NOTICEBOARD / EVENTS DIARY

Impressing in eighth place, meanwhile, were the event’s first husband and wife pairing, Troy and Kyla Twomey, in their Bmw-built Mini Cooper S, while in ninth place was the first father-son combination of Havelock North locals Terry and Frank May in their BMW 330ci.

Another husband and wife pairing, Chris and Francesca Lewis from Waiheke Island, rounded out the top ten in their Toyota GT86.

Despite issues which saw him lose time on the penultimate stage, Christchurch man Tony Gosling and his co-driver Sarah Brennan managed to hang on to claim 11th place in Gosling’s Ford Escort RS1800.

There were some new faces on the top step of the Classic 2WD podium this time, with dynamic Nelson duo Bruce Farley and Glen Warner (BMW E30) finally rounding up the Mercedes-benz 190E 2.3-16 of Mark Mccaughan and Lindsay Lyons down Middle Rd, on the final stage, to take Classic 2WD class honours.

Early on it looked like the Group B replica Series 2 Mazda RX7 of Targa original Anton Tallott and co-driver David Connell had Class Two (for cars 2001cc to 3400cc) wrapped up. However, an issue in the final stage of the first day saw them lose time and slip back to third.

The battle for Class One honours (for classic 2WD cars up to 2000cc) was also anyone’s until late in the piece when early leaders Tim Mcivor and co-driver Kerry Sloan (Ford Escort Mk 2) managed to regain the advantage over Mark 1 Escort pair, Steven and Shane Blackley.

The focus of Targa competitors and fans alike now turns to the annual fiveday Targa NZ event, which will again be run in the North Island between October 14–18.

Targa New Zealand events are organized by the Ultimate Rally Group with the support of sponsors Andrewsimms.co.nz, Chicane Racewear, Global Security, NZ Classic Car magazine, Race Brakes, Race4life Trust, Racetech, Trackit, Vital, and Writeraze.

For more information go to www. targa.co.nz or check out the Targa NZ page on Facebook.