1998 TARGA TASMANIA 28 April - 3 May
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1998 TARGA TASMANIA 28 April - 3 May Cartoons by Jump to List of Contents Page 1 of 19 1998 FLAG CAR Robert Shannon and Glenn Coad in the 1930 Low Chassis Invicta ‘S’ This car was one of 77 built and 35 remain world-wide. It was powered by a 4.5 litres 6 cylinder OHV engine. It was the first production vehicle of its era to reach 160km/h (100mph). The Majestic 1915 Locomobile Speedster Nick Langford and Michael Dodds Jump to List of Contents Page 2 of 19 The Devonport public again turned out to greet the arrival of the Spirit of Tasmania arrival from Melbourne with its load of mainland and international cars and competitors and followers. LIST OF CONTENTS 1. THE COURSE 2. 1998 - A MAJOR UPLIFT FOR TARGA TASMANIA 3. ENTRIES 4. PLACINGS 5. ORGANISATION 6. COMPETITION 7. PHOTOGRAPHS Acknowledgement of the major references I used to research the information from which I have taken direct quotes, and photographs, are: • Targa Tasmania – ‘The Ultimate Tarmac Rally – 1992 to 2001 The First 10 Years’ produced by Octagon Motorsports edited by Michael Browning; • ‘The Legend’ published by Media Productions Pty Ltd, covering the 1992 to 1995 events. • ‘Targa Tasmania 1992-1993’, Clipper Press, Hobart; • Targa Tasmania Official Programs, 1992 to 2003; • Internal event documents from 1993 to 2003 that I have in my possession. I take full responsibility for the information listed and I apologise for any errors made by me and will be most pleased to hear from anyone seeking to correct any issue – [email protected] Jump to List of Contents Page 3 of 19 1: THE COURSE LEGEND DAY COLOUR LOCATION - LOCATION DISTANCE 0 Pink George Town Prologue 150 km 1 Brown Launceston-Launceston 270 km 2 Blue Launceston - Hobart 440 km 3 Purple Hobart - Hobart 190 km 4 Green Hobart - Burnie 470 km 5 Red Burnie - Hobart 510 km Schedule of Targa Stages - 41 DAY 1 - 8 DAY 2 - 9 DAY 3 – 7 DAY 4 - 8 DAY 5 - 9 Legana 5.6 Launceston 2.6 Mount Nelson 1.2 Hobart# 3.3 Hellyer Gorge 15.0 Moriarty 6.9 The Sideling 13.9 Howden 7.4 Colebrook 6.0 Mount Black 8.7 Latrobe 3.9 Winnaleah 6.4 Oyster Cove 12.0 Ross# 2.8 Rosebery 17.5 Devonport 16.6 Weldborough Pass 11.9 Woodbridge 8.2 Cressy 10.4 Strahan 33.0 Nook 5.7 St Mary’s Pass 5.5 Cygnet 14.4 Cethana 37.9 Queenstown 5.9 Sheffield 13.4 Elephant Pass 10.8 Longley 11.8 Wilmot 5.8 Mt Arrowsmith 50.1 Deloraine 10.4 Cranbrook 10.3 Ridgeway 3.7 Gunns Plains 14.7 Tarraleah 8.7 Longford# 3.7 Triabunna# 3.4 Riana 36.2 Ellendale 10.2 Grasstree Hill 7.9 New Norfolk 2.0 1998 saw the introduction of a number of stages: • Day 1 - ‘Nook’, set over a 5.7 kilometre course, was located between ‘Devonport’ and ‘Sheffield’. It was a relatively short, sometimes winding as the stage climbed over a wooded ridge and then over a more gentle hill with a fast finish in open country. It was close to the town of Sheffield. • Day 1 - ‘Sheffield’ reverted to the original course of 1992 and 1993 (when 13 cars left the road) and replaced the previous ‘Sheffield’ run over 7.7 kilometres. ‘Sheffield’ covered 13.4 kilometres and was run between Paradise (near Sheffield) to Union Bridge via the Gog Range. Initially it passed through farming lands and then wound up over high country and finished with a steep downhill run to Union Bridge. Jump to List of Contents Page 4 of 19 • Day 3 - ‘Howden’ was set between ‘Mt Nelson’ and ‘Woodbridge’ and ran through built-up areas of outer Hobart. Conducted over 7.4 kilometres it started with a twisting undulating run and then straightened out, passed through a new housing estate (without any houses this year) and then it was a quick, but curving run to the finish line. 2: 1998 – A MAJOR UPLIFT FOR TARGA TASMANIA John Large was well aware that the 1997 event was in its sixth year, and now that it runs more smoothly and efficient than ever, the organisers must make sure they don’t become complacent about it. Complacency and growing public indifference has seen the demise of major events both around Australia and overseas and therefore the organisers must make sure that they never risk the future of Targa Tasmania by taking it for granted. With this in mind at the end of the 1997 event Large brought together a small team of Robin Wheeler, Tom Snooks and himself for several meetings, and they sought counsel from a variety of sources, including competitors and senior officials. Quote: (Michael Browning from Targa Tasmania The Ultimate Tarmac Rally 1992:2001 The First Ten Years) “1998 was a watershed year for Targa Tasmania, a year that stabilised the event and ensured its long-term future as one of the world’s great tarmac rallies. With a new three-category format and other major rule revisions, Targa Tasmania 1998 returned to the spirit of the first events in 1992 and 1993 when ‘weekend warriors’ in treasured cars ventured on to Tasmania’s magnificent roads in search of the world’s last great road race. Gone in 1998 were the quasi ‘works’ entries, the World Rally Championship-style helicopter service gunships and hard-edged hype which had seen the event evolved from its classic sporting car ideals towards a showroom scramble, with classic and vintage competitors dwindling in numbers. As entries began to waver below the benchmark of 200, new Targa Tasmania owner and managing director, Robin Wheeler, took action. Together with John Large (who, in 1998, continued as non-executive Chairman) they took a long, hard look at themselves and re-set goals for the 1998 event. Part of the process was accepting what made Targa Tasmania truly special. While modern machinery is regularly unleased on closed public roads in major tarmac rallies, Targa stands apart as the world’s longest and most exciting full-on road event for classic cars. Their solution was to create three distinct and equal-status categories – Historic, Classic and Modern while removing some of the marketing gloss available to manufacturers by deleting any reference to ‘outright’ or ‘overall’ results.” Competitors were encouraged to drive within their means and to avoid over-driving by a new four-tyre rule, which imposed penalties for each additional tyre changed or used. To enforce this regulations close attention was made to marking and recording the tyres and tyre expert Peter Gallagher, from Spinning Wheel Tyres in Sydney, joined the Technical Team to head the tyre scrutineers. For quite a few years Peter had provided sound advice to competitors on what tyres would be most suitable for the car under the varying Targa Tasmania conditions. Scoring System The Historic competition was to be run over a shorter road course with one day dedicated to a Concours dÉlegance and repair/servicing that may have been needed. The Classic competition was to emerge from the scoring system based on the Handicap System formula, as was the Historic but each were to be separate competitions. The Modern competition was to be conducted in the fixed minimum time system. Technical Integrity Technical integrity was also revised with the advice and co-operation of the Technical Team, headed by Melbourne’s Ken Price, and the class system was revised and the end result was to introduce three levels of modifications for vehicles to conform to: • Standard Specification (SS); • Limited Modification Specification (LMS); and • Modified Specification (MS). The Limited Modification Specification (‘LMS’) was introduced for those cars which did not depart significantly from the vehicle manufacturer’s specification, but NOT the engine or exhaust. Targa Tasmania had, in the past, catered only for both standard and modified specification (‘SS’ and ’MS’). Jump to List of Contents Page 5 of 19 These specifications allowed for a more level playing field for those cars that were not ‘stock standard’ but had modifications to make them viable for motor sport, but did not have extensive engine modifications. Awards were to be made to the winners of each of these classes. Peter Gallagher (left) played a key role with the tyre control regulation Additionally, restrictors (to FIA standards) were to be used on turbocharged vehicles. Attracting Historic Cars Based on entries alone, the fine tuning had the desired effect. The number of Classic entries was at a three year high in 1998 with 144 entries (compared to 94 in 1997), representing 62% of the total entries. Modern, with the exception of Jim Richards and his Porsche 911 Turbo, returned to being the province of the ‘weekend warriors’. Disappointingly, the Historic had dropped away in numbers (3 in 1996 and 2 in 1997) so much thought was given to attracting these magnificent cars back to the event (10 were in the 1994 event). It was determined to reduce the amount of competition exposure to these cars by setting the Historic course using only some of the stages each day - but sufficient to adequately satisfy the competitive spirit of the competitors - and dropping Day Three altogether so that it could be used to carry out any major servicing, and to participate in a Concourse held in Hobart. Additionally, a promotion campaign aimed at attracting Historic vehicles was devised and put into action and was successful in that by the 2000 event 16 Historic and 10 Touring Classic were entered, providing so much extra colour and interest to the event, for the ‘old bangers’ indeed looked very majestic when travelling along the roads, as well as the nightly Expos.