DUTTON GROUP TAKES OVER TARGA

TARGA AUSTRALIA and the Dutton Group have announced the CAMS Australian Targa Championship, including the legendary Targa Tasmania will become part of the Dutton Group.

The change of ownership heralds a new chapter and future for the Targa events, with some exciting expansion plans in the pipeline to attract more competitors and commercial support.

New CEO and Targa Australia Director Mark Perry, welcomed the takeover of the event by the Dutton Group: “The growth and stability of Targa has always been the number one priority for Les (Les Smith, Targa Australia Director) and myself. We have said many times that we saw ourselves as the custodians of the Targa business and we would rebuild the events, after some lean times at the height of the GFC, and we have achieved this through expanding our customer base and event offering. We would only sell Targa to the right buyer, a buyer that could continue expanding Targa, a buyer that understood its history and a buyer who ultimately had a vision for Targa to be around for many years to come. The Dutton Group clearly ticked all of these boxes and we are looking forward to working for Dutton and delivering some exciting events in the years ahead.”

Dutton Group Chief Financial Officer Matt Hanson, who played a key role in the purchase of Targa Australia, believes the iconic tarmac rally events are a perfect fit for a business whose key focus is classic and modern exotic car ownership: “We are very excited to be welcoming the Targa events into the Dutton Group and introducing these iconic events to our large car enthusiast customer base. Targa, with its strong competitor and touring customer base is a perfect fit for us, and we have sponsored the events for many years now, so this was a natural next step to take. We are looking forward to welcoming the Targa team to our business and working closely with them moving forward.”

The opening round of the 2019 CAMS Australian Targa Championship, the first event under the new ownership, will be Targa North West, in the north west of Tasmania on 16th & 17th February.

The jewel in the crown, Targa Tasmania, will run from April 29 to May 4.