Auckland pair Cameron Ross and co-driver Matthew Buer (Subaru Impreza Sti) held their nerve to claim a popular win in the first Targa tarmac motor rally to be held in this country in almost a year, the two-day, Hamilton-based Targa Bambina, over the weekend.
With both event favourites, last year’s Targa Rotorua event winners Jason Gill from Auckland and Christchurch-based co-driver Nicole Summerfield (VW Polo R 4WD) and multi-time former Targa Rotorua event winner Leigh Hopper and his co-driver Michael Goudie (Subaru WRX Impreza), striking what quickly turned into terminal mechanical issues early on the first day of competition on Saturday, Ross and Buer found themselves in second place overall after the second closed road special stage, then in the outright lead after the third when Hopper ran off the road and lost almost a minute getting his car back onto it again.
Though their margin – over the class-leading, late model 2WD Porsche 991 GT3 RS of former Targa NZ outright winner Martin Dippie and Jona Grant – was just 3.3 seconds, Ross and Buer stuck resolutely to their ‘steady-as-she-goes’ pre-event plan, arriving back at parc ferme in Hamilton on Saturday evening with a second outright special stage (SS5) win to their names, plus a 25.5 second time buffer over the similar Subaru Impreza Sti of impressive young Christchurch ace Rory Calloway and co-driver Samantha Gray in second place and a further 9.8 seconds back to Mitsubishi Lancer Evo RS 10 David Rogers and co-driver Shane Reynolds in third.
Ross and Buer would go on to claim three more outright special stage wins on the second day of competition. Like Leigh Hopper did the day before the pair went out hard and fast from the get-go, winning the first stage of the day, the 11.9km Parawera (Long) east of Kihikihi by 4 secs over the Dippie/Grant Porshe, then the 29.9km Bayley’s Ngaroma one immediately after by 6.9 seconds from David Rogers and Shane Reynolds, Calloway and Gray, and veteran rally man Brian Green and his co-driver Fleur Pedersen (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10)
Rogers and Reynolds were on an absolute mission, relieving Calloway and Gray of their long-held runner-up spot in the overall event standings as they grabbed the first of two stage wins, beating the Dippie/Grant Porsche through the 26.9kms of the Darby/Waotu stage by just 0.08 of a second.
Cameron Ross and Matthew Buer were quick to respond to the threat, this time beating the benchmark Dippie/Grant Porsche through the next stage, the 10.33 kms Te Miro by 0.09 of a second. However, by slipping back down the order to an uncharacteristic 8th place through the 19.13km Richmond stage, Ross and Buer were left vulnerable.
However, as it was, so were Rogers and Reynolds as a determined Rory Calloway threw caution to the wind in a mad dash down the final 25km roller-coaster Hobbiton stage to try and wrest back ‘his’ second place from the Rogers/Reynolds ‘wrecking party.’
The result in Calloway’s case was bittersweet – though he won the stage he missed out on reclaiming second place by just 5.9 seconds.
For Ross and Buer, it was time – however – to celebrate their first major Targa victory. Second overall was indeed the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 of David Rogers and Shayne Reynolds, third the Subaru Impreza Sti of Rory Callaway and Samantha Grey.
The Porsche 991 GT3 RS of Dunedin man Martin Dippie and co-driver Jona Grant was fourth, a second Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 of Brian Green and co-driver Fleur Pedersen was fifth with the BMW M2 coupe of Mike Tubbs and new co-driver Richard Scoular sixth
First Classic 2WD home was the E30 BMW ‘355i’ of Nigel and Meighan Patterson from Auckland with second place going to the BMW 325i of Bruce Farley and Glen Warner from Nelson.
Overall Results
Top 10
1/ Cameron Ross/Matthew Buer (Subaru Impreza Sti)1:34:21.4
2/ David Rogers/Shane Reynolds (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo RS)1:34:52.9 +0:31.5
3/ Rory Callaway/Samantha Gray (Subaru Impreza Sti) 1:34:58.8 +0:37.4 +0:05.9
4/ Martin Dippie/Jona Grant (Porsche 991 GT3 RS)1:35:15.9 +0:54.5 +0:17.1
5/ Brian Green/Fleur Pedersen (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10) 1:36:26.6 +2:05.2 +1:10.7
6/ Mike Tubbs/Richard Scoular (BMW M2) 1:37:34.9 +3:13. +1:08.3
7/ Warwick Knott/Desleigh Jameson (Subaru Impreza Sti) 1:37:48.3 +3:26.9 +0:13.4
8/ Bruce Herbert/Bevan Parker (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10) 1:38:14.1 +3:52.7 +0:25.8
9/ Mark & Blake Ross (BMW i30) 1:39:51.0 +5:29.6 +1:36.9
10/ Ivan Knauf/Trevor Corbin (Subaru Impreza Sti)1:40:42.2 +6:20.8 +0:51.2
camross
Hi Ross, just to clarify Cameron the driver is from Wellington and Matthew the co-driver is from Tauranga.