The winning driver of the first ever Targa Tasmania, Greg Crick, has returned as an event ‘flag bearer’ with his victorious Honda NSX.
Tasmanians young and old are intermittently spread throughout the courses, standing on grassy banks, on top of utes, or just simply outside their houses – waving and cheering enthusiastically to competitors as they speed past. We’re taking part in the second half of the event, which started at Symmons Plains Raceway before focusing on Launceston and its surrounds before reaching Stanley.Īs we ‘race’ through day four’s stages, it’s clear the community embraces the spirit of the Targa. We’re driving one of the newest – the BMW M2 that’s being launched, somewhat unorthodoxly, at Targa as part of the German brand’s own special, localised anniversary celebrations. The oldest competitor is a 1935 Lagonda Rapide from pre-Aston days. “The most restrictive things are the drum brakes – they do start to overheat and fade down steep hills, and we missed a corner yesterday as we couldn’t brake in time. “I drive the 356 hard, though it’s very agricultural – no power power steering, no power brakes, no ABS – so you have to drive it on the brakes and on the gears. “It’s a very well-organised event, the roads are fantastic here, the countryside is beautiful, and the camaraderie is fantastic,” he says. Hevey, who was president of the Porsche 356 Australia Club for 15 years, has done four Targas with his Porsches, but this is his first Targa Tasmania. Owner/driver Wayne Hevey bought it 10 years ago, adding to an already slightly obsessive collection of Porsches that includes or has included a 1955 Speedster, a Boxster, and a couple of 911s. There’s almost countless Porsche 911s, but standing out is one of their forefathers: a beautiful, ivory-coloured 1958 356 A Coupe. Overall, it makes for a wonderfully eclectic field of automobiles.Īs we wander around Stanley’s main street, it’s a virtually complete visual A to Z of star cars – from a 1955 Austin A30 to a 1961 Ford Zephyr. Categories are further divided into the likes of Vintage, Classic, and Early Modern to help create a semblance of parity for vehicles of a certain age, with a relatively small group typically comprising the very latest performance cars aiming for outright honours. The 2016 field is the largest yet, with 382 entries spread across 13 competitive and non-competitive categories. Maximum speed limits are applied, though – enforced either by the installation of the same Rallysafe GPS systems used in the competitor vehicles, or by course observers. A broad range of categories includes those with varying relaxations of rules to allow owners of both classic and modern sports cars to enter without having to fit roll cages and fire extinguishers, or even wear helmets. There’s as much emphasis on participation as competition, though.
It was inspired by Sicily’s Targa Florio, and has grown to become Australia’s – and one of the world’s – premier tarmac rallies. This is a street party without the dining tables and chairs associated with royal silver jubilees, though this year is a 25th-anniversary celebration. IT’S fitting that a group of nutters has congregated at the base of The Nut, an extinct volcano that overshadows the Tasmanian fishing village of Stanley.Īssembled are the hardcore racers, wannabe Ricciardos and diehard car enthusiasts, all turning the usually quaint and quiet village into a bedlam of idling engines and flat-out chatter. I've seen too many of these to have much PASSIONforFRUIT, but I did enjoy Finn's spin, cluing these characters to their parents having BORE FRUIT.Wheels joins Australia’s premier tarmac rally to discover it’s not just about the competition. And in the opposite corner, the TAQUITO TRUMPET is a cousin of the piccolo. Great bonuses in the southwest corner, I REPENT so vivid and GI TRACT looking so oddly like GIT RACT (a division of GitHub?). I doubt all editors will be as willing to allow it as Will Shortz. I personally loved it, which as always, shows how much I friggin know (including what score I should assign for CRAPPY). I heard some grousing and even shock about last week's NO FRIGGIN WAY. I wonder how controversial CRAPPY will be.
If you don't like pop music, how about some FIGARO? I liked that Finn wove in something for everyone, hitting the oldies with the Time WARP, 80s AXL ROSE, contemporary DUA LIPA. Of course, I knew it was Johanna SPYRI only a moron would think it was BERRE and SPERI, haha! HALLE BERRE looked vaguely correct, but as soon as I saw PROFESSOR PLUM, my crossword brain kicked into gear. I couldn't remember who wrote "Heidi," so I was relieved to uncover the theme so quickly.