Targa Tasmania 2017 - Day 5

Good day all, it rained all night in Strahan and the forecast is 34% showers, so not how we wished the day would pan out :( The Shelby GT is prepared the best we can for these conditions.

The competition rules give us tyre restrictions of 6 tyres only and they are marked at the start of the event to be used at your discretion, but must be roadworthy at at the start of all stages. Our choice was the Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2's as these work well on the Shelby and are a good all round tyre - perfect for us in the dry and would last the event. We replaced the fronts on the 5th day of racing, since it has been raining, and they have lasted well.

As the event has unfolded, we have been sitting in 6/7th place. Our goal target position was to look to 4th, which was only eight seconds away at the start of the day. It was impossible to make up time in the wet to the top three, as the lead is to great, so it was looking like fourth may be achievable.

The Strahan stage was in wet conditions, and we put in a strong effort but not good enough, but Stokell and Quinn took time off us as we all battled the wet and slippery conditions. The following stage is Queenstown, which climbs up out of Queenstown and is slippery even in the dry for the first half the over the top. Down to the end has reasonable grip, but we could not get traction and lost more time, really struggling to get the Shelby to hook up. We got through safely unscathed.

Mt Arrowsmith is 52.9km, the favourite of the event. It is fast-flowing and an absolute blast. Conditions were still wet so we had to keep our head on. From the middle to the end it is slippery and tricky, and there is plenty to catch you out, but we managed to hook through there with a fair effort, 6th fastest. We made up time on Quinn, but Stokell in the Lotus was having a good drive - well done! He took heaps of time off both of us.

After Arrowsmith is Tarraleah, another fast flowing 8km stage. We cleaned this stage, quicker than Stokell and Quinn but they also cleaned it, so zero time made up.

We stopped for lunch in New Norfolk. The stages still to run are Molesworth (5.4km) and Grasstree Hill (6.8km). History shows we can’t make up much time on these, so we will just put in a strong attack and see what comes of it. We were two second slower than both Quinn and Stokell. On the last stage we were fifth fastest, beating them both two and seven seconds, a good dry fast finish for the day.

We finished up the day in 6th position in GT2 competition and 7th overall outright, 11 seconds off Quinn and 1.27 off Stokell. It was  great drive by Paul Stokell and Jenny Cole, my past navigator. Kate and I are pleased to get the day over with long day with lots of concentration needed,

See you all tomorrow,

Craig.

A big thank you to Angryman Photography for the great action shots!