[minigolf]

For some reason that link doesn't work. Here's the story:

Quote:

Targa Tasmania crash

It's been a day of drama in the Targa Tasmania car rally with a number of crashes reported, and one man taken to hospital.

The Mini Cooper driven by Queensland's Ian Sherrin crashed on the Grasstree Hill stage near Richmond this morning.

His navigator, **** Seung Lee has been taken to hospital for observation.

The stage was downgraded due to the accident.

There have been at least seven other crashes reported today.

Five happened on the same corner during the stage at Cygnet, in the state's south

Yesterday the two leaders Allan Simonsen and Jason White both crashed out of the event on the Wilbra Park stage.

The drivers are tackling eight stages today in the state's south with a distance of 60 kilometres.

Tony Sullens leads the event by 13 seconds from Jim Richards.

Hope the nav ends up okay and hard luck to the Sherrin crew, they've been great MINI stalwarts, hope they're not too shaken up.

["Megan"]

All fixed - stuffed up when I copied and pasted link Thanks for the heads up

["Megan"]

Quote: Originally Posted by Paul_T (original)

It's that time of the year again - I notice Grant Denyer is driving an MCS! Should be some good exposure for our litte beasts.

Targa Tasmania

Ah, when he is actually around

RallySport Magazine - Moscatt makes driving debut at Targa

[Paul_T]

Quote: Originally Posted by minigolf (original)

For some reason that link doesn't work. Here's the story:



Hope the nav ends up okay and hard luck to the Sherrin crew, they've been great MINI stalwarts, hope they're not too shaken up.

**** is actually an old friend of mine - waiting on information from another friend to see if he's ok.

[bigturtle]

****'s got a broken collar bone, but is back home again. He's posted a couple of emails to another mailing list.

["Megan"]

Hope **** has a full and quick recovery!


Targa Tasmania

With 3 stages to go, Stokell is in 9th overall.

[2bob]

Why do Mini Australia refuse to acknowledge other MINI drivers???? I think very counter productive,!!!

[Mr G]

no disrepect to Dale. I've known him since way back when we used to do clubman rounds together. But that is bloody stupid.

The last person I know that competed a rally that they hadn't reccied was Peter Brock. Yes, I know Dale wrote the notes, but his co-driver didn't. And they were written for someone else.

Firstly, the same car and crew should have to complete the event. If you can't get the time off work, perhaps consider giving it a miss. Secondly, no-one should ever be allowed in a pace noted event unless they have reccied the event.

It seems that event organisers are still willing to bend rules for profiled personalities. It's a recipe for (more) disaster.

[dsakko]

As someone who's driven in 3 blind events (1 special stage, 1 navigational with speed tests, and 1 navigational with nothing scary so it probably doesn't count), and driven / codriven (blind) in course cars numerous pace noted gravel rallies, I'd be thinking that yes, you CAN go into a pace noted event without reccying the event - but under the proviso that you are conscious that when pace noting is allowed they put less cautions in the road book, and hence:
a. Take it easier and don't commit to the corners as hard as you would if you have reccied the course (as the pace notes you have may not suit your situation, car, conditions etc and there are hazards that aren't in the road book)
b. Always drive it as you see it. If you can't see all the way around a corner, or over a crest, drive as if there might just be a hazard coming up.

You're right, with the speeds and commitment into corners these days (in particular with the higher speeds on bitumen), you really need to reccie before trusting wholly in your pace notes.

[Mr G]

Quote: Originally Posted by dsakko (original)

b. Always drive it as you see it. If you can't see all the way around a corner, or over a crest, drive as if there might just be a hazard coming up.

If you're going to do that you don't need pace notes. The whole idea of them is that you can commit to corners that you otherwise couldn't read.

If you haven't reccied the event, here's your road book. And be careful - because half the cautions are missing!

[dsakko]

That's true - a set of pace notes made by someone other than yourself is nothing more than an expensive road book.

[robbo mcs]

Hi,

I have returned back from Targa, in one piece with my car intact. I had an absolutely fantastic time

Overall I was very happy with my results, 47/105 outright in modern (which is my best result), and 2nd in class

There were some unpleasant episodes during the week. Iain Sherrin's high speed crash was rather nasty It is especially difficult when you are on the road, and hear that a friend and teamates car has had an accident, and that some of your friends are being taken to hospital **** has a broken collarbone, which is nasty, but it could have been much worse Iain is bruised, and the car is trashed

The other downside was Stu Jones blowing his engine for the second year in a row. He was going really well at the time. The engine let go at 50kmh on a public road. It is related to a broken timing chain tensioner The engine is severely damaged and will need a full rebuild. Fortunately, the Sherrins had a spare BMW 120 sitting in the truck, as someone had leased it for the "rookie rally" which finished on day 2. Iain very kindly offered Stu the use of the car, and the Targa organisers agreed to let Stu complete the event in another car, so he still got to drive the final two days

The performance of the factory minis, and in particular Paul Stokell, was amazing Hats off to mini Australia and the drivers and navigators for a fantastic performance. A mini in the top 10 outright is something I thought I would never see Also, lots of thanks to mini Australia for helping Stu out with his engine problems late at night They let our mechanics take a tensioner out of a mini that was on loan to the media in an effort to get Stu's car going, which rendered the media car undriveable for a day and a half. In the end it didn't help Stu, but it was a very generous thing to do, and certainly it was good to see the mini fraternity helping each other out

I managed to pass lots of cars over the week, and never got passed once, which is allways good. I had some good passes including 2x EVO 9's. However, my favourite was passing 4 Aussie muscle cars on one stage. I managed to pass a falcon GTHO, 2x Daytona replicas (like Brocks) and a Commodore R8 on one stage

Targa is an amazing experience, and I enjoyed every single minute of it. It is hard to describe the experience, but it is fun, scary, challenging, tiring and overwhelming. If you ever get a chance to participate, do whatever it takes to make it happen

Attached are a few pics

Cheers

Robbo

[robbo mcs]

Hi,

A few more pics ...

[minigolf]

Glad you mae it home safely Robbo, thanks for sharing the pics as well. Shame some of the other MINIs had a hard time of it, and as someone who has busted a collar bone before I know how painful that can be, but also, glad that it was nothing more serious. Hard luck for Stu, hope he's back firing again soon.

[Mike Clarke]

Good result Robbo, nice pics, the ones near Queenstown bring back some memories

[Snapper>///">]

Congrats on a great result Robbo and Ladi

["Megan"]

Hey Robbo,

Have been hanging out for this post, been dying to hear your report of the event.

So pleased you made it back in one piece, along with Maddy - no nasty bills to be landed with later on down the track Congratulations on doing so well - and can imagine how good it felt to pass all those cars I think you may have dented a few egos along the way too!! 2nd in class - well done I believe Grant Sherrin wasn't too far behind you, so good result for him also

I managed to follow the results through most of the stages and just hoped I was getting them right - especially when Paul Stokell moved into the Top Ten - he did some amazing times - especially in the long stage on Sunday!! (Can't believe I've been lucky enough to have him as an Instructor in my car at a drive day )

I hope Denyer and Sinclair were happy with their results - don't know how they compare to last year?

Sorry to hear about Stu's trouble He must be a bit disappointed But great of MINI Australia to help out, along with the Sherrins giving him a car for the last 2 days

So glad to hear that **** and Iain aren't too badly hurt, although the collar-bone injury is nothing to sneeze at Sounds like they will both be a bit sore for a while. So the MINI is a write off? Well, it goes to show how well they protect those inside the car in the event of a crash - to walk away from any accident is good, and it sounds like this one was nasty.

Sounds like it was good fun overall

Well done to all the navigators too - without them the drivers could be in a bit of strife

[2bob]

Well done all !!!!Hope we can have a de-brief like last year to get the whole story.