Tablelands’ narrow roads will make for ‘slot car’ driving
CAR placement will be critical for drivers taking on Tablelands roads this weekend, according to Targa champion Jason White.
Leg Two of the race will start about 7.41am today with the 6.14km Upper Barron stage.
Mr White, a seven-time Targa Tasmania winner and Dodge Viper driver, said it would be one of the first really narrow stages drivers got to tackle.
Then on the Lake Eacham/ Yungaburra (6.88km) leg, he said there would be “no room for error”, with many of the roads only as wide as his Viper.
“Just about all the stages on top of the Tablelands are about the same width,” he said.
“A lot of them have got cane fields on either side and are quite fast but are narrow at the same time. Car placement again is critical.
“It’s going to be a matter of driving it like it is a slot car, essentially driving it like it is on rails.”
The Glen Allyn/North Johnston leg will follow.
Mr White said some tricky crests would keep competitors guessing on the 8.46km stage.
“There’s a few crests that have a bit of a kink in them, just enough to get a bit airborne,” he said.
“In fact one of them is enough to get a lot of air.
“The width of the road makes these runs 10 times more technical than normal stages we are accustomed to.
“Hopefully there will not be too many issues with passing.”
Drivers will then had back to Lake Morris and Copperlode Dam (11.52km) between 12.17pm and 6.17pm, after having got a taste for the road yesterday.
Day three of Targa Great Barrier Reef will then kick off with the Kuranda Range stage from 6.46am on Sunday.
It is the only location for official spectator viewing of the event and Rainforestation will have food and entertainment throughout the day.
Mr White described the stage as a “superhighway” as it was four lanes wide and even wider in some parts.
“For the most part it will be fun and you will be able to drive as fast as you can,” he said. “In that sense it’s forgiving because of the width.
“If you miss an apex there is still plenty of room to gather it back up. It’s in stark contrast to a lot of the stages up on the Tablelands.”
Competitors will then make their way through Malanda, Moregatta/Theresa Creek, Millaa Millaa and the Old Palmerston Highway.
“In my opinion these stages are the most challenging sta- ges of the event,” Mr White said.
“They are the longest and the amount of corners makes it an intense experience.
“It is pretty relentless in the number of changes of direction.”
He said the Millaa Millaa and the Old Palmerston High- way stages would also “be a real game changer”.
“There could be a minute gap between two positions and those positions could be turned on their head in those two stages,” he said.
“It’s going to be a fun event and completely different to what we’ve done before.”