Targa GBR 2018 - Day 3
It's all over after completing day 3 of the inaugural Targa Great Barrier Reef, hot sweaty and tired after another epic days racing on some brilliant roads.
We raced up the Kuranda Range first which was a fantastic climb on a wide multi lane road before a long tour to Malanda, Moregatta and the longest stage of the event, Milla Milla. Each road different to the next, they certainly tested a navigator's timing and a driver's skill as well as the reliability of the Shelby GT.
Lunch at Ravenshoe (I just learnt it is Ravens-hoe and not ravens-shoe as I had been pronouncing it) was a friendly and festive atmosphere and we got to share a few stories with fellow competitors from this event, as well as reminiscing on past ones. Unfortunately we got a message while enjoying our reflections from the event organisers that the last stage of the event had been downgraded due to lack of time but at least we still had the reverse of Milla Milla to go, Palmerstone. 27km of unbelievable roads that need a lot of respect. Unfortunately, as we belted up and we're in the car ready to go, it too was cancelled. So an anti climax to finish the event, we are thankful for what we did get to do and feel lucky that no other stages were down graded due to crashes. So we made our way back to the official finish. What a blast, I think we will add this one to our calender for next year.
Mary's favourite stage would have to be Gillies Range, which was our first competitive stage for the event. The other highlight was Targafest on the Esplanade as the reception was just fantastic with thousands of people. A competitive highlight would have to be the moment we had on a slight high speed corner on a crest when the car got very light and drifted sideways. Mary's laughter bordered on being inappropriate and going on for too long as the sensation went on.
Craig's favourite stage after some thought was the reverse of Gillies Range - fast downhill and our best placing of third outright. Little Mulgrave was also a favourite. Craig's top event highlight was how easy it was to pull the Shelby out of the guinea grass and finding that the car was undamaged - and making it to lunch to continue the competition. His highlight competing was the same as Mary's - the car getting light on the crest which catches you by surprise and, if you weren't awake and listening, you certainly were now!
Thank you to support from our fellow competitors, Mick Downey whom allowed us to utilise his van to bring up equipment and Dean Lilley and Callum who were willing to help unconditionally, Wheely (Craig) from Ashley and Charlie's Volvo Race team, who took out the classic outright honours. Well done, Mary and I really appreciated you guys.
A quick thanks to the sponsors Rohdes Smash Repairs, Road Warrior Plus, Ferntree Gully Bolts, Rolling Stock Wheels, Castrol, Crossover Car Conversions and Mustang MotorSport. Thanks to the event organisers and the locals for their support and thanks for having us in Cairns to experience a fantastic three days of tarmac rallying.
Mary and Craig were very happy to consistently achieve fourth fastest times on 90 percent of the stages throughout the event, and making it all the way to the end to collect the finisher's medallion for the first Targa Great Barrier Reef a great achievement well deserved.
A big thanks again to Angryman Photograohy for the great actions shots - they always do an amazing job of capturing the excitement of these Targa events in a creative way.
