crashes, four fatalities at Targa Tasmania events over two years, coroner's findings released

A Tasmanian coroner says he is “satisfied” the deaths of four Targa Tasmania competitors in 2021 and 2022 were the result of “driver error” but has questioned whether two of the men should have been allowed to compete due to pre-existing health conditions.

Coroner Simon Cooper handed down his findings in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Thursday following an inquest, with family of the deceased men appearing via Zoom to hear his statement.

Shane Navin, Leigh Mundy, Dennis Neagle, and Anthony Seymour died in three separate crashes in the 2021 and 2022 Targa rallies.

Mr Cooper said while all four men were appropriately licensed to compete in Targa, he was “satisfied that driver error was the cause of the three fatal crashes”.

“In the cases of Mr Mundy, Mr Neagle, and Mr Seymour, the vehicles they were driving in were specifically designed for driving on racetracks,” he said.

“I question whether these vehicles should have been used [for] road racing.

“The recommendations that were made as a result of the internal investigations were comprehensive. Most, if not all, have been implemented.”

Mr Cooper said “careful consideration” should be given to the “physical and mental fitness” of competitors participating in Targa, noting that all the deceased had pre-existing health issues.

Mr Navin, 68 at the time of his death, was driving a 1979 Mazda RX-7 Series One car when his vehicle left the road at Double Barrel Creek on the Lyell Highway on April 23, 2021, went down an embankment and came to rest upside down in the creek.

His co-driver, Glenn Evans, survived but his efforts to assist Mr Navin were unsuccessful.

The day after Mr Navin’s death, Leigh Mundy, who was also 68 when he died, and his co-driver, Dennis Neagle, 59, were both killed instantly when their 2019 Porsche 991 GT3 RS car hurtled into a tree at high speed at Cygnet.

“The evidence satisfies me that Mr Mundy approached the crest (which is not particularly steep or excessive) at about 188.5 km/h, either ignoring or overlooking the information available to him from the pace notes, road book and the warning from the double caution board,” Mr Cooper said.

Mr Cooper said Mr Mundy declared in his application to participate in Targa 2021 that he was taking daily doses of the anti-depressants vortioxetine and mirtazapine, but no questions were asked regarding the driver’s mental health.

“This is a curious, and to my mind, potentially very dangerous omission,” he said.

Mr Seymour, who was 59 when he died, was driving a 2013 Lotus Exige alongside his wife, Sandra Seymour, who was serving as his navigator and survived the crash, when he was killed on the Mount Roland competition stage of the 2022 Targa event on April 26.

The coroner said Mr Seymour had a number of pre-existing health issues before competing in the rally, including vocal cord paralysis, sarcoidosis, and mild coronary artery disease, which he did not disclose on his application form.

The coroner said Mr Seymour died as a result of positional asphyxia.

Mr Cooper said people suffering from the medical conditions that Mr Mundy and Mr Seymour had should not have been competing in a tarmac rally.

In a statement, The Tarmac Rally Competitors Association of Australia said the coroner’s findings confirmed that tarmac rallying could continue “under the stronger safety framework already agrred by event organisers, underwriters and competitors”.

Originally published as Coroner’s findings reveal cause of four Targa Tasmania deaths