Who would have thought!! The morning was cloudy and it was looking like rain. Alex and I stayed overnight at Cathy and Terry Ferguson’s. Terry has been a Stage Commander many times - 25 Years of Targa’s to be precise. We had a great dinner last night, and bacon and eggs for breakfast, Delicious! Targa amended our start time from 8:28 to 8:45am, so we got the parking area around 8:20, did some last minute preparation on the Shelby, and the I managed to complete the crank re-learn procedure.

Goodday folks! Day 1 is a relaxed day to get the car and crew adjusted for the real start. It is for the purpose of start order seeding and easing into the competition.

Targa Tasmania attracts all types of make and model of cars, and also a varying array of driver skills. Day one usually has many accidents throughout the four stages of the day.

It was a promising day of racing as Alex and I left Launceston, heading north west to Burnie. The day's stages are challenging in their own right and the Shelby GT is raring to hit the roads. I thought I had the fix for the misfire and tried to do a crank re-learn, however the computer wouldn’t let me do it, so the misfire remains. The new brakes we fitted seem to be holding up. Today's stages are very high speed for long periods and then have some downhill heavy braking that will test the brakes, what brakes!

Day 1 of the real competition is always a nervous time, especially with a new crew and high expectations. The Sideling is the first stage of the day, and puts it all in perspective. It is the most gruelling stage of the event and, if you get through it, the rest is easy