Targa High Country 2018 - Day 1
The final tarmac rally event for the year is Targa High Country. In the hotly contested Championship, Mary and Craig are looking forward to a competitive event against the Dodge Viper, Porsche GT3 RS and supercharged Lotus. There are also Corvettes in the event, and rumour has it one was out last night testing - a 'no-no' - and skidded off the road into the trees over the side. An unexpected early retirement, and probably a big slap on the wrist too, I suspect.
It looks like perfect weather for racing over the next three days - fine fine fine. The Shelby GT is prepped and ready for action and the Mustang Motorsport support crew, Aaron and Shaun, are out there waiting to service the beast when needed, so stay tuned as the action unfolds!
We also have a gang of Mustangers here with us. Hamilton from Sinclair Ford has entered the group in the tour class, so they are sure to have a great day speeding through the stages we race on. If you would like more information on letting your pony loose send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will send you an information pack.
Thank you to the sponsors who have come along for the ride for this one...
- Mustang Motorsport
- Crossover Car Conversions
- Rohdes Smash Repairs
- Road Warrior
- FTG Bolts
- Castrol Edge
- Shelby American
- Shockworks
- Red Bolt Visual Communication
...and a big thank you as always to Angryman Photography for the great actions shots.
Leg 1 - Friday
Looking out the window in the morning and the clear skies look awesome. The Mustang Motorsport prepped Shelby GT was ready and waiting in the garage below. Aaron departed early to get to the service point and Shaun was located earlier on the road somewhere. He did text me his location but silly me forgot my cell phone and had no clue! On the way out met up with Alex and Benjamin from Otherside Productions who film the event, so look out for the release of our feature video to come.
The first stage, Mirimbah, is a shakedown stage with minimum time of 4 minutes. We did it in 4:15 so no penalty points. We waved to Shaun as we passed as help was not needed. The next two stages are around 10km long and quite intense to drive and navigate in a high powered Mustang. On Cummings Creek we were sixth outright with 4:50, and fifth outright on Warburton with 6:17.
We claimed third outright on Devils River with 5:23, and fifth on Skyline with 5:20, third again with 6:17 on Dry Creek hill (the reverse of Warburton). Mount Terrible we were sixth outright with 5:02, and on the final stage fo the day, Mt Buller, we were seventh outright with 9:45. We finished the day in GT2 competition in fourth overall, only two seconds off third place. The two front runners are 1:37 and 1:12 ahead of us. Behind us, fifth is only 2 seconds back, and sixth is 3 seconds, so GT2 competition is hotly contested for third place.
Our last run up to the top of the mountain was my fastest drive up ever, and all my times were beating my PB buy huge margins. On the two 10km stages I was beating previous times by 10 seconds, so the combination of a well prepared Shelby GT and navigator and driver working together as one is like clockwork.
The Shelby was a little bit tailey in the rear ,so at the first service point we slackened of the rear sway bar. Overnight in service we gave the front end another adjustment to help the front tyre wear, which will improve the turning as well, so stay tuned for day 2 action!
Craig and Mary.
