TARGA AND VCC JOIN FORCES TO CREATE CLASSIC TIME TRIAL EVENT

THE NEW VINTAGE CAR CLUB TARGA TIME TRIAL HITS THE SWEET SPOT FOR CLASSIC CAR ENTHUSIASTS

Something wasn’t right. The classic Triumphs, MGS, Jags, Alfas, Fiats and older Porsches were going missing from the ranks of Targa competitors.

And Rod Corbett, a rally stalwart and Vintage Car Club (VCC) member, who had previously run a TR3 in the Targa, was missing them. He got together with Targa New Zealand managing director Peter Martin and together they cooked up a category to lure classic owners back.

Rod explains that a lot of classic owners no longer raced and found their cars no longer suited the Tour category either. That was attracting newer, highperformance cars whose owners wanted to give them their head on the closed roads. Older cars would just get in the way, because overtaking isn’t permitted on the tour to prevent racing, which invokes higher safety standards like roll cages and so on.

So Rod and Peter came up with the VCC Time Trial event. Competitors have to hit a specific target average speed over the same special stages on roads closed for the racing classes. That itself is a classic form of car competition, used in the original Targa Florio and in Paris to Peking.

Rod, who is the event steward, says they set two average speeds in the first event last year, 50kph and 70kph, which worked okay on the South Island’s flowing roads. But this year, on the more varied North Island roads, a different target average will be set for each stage, which will appeal to the seriously competitive.

Making this event open to VCC members only was another masterstroke. The club’s rules mean cars must be 30 years old, and anyone can compete, as long as they join the VCC, which is keen to take in younger members.

Peter Martin is enthusiastic about the synergies. He says while ‘vintage’ might conjure up images of wooden wheels and brass windscreens, the 30-year rule means that even the R31 to R34 ‘Godzilla’ GT-R Skylines now qualify. That means new generations with younger classics can, and are, growing the club and joining in the fun.

Rod says ‘vintage’ now encompasses everything from the 1929 Rolls-royce that competed last year, through to a 1989 Toyota Corolla. He says the sporting time-trial format is ideal for husbands and wives, but the most popular team combo last year mixed the generations: dads and sons or daughters, even granddads and grandchildren. He says a father-and-son team last year is now two teams, with the

son taking a friend in another car while Mum and Dad are teaming up this year.

“It’s totally unique and just for them,” says Peter. He says it is almost impossible for local VCCS to arrange road closures, which gives this event a special appeal for owners of older sports cars. Once a year, they can prepare their cars for a magical week of unmodified fun, and really drive them the way they were they were meant to be driven, while taking the timing challenge as seriously as they like.

Rod says many of last year’s South Island entrants are back this year, and to spread the word in the North Island, local VCCS have been invited to meet-ups at several special stages. That makes a great attraction for other locals, and the chance to mix and mingle with competitors is sure to inspire more entrants next year.

“The Targa is really the premium motor sport event in New Zealand. To rally on closed roads for a week costs many thousands overseas, but to do this in New Zealand is really quite cheap. This event is unique, and we are really very fortunate to be able to participate and contribute towards it,” says Rod.