TARGA SLOWDOWN
Review into three fatalities leads to overhaul of annual race
NEW speed limits will be imposed at future Targa Tasmania events as part of a raft of changes introduced following the death of three participants in this year’s rally.
A tribunal made 23 recommendations that are set to be implemented by Motorsport Australia, including speed reductions ensuring that cars can’t get “air”, restricted time zones and scheduling changes.
RESTRICTIONS on speed and a raft of new measures to improve driver safety are among 23 recommendations to be implemented at future Targa Tasmania events, following the death of three competitors in April.
A tribunal, chaired by the Australian Institute of Motorsport Safety, made several recommendations in relation to speed, including that organisers avoid sections of road where speeds of up to 200km/h can be achieved when designing the route, and that no Targa stage be permitted to have an average speed exceeding 132km/h.
It has also recommended consideration of jumps and other course design features, and ensuring car set-ups are fit for purpose.
The tribunal also recommended organisers design routes with “variants in both stage and itinerary design”, in order to address driver complacency.
Scheduling changes will also be implemented to ensure drivers have time to carry out appropriate checks on their vehicles, and to avoid driver fatigue.
All 23 recommendations were accepted by Motorsport Australia, which has committed to implementing the findings by March 1.
The report, released on Thursday, also outlined a number of contributing factors leading up to two separate fatal crashes.
On April 23, 68-year-old competitor Shane Navin died while competing in stage 26 of the event at Mt Arrowsmith, near Strahan.
The report said Mr Navin lost control of his vehicle, resulting in it going off road and rolling 6m into a creek before coming to rest upside down, with the driver’s side fully submerged.
The co-driver, 60-year-old Glenn Evans, sustained minor injuries but survived.
In the minutes that followed, Mr Evans attempted to save the driver before flagging down a vehicle, but assistance was not provided for more than half an hour. The report found it had rained at Mt Arrowsmith and that there were “a number of unprotected hazards” such as trees along the 52km stage, both of which were identified as contributing factors to the crash.
It also said the driver’s ability and poor suspension set-up were contributing factors to the incident.
On the final day of the event, 68year-old driver Leigh Mundy and 59-year-old co-driver Dennis Neagle were competing near Cygnet when their car approached a crest in the road at a speed of 188km/h and became airborne.
The car left the road and crashed into a tree. Both men died at the scene and the remaining four Targa stages were cancelled.
The report raised questions about the suspension of the vehicle.
“The driver of car 902 told him that he would have to withdraw from the event if he did not get new suspension for the car, as ‘the car was behaving like a pogo stick’,” the report said.
Driver fatigue and a tighter event schedule were found to be contributing factors to both crashes.
“These, combined with the pressure of competition over significant distances each day, and early starts, in the view of the tribunal, meant that drivers (and probably co-drivers) would most likely have been fatigued in the latter half of the event,” the report said.