RIDE OF A LIFETIME
Driver Pat built car, Katie to navigate when first-timers join Great Barrier Reef rally
A FAR North mechanic will take his wife on the ride of her life when they for the first time in this year’s Targa Great Barrier Reef.
Racing will start on Friday on the Gillies Range and Lake Eacham stages, followed by the Cassowary Coast and TARGAcavalcade on Saturday and the Kuranda Range, Upper Barron and Tablelands stages on Sunday.
The weekend will be a life highlight for Port Douglas mechanic Pat Barnett and his wife, Katie, who will take to the track for the first time this year as driver and navigator of a 1979 Ford TE Cortina kit car.
Mr Barnett said it would be a test of driver, car, team and marriage.
“My wife is very excited and also nervous, she was never into motorsport until she met me,” he said.
“Now she’s coming along for the ride of her life.
“She’s put a hell of a lot of work into learning the route, so there’ll be no surprises for us on the day.”
Mr Barnett spent the past three years building the car, complete with a six-cylinder cross-flow motor, four-speed manual gearbox and roll cage.
“I’m happy with how it’s turned out, I’m confident we’ll see the finish line,” he said.
“We’ve got a really good starting kit; if it goes well I’m hoping this will turn into a career.”
Targa Great Barrier Reef CEO Mark Perry said the best place for Cairns spectators to catch the action will be at the Esplanade when the cars in the TARGAcavalcade go by on Saturday, leaving Walker Road Sporting Precinct, Edmonton about 3.40pm.
“We will have some extra police on the Esplanade to encourage social distancing but unless you live along the route, it will be the best place to catch the action,” he said. “We’re really encouraging everyone to go around to friends’ houses on the way and watch them go by, have a barbecue and enjoy it as they go by.
“Given all the travel restrictions, we’ll be at about 90-95 cars, or about half the size of last time because it’s so hard to get here from outside of Queensland.
“In the last few weeks, when it seemed definite it was happening, we were still getting entries up to two days ago because we were getting locals grateful we were coming to Cairns to support it.
“We’re meeting a lot of new people, including Cairns locals supporting the event who are excited it’s happening and looking forward to supporting it.”
Mr Barnett, who owns JKC Auto in Mossman, attended previous Targa events as part of the crew for fellow locals Rhys Bawden, of Salsa Bar & Grill Restaurant, and Trent Eldridge, of RAM Metalworks & Shade Structures.
This time the roles will be reversed, with Mr Bawden and Mr Eldridge acting as crew for the first-time competitor.
“We’re really excited about it. It’s so hard to access good motorsport in north Queensland and it’s a privilege to have this event and be a part of it,” Mr Barnett said.
“We’ll be competing in the Classic outright category, so it’ll be quite a big challenge with no cap on speed.”
Mr Barnett said the Kuranda Range starting point and Ravenshoe sections of the event on day three would boast the best viewing spots.