Entrants include defending champion Marcus van Klink who will be racing his Mazda RX8 for the overall win while in Time Trial Michael Fitzpatrick has brought along his 1968 MG Sebring.
There is also the field of Tour Cars for those that want to experience the thrill of closed roads at high speeds without the need for competition. The approximate stage distance over the four days is 500 kilometers.
Day 1 consisted of five special stages which were centered around the Otorohanga region. Andrew Oakley and his co driver Steve Hutchins won the first stage in the Audi RS5 before David Rogers and co driver Shane Reynolds went on to win the second. The remaining three stages were won by last year’s Targa NZ winner Marcus van Klink and co driver Matt Richards in the RX8.
The Classic 2WD class saw Bevan Claridge win all six stages with his co driver Campbell Tannock. The Holden VP SS has a 58 second lead over second placed Steven Blackley and co driver Daniel Newton who are in the Ford Escort.
There was drama in the Time Trials when one of the Porsche’s went off the road and down a bank. Fortunately the owners walked away unscathed. The current leaders of this field are Dallis Yates/Alise Inger in a Toyota MR2 followed by Robert Moston and John Munro in a Jaguar C Type.
Marcus van Klink extended his lead at the halfway point of the four-day Targa NZ competition to 1 minute and 22 seconds. There were a few moments when the car got a bit sideways, but as van Klink noted, this was mainly for the spectators’ enjoyment. In the first two stages, only 5 seconds separated the top six cars, although van Klink won all seven stages.
Martin Dippie found renewed pace in the Mitre 10 Porsche after an engine fault yesterday, allowing him and co-driver Sam Dippie to move from seventeenth to ninth by the end of the day.
Michael Lowe and co-driver Paul Lyons faced issues on Stage 10 when the turbo unit dismounted from their Volvo 240T, generating significant heat in the footwell from flames. Fortunately, they managed to return to the Lunchtime Service at Wharepapa School, where mechanics repaired the vehicle in time for the afternoon stages. They are currently placed third in the Classic’s. Leading this class are Bevan Claridge and co-driver Campbell Tannock, who hold a five-minute lead in their Holden VP SS.
In the Modern 2WD, Xavier Franklin leads in a Porsche GT4. Going into the day, Mike Tubbs in his BMW M2 Coupe was in the lead, but Franklin managed to cut into Tubbs’s advantage and took the lead on Stage 11 through Aotearoa Kahorekau Rd. Martin Dippie sits in third place in this class, but he is two minutes behind Tubbs.
In the Production 4WD class, Andrew Oakley has maintained his lead. However, Robert Darrington in a Toyota Yaris and Matt Tubbs in an Audi traded second and third places throughout the day. At day’s end, the Yaris held a slim advantage over the Audi by twelve seconds.
Day three was held with in close proximity to Cambridge and included six special stages with a total racing distance 115 kilometers. Jason Gill and his co-driver Katrina Renshaw in a VW Golf were the first casualties when their clutch gave up while traveling to the first stage. Meanwhile Xavier Franklin and co-driver Jaidyn Gluskie made good progress to move up the field and soon found themselves in second place before the lunchtime service. This was helped when current second placed man David Rodgers took a detour across farmland during SS16 Waterworks-Aspin Rd stage. This stage also claimed several other cars including Nic de Waal/Fleur Pedersen who were one of the two day entrants. Both Rodgers and de Waal were able to bring the cars back to service where repairs could be made. The flaming crowd favorite RX8 of Marcus van Klink/Matt Richards continued their dominating run winning all but one stage and extended their lead to over three minutes with one day remaining.
The Classic 2WD class had Bevan Claridge maintain his lead over Steven Blackley who also remained in second place and first in his class. Behind them, Keith Callinan was able to put in some good stage times to get ahead of the Holden Cheetah of the Butlers to be third in the Classic’s.
The Porsche GT4 of Xavier Franklin and Jaidyn Gluskie continued to lead the Modern 2WD class from Mike Tubbs and co-driver Matt Bailey with a two minute gap. A further one minute back is Martin Dippie and co-driver son Sam Dippie in the Porsche GT3 RS. The Production 4WD Class second placed man Robert Darrington and co-driver Brianna Little had an “off” during the second stage of the day which dropped them down the field and allowed Matt Tubbs and co-driver Matt Sayers to move up to second in the Audi RS3. Ivan Knauf and co-driver Matt Priest in a Subaru Impreza STi moved up to third. The pairing of Andrew Oakley/Steve Hutchins continues to lead this class.
New Zealand motorsport stalwart Brian Green made a special appearance to drive one of the zero cars (004). The BMW 135i that he was driving was used to provide the track clearance after the competition cars had completed each stage and before the Touring cars started their high-speed procession.
The variable weather on the final day added an extra challenge for the drivers with many having to change from dry weather tires to wet weather setups and be a lot more gentle on the throttle.
Marcus van Klink and his co-driver Matt Richards won the event after four days of competition and 446 kilometers of special stages travelled. They almost didn’t get to the finish line as on the final stage the Mazda RX8 experienced an electrical fault which put them under pressure. They were penalized some time but heading into the final stage, they were the winners by just 7.2 seconds. As Marcus commented, “We Enjoyed another awesome event. It was ours to loose and we almost did, with an electrical problem on the last stage which nearly cost us the win. The car ran faultless other than the last two stages otherwise it would have been a perfect weekend”. Xavier Franklin and his co-driver Jaidyn Gluskie finished in second place overall and first in their class, Modern 2WD. Third overall was Matt Tubbs and co-driver Matt Sayers having eaten into Andrew Oakley’s time throughout the day. The Tubbs/Sayers Audi were also the Production 4WD winners.
The Classic 2WD class was won by the pairing of Bevan Claridge and Campbell Tannock who’s Holden ran well through the entire event. Their final time was eight minutes clear of second placed Stephen Blackley and Daniel Newton in the Escort. Third place in the Classic 2WD was awarded to Anthony and Jo Butler who were driving the exquisite Holden Cheetah.
The winner of the time trials was awarded to Dallis Yates and his co-driver sister Alise Inger who were navigating the MR2 through the stages which was closest to a predefined average speed.
Words: Steve Ritchie
Photos: Geoff Ridder
