After leading the event for most of the first day of competition on Saturday, Auckland tarmac rally specialist Jason Gill and new co-driver Nicole Summerfield from Christchurch (VW Polo R 4WD) went on to win this year’s first Targa event – the two-day Targa Rotorua – on Sunday in style!
The pair won 6 or the day’s 8 stages to extend their lead from just 16.9 seconds over Subaru Impreza Sti pair Cameron Ross and co-driver Matthew Buer overnight to just over 3 minutes over Dunedin duo Martin Dippie and Jona Grant in the first of the 2WD cars entered, Dippie’s late model Porsche 991 GT3 RS, at event’s end back in Rotorua on Sunday evening.
After themselves leading the event early on Saturday Ross and Buer actually held on to their hard-won second place until the final stage – the 12.37km Maungatautari, west of Tirau, on Sunday, when, in a particularly cruel twist of fate they were forced to limp through much of the stage when a wheel bearing collapsed.
Having already been handed a time penalty of a minute-and-a-half for breaking out of their average speed ‘bubble’ through the penultimate – Hobbiton – stage between Buckland and Cambridge, the writing was definitely on the wall for the pair. But because Dippie and Grant were carrying a 1 min. 30 sec time penalty of their own for exceeding a stage’s ultimate speed earlier in the day Ross and Buer were still just over 23 seconds ahead – and still in second place – with Dippie and Grant third and fellow Subaru Impreza ST pair Rory Callaway and his co-driver Samantha Grey fourth.
In what must have been a heart-breaking final few kms however Ross and Buer lost almost 2 minutes (1min.53 secs to be exact) on stage and overall event winners Gill and Summerfield, meaning that not only lost second place to Dippie and Grant, but also third to the similar Subaru Impreza ST1 of Calloway and Grey.
Fourth place – which is where Ross and Buer washed up in the final reckoning – is still nothing to be sniffed at – particularly given just how stiff the competition was for a spot in the top ten on each and every stage.
As it was they were lucky that the timing clock stopped where it did – with them in fourth place and former NZ gravel rally champion Bruce Herbert and his co-driver Bevan Parker (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10) in fifth, albeit just 01.8 seconds behind! \
Not even the shock early withdrawal of multi-time former event winner and favourite Leigh Hopper and co-driver Michael Goudie (Subaru Impreza WRX) just five kilometres into the first stage, could put a damper on this year’s event.
Particularly impressive were some of the individual efforts from the likes of Hamilton businessman Mike Tubbs and his co-driver Brook Walden in Tubbs’ 2WD BMW M2
The pair ended up in sixth place overall after some frankly remarkable times – 4th quickest – each time to boot – through the repeated Waotu stage, then 5th quickest through both the Richmond Rd and Hobbiton stages on Sunday afternoon.
Another driver to impress with his relentless pace was Andrew Oakley from Christchurch in his 4WD Audi RS5. He and co-driver Steve Hutchins ended up 4th quickest themselves through the Aotearoa stage just before the lunch break at Cambridge on Sunday. Time-wise Oakley was just 1.2 seconds slower than the winner of the stage, Martim Dippie, and only 0.3 of a second slower than eventual overall winner, Jason Gill.
With something of a changing of the guard amongst the owners and drivers of Classic 2WD cars, the first ‘Classic’ car home at Rotorua was the Class 3-winning BMW E30 ‘335i of Nigel Patterson and Warren Glassford in 14th place overall. Next ‘classic’ home was the Class 2 Mercedes-Benz 190 2.3-16 of Mark McCaughan and co-driver Lindsay Lyons but they were back in 20th spot while the first Class 1 Classic home was the MK 1 Ford Escort of Steven and Sean Blackley back in 29th place.
With another successful Targa Rotorua event run and won the focus of the Kiwi Targa world now turns to the five-day Targa NZ event which this year will be run in the Central North Island between October 26 and 30.
See Also: Gill & Summerfield get chance to shine on first day of Targa Rotorua event
Overall results
1/ Jason Gill/Nicole Summerfield (VW Polo R) 2:32:25.7
2/ Martin Dippie/Jona Grant (Porsche 991 GT3 RS) +1.30 2:35:30.5 +3:04.8
3/ Rory Callaway/Samantha Gray (Subaru Impreza Sti) 2:35:55.7 +3:30.0 +0:25.2
4/ Cameron Ross/Matthew Buer (Subaru Impreza Sti) +1:30 2:36:56.9 +4:31.2 +1:01.2
5/ Bruce Herbert/Bevan Parker (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10) 2:36:58.7 +4:33.0 +0:01.8
6/ Mike Tubbs/Brooke Walden (BMW M2) 2:37:10.3 +4:44.6 +0:11.6
7/ Robert Darrington/David Abetz (BMW E46 M3) 2:38:22.5 +5:56.8 +1:12.2
8/ Andrew Oakley/Steve Hutchins (Audi RS5) 2:39:15.4 +6:49.7 +0:52.9
9/ Stephen Harrison/Jono Climo (Audi S3) 2:41:45.4 +9:19.7 +2:30.0
10/ Warwick Knott/Desleigh Jameson (Subaru Impreza Sti) 2:43:12.2 +10:46.5 +1:26.8
11/ Andrew Simms/Brianna Little (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2:43:52.0 +11:26.3 +0:39.8
12/ Graeme Wong/Kim Blatchley (Subaru Impreza Sti) 2:45:14.4 +12:48.7 +1:22.
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