Motorsport: Tasmanian Tiger lives - in Targa!

Friday motorsport reportApril 13, 2007

Team MINI today announced the 'decor' its three entries for the 16th Targa Tassie -- and one of them will be liveried in a Tasmanian Tiger skin.

The other two have been dressed to look like a cheetah and a snake.

The 154 kW supercharged four-cylinder MINI replica of the Tassie Tiger -- or Thylacinus cynocephalus -- will be driven by Australian championship-winning Paul Stokell with veteran navigator Peter Burrey.

"Everyone thought the Tasmanian Tiger had disappeared, but we're bringing it back from the dead -- so we'll be naming our car ‘Houdini'," says MINI national manager Justin Hocevar.

The cheetah will be in the hands of TV personality Grant Denyer and former Australian champion navigator Dale Moscatt, while steering the slithery python will be Mike Sinclair, publishing director of Carsales Network, the publisher of carsales.com.au and carpoint.com.au, with another experienced navigator, former Perth detective Bill Hayes.

"The cheetah is the fastest sprinting animal on earth, famous for its strong bursts of energy, its supreme agility and tenacity," Hocevar says.

"Cheetah was a natural choice for our second tilt at Targa Tasmania, but there's no truth to the rumour that Grant Denyer will be wearing a loincloth behind the wheel and Tarzan yodeling.

"As for the snakeskin car, we all know snakes strike fast, hang on tight and scare away rivals, so we thought it an ideal way to represent MINI's key strengths.

"There won't be anything to challenge the muscular corner-hugging grip of our python.

"Constrictors have a healthy appetite, able to chew up rivals more than twice their own size. We're thinking of calling him Monte, after MINI's many Monte Carlo Rally victories.

"We'd love to commemorate the 1967 Monte Carlo Rally victory with some significant success in Targa."

Porsches, especially those driven by Jim Richards with Barry Oliver, and Lamborghinis have been the standouts in past Targas, but the wild-looking MINIs are sure to grab plenty of the attention this year.

An entry to watch this time, though, is Denmark's Allan Simonsen in an Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX prepared by Tasmanian rally icon Les Walkden.

Simonsen and co-driver Ben Searcy have already won the short Lake Mountain event in Tasmania and Rally Tasmania this year in the Evo, but the secret to Targa is conserving tyres -- because only one set is allowed for the week without incurring stiff penalties -- are there are some doubts about Simonsen on this score, because of his circuit racing background (although that has never hindered Richards!).

Targa will also see the return of the Toowoomba-built Skelta G-Force sports car of Ray Vandersee, who says: "We have some unfinished business after being forced out when in second place last year with just two stages remaining. That was through no fault of our own after a rock strayed up and pierced the rubber boot casing on the rear CV joint."

The Skelta subsequently finished second in Targa New Zealand.

Celebrity starters apart from Denyer are movie star Eric Bana in his Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe and ironman legend Guy Andrews in a Sherrin Motorsport BMW 120i.

It is the second Targa for Bana -- 11 years after his first -- while Andrews will compete in the new Rookie Rallye, a shortened event specifically for those having their first outing in what is unquestionably Australia's ultimate tarmac rally.

Another starter in the Rookie Rallye, to be run over 17 stages and finishing in Hobart at the end of the second day, is Ross Dunkerton -- arguably Australia's greatest gravel rally driver.

Now in his 60s but winner of the two Targa Wests that have been held in WA, the second of which claimed the life of Peter Brock last September, Dunkerton will be in his Evo IX Mitsubishi.

Targa Tasmania starts in the state's north on Tuesday, with the prologue in George Town -- near the mouth of the Tamar River -- and for competitors in the full event it finishes six days later (Sunday, April 22) at Wrest Point in Hobart.

It will become the first tarmac rally in Australia to hold a night stage -- at the Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart from 6.30pm on Thursday.

For the first time this year too the event has a diesel entry -- a 1.9-litre Fiat Punto, to be driven in the showroom category by Victorian motorsport veteran Phil Buggee and his co-driver Paul Freame.

Indeed, it is the first diesel entry in any Australian tarmac rally.

"We reckon our total usage will be less than 250 litres for the whole trip (about 2000km, including 450km of competition)," Buggee says.

Meanwhile, under the bright paintwork of the three MINIs this year will be suspensions specially engineered for the undulating multi-surface torture of the Apple Isle's roads.

The three Cooper S's were originally built to MINI Challenge specification, which configures them for smooth circuit racing at tracks across Europe and Asia as well as NZ (and Australia from 2008), but the new 2007 suspension set-up allows better high-speed control, especially for the undriven rear axle.

"I believe we'll be in the running for a strong top 20 finish now," says new lead driver Stokell. "The car is now a lot more driveable and easier on its tyres -- it's very progressive.

"In Tasmania you get all types, as well as rain, ice and slippery moss to contend with. The last section of the event (from the west coast to Hobart) is always very slippery. The car should be easier to drive on cold tyres and on all different types of road surfaces."

In the return of a MINI factory team to Australian competition at Targa Tasmania last year, they finished as the leading front-wheel drive entry, second overall in the team category, and 24th, 25th and 48th overall.

Denyer says the Challenge specification was great for race circuits, but not for Tasmania's undulating roads.

"We have refined the car for Australian conditions now," he says.

"The changes we have made also ensure the car is less physical to drive. If you hussle it into a corner too hot you can recover it. It is a completely different package to last year's car."

The Carsales Network's publishing director and third driver Sinclair says the MINI is now "very forgiving and responsive".

"Shock absorbers and springs have been matched to each other -- and the fast road conditions we'll face in Tasmania," Sinclair says.

MINI National Manager Hocevar says Targa "is one of the toughest rallies going".

"But we have the right amount of power, the right amount of grip, and crucially the right amount of corner speed," he says.

"Last year we took second in the team's prize but had only two of our three cars eligible.

"This year all three cars will be fighting as one to secure that top award."

Mark Webber will be racing his Red Bull RB3 in the third round of the Formula 1 world championship, the Bahrain Grand Prix; Will Power will be on the streets of Long Beach in California after winning the opening round of the Champ Car series in Las Vegas last weekend; Ryan Briscoe will be racing there too in one of Roger Penske's Porsche RS Spyders at the third round of the American Le Mans Series; while in Shanghai Sydney's Ian Dyk will be driving again for A1 Team Australia at the penultimate round of the second A1 Grand Prix series.

Just a few points of interest now about some of these events:

If McLaren wins again in Bahrain, it will be the team's 150th GP victory since New Zealander Bruce McLaren's first in Belgium in 1968. Ferrari has won 193 GPs, Williams 113, and Renault -- world champions the past two years -- 33.

McLaren rookie Lewis Hamilton has the chance to become the first F1 driver to finish in the top three at his first three starts after his third place in Melbourne and second in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday.

Renault won the past two Bahrain GPs but McLaren is yet to finish higher than third there.

At Long Beach, Sebastien Bourdais is chasing a third straight victory on the street circuit that is hosting its 24th Champ Car race.

In four starts at the Californian circuit Frenchman Bourdais, Champ Car champion the past three years, has three notched podium finishes, and never started outside the top five.

Meanwhile, Canadian Paul Tracy recorded his first of his 30 career wins there in 1993. Over the years Tracy has scored four Long Beach victories, two pole positions, and led a total of 256 laps. He made the first of his 250 Champ Car starts there in 1991.

Mexican Mario Dominguez has had a streak of four top-five finishes at Long Beach.

Meanwhile, A1 Team Australia goes back to Shanghai with fond memories of third place in last year's round with Ryan Briscoe.

Ian Dyk's right ankle is almost fully recovered after he tripped on the way to the podium in Mexico three weeks after third place in the sprint race there.

Dyk still got a top 10 finish in the later feature race there and on his return to Australia had the ankle X-rayed.

"There were no fractures or breaks on the bones and the ligaments were not torn. It was just heavy bruising and swelling," Dyk says.

He has had extensive physio, using ultra-sound and infrared machines to encourage circulation and the swelling has now almost gone and the ankle will only need to be lightly strapped in Shanghai.

Only NZ has a chance of beating Germany for the title, but in all probability the German wonderboy Nico Hulkenberg will seal it in Shanghai, which is likely to be the last A1 race for Kiwi Jonny Reid -- with Matt Halliday expected to take the 'Black Beauty' seat for the final round at Brands Hatch in England.

Australia's driver for that round has not yet been named, but it could be reigning national Formula Ford champion John Martin -- who is in Britain preparing for the Formula 3 championship with Alan Docking, the veteran expatriate Australian who also prepares A1 Team Australia's car.

Joining them will be renowned exotic car designer Sergio Pininfarina, former Toyota chairman Shoichiro Toyoda, and mechanical engineer Charles King (posthumously).

Foyt is celebrating his 50th year in Indy car racing.

He is the only driver to have won the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500 and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The four-time Indy 500 champion scored 67 Indy car racing victories and seven national championships. Overall he has won 12 national titles and 172 major races.

Gurney won 51 races in F1, Indy cars, NASCAR, Trans-Am, Can-Am and sports car racing.

He competed in nine 500-mile races and when he retired from race driving in 1970 had competed in 312 events in 20 countries with 51 different makes of cars.

He's also known as a race car manufacturer, team owner and inventor.

>> Unser Jr wants Classic drive
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser junior is chasing a drive in this year's classic with A.J. Foyt.

Unser was arrested in late January for driving under the influence of alcohol near his home in Nevada. The 1992 and '94 Indy 500 victor, who turns 45 next week, underwent treatment for alcohol addiction in 2002.

Unser says he has had "preliminary talks" with Foyt for what would be his 19th start in the great race and that his pending court appearance should not be an issue.

Unser will be inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame next month, following his father, Al senior, a four-time 500 winner, and his uncle, Bobby, a three-time winner.

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