Targa Tasmania dying?

[tazzieman]

To some extent , yes , certainly in the classic department , a big decline since the original events. various reasons , cost , value of cars , fear of dying etc.

In this month's RACT magazine, pics sideways , photobucket is playing up.

[Raven]

one of the things that I disliked about Targa Tas was that the organizers seemed to care more for the high profile celebrities and cater more to them and their needs ,than the average punter just enjoying the Targa experience ,,I can understand why from a financial point and the PR that celebrities bring with them gives the event media coverage and prestige ,,but for me this was one of  negative aspects about the event ,,along with the large entry fee,s that seemed to spiral out of control  ......It was quite and expensive under taken to participate in Targa and I think the amateur drivers see,s that he can get better value for his money in other forms of motorsport .... 

[Redracn]

I can tell you first hand that a very big reason for a lack of competition cars is the constant and mostly ridiculous rule changes over the last couple of years. They have been doing their very best to piss off their bread and butter customers. The cars that are not too much to buy with parts still available. My EVO X was a perfectly legal showroom 4WD car in 2015 then they made it illegal on two major items. The worst one was banning a transmission oil cooler over which they coped a lot of flack and so rewrote the rule  so you could have the cooler but it was not to be visable from outside the vehicle and no air ducting is allowed to it. This is a stuff you rule where they treat us like idiots knowing full well the cooler is useless without air flow and if fitted is just dead weight. There are 3 stages the EVOs dual clutch transmission would overheat on and shut down in Tassie. I for one am not spending $20K to sit on the side of the road waiting for the gearbox to cool. 

They need to decide if the are a manufactures event or an enthusiast event. 

I will give them a hint. It is the enthusiasts that pay the bills. 

Last count on the web was 111 competition entries. All the numbers quoted seem higher than the reality. 

[tazzieman]

Gone are the days when people like Hans ran a Merc Grosser 600s in targa . The classics are definitely on their way to the scrapyard or museum. 

And the modern ones are even more damn expensive. 

[turboT]

We just did half a dozen stages. Pretty good fun at your own pace with a few mates. A certain 996 Gt3 was pretty competitive... 

[LeeM]

 Seems to be the norm across most motorsports unfortunately. A lot of people I know who race cars and bikes are reluctantly quitting, as they just can't afford it anymore. When running costs, travel, entry fee's etc are taken into account, not to mention any mechanical failures or accident damage, it adds up. Ofcourse, if that's what you want to do with your life, you just have to wear it, yet I think promoters seem to be milking Joe Average a lot more to cover the costs of putting on an event. Sad, as this country used to have a huge following for grass roots racing, yet have a look at how many paying spectators are at a local race meet!

[Coastr]

If you watch Eric Banas movie you see from his first Targa event how much more grassroots it was then.

I have never looked into it but to me it seems like an unobtainable event from a cost/preparation point of view, just based on the machinery you see participating.

[MR901]

As a regular participant it's clear the event is dying & I'm depressed to see Mark Perry's comment it will become a "lifestyle event"....I can hardly spit the words out of my mouth.....I spent the last 30 minutes writing a long vitriolic response but deleted it for fear of sucking myself into a vortex of anger & dispare. What a bullshyte, nonsense, sanitized world we're going to leave our kids....they won't have the opportunity or the funds to participate in anything real but they may be able to observe others pretending to do something real whilst enjoying the privilege of their exclusive "lifestyle f^*># event" !! I need bex & a good lay down....

[Redracn]

The rule changes which favor supercars and penalise cars like WRX/EVO etc and the focus on touring started in earnest when Octagon sold it to Les Smith. The way it is going there will only be historics and supercars parading. 

[ANF]

 Seems to be the norm across most motorsports unfortunately. A lot of people I know who race cars and bikes are reluctantly quitting, as they just can't afford it anymore. When running costs, travel, entry fee's etc are taken into account, not to mention any mechanical failures or accident damage, it adds up. Ofcourse, if that's what you want to do with your life, you just have to wear it, yet I think promoters seem to be milking Joe Average a lot more to cover the costs of putting on an event. Sad, as this country used to have a huge following for grass roots racing, yet have a look at how many paying spectators are at a local race meet!

This happened when I was racing 20 odd years ago, but now, in Tassie at least, there seems to be a renewed surge into motorsport with entry numbers up, not sure on crowd numbers?

Targa, from the article, has shifted from a full on racing event to a more fun/ touring event - pretty much what PFA Tassie 2017 was last week. So you either go in a large group and can do a little bit of speeding legally or you go alone - either way you win (if that is your driving desire) but yes I will agree that Targa as a full on entrant is expensive, but I believe it always has been, at least the odd occasions where I dreamed of entering over the years.....

I suspect a lot of the cost of entry is in insurances.... but that is the way of our world now....

[Redracn]

I have done open competition in the now defunct modern class, speed limited(130kph) competition, the current speed limited tour and non speed monitored tour of years gone by. 

By far the best for driving is the open competition as you have no car in front to slow you down and no speed limit so you can just drive the road. 

The other classes are a mixed bag.

The speed limited competition is good in that you have no cars in front of you but keeping under the speed limit is a mental drain and just distracts from an enjoyable drive and in a lot of ways is less safe than the open competition. 

The non speed monitored tours from the good old days were good as long as you had a good tour leader and were in the packet in the correct position.

The current speed limited tour is the worst option as you have the issue of monitoring your speed while driving at speed which is a big distraction from the driving itself and the issue of packet position with no overtaking allowed. With the driver in front only driving as fast as they are (hopefully) comfortable with in the current conditions and time of day (nana napping is common) you get a lot of variability and while it is possible to sort this out sometimes egos get in the way especially if a girl should be in front.  Being randomly positioned in a packet generally results in a very frustrating day unless on the rare occasion when the tour leader is setting a good pace and everybody in the packet can match that pace under all conditions. And sometimes the tour leader sets a pace so slow that you could do the road safely when it is open at twice the pace for free while no exceeding the posted limit. 

This is just my view but you can have just as much if not more fun in Tassie driving open roads as you can in the targa tour. But for pure driving pleasure nothing beats the freedom of the open competition where you just go as fast as you are comfortable with. ??

 

[MR901]

Agree 100%. I've also done both the tour & open comp (in both classic & modern). The tour is the most dangerous category as you have the least experienced Drivers (not always but mostly), having done no rece, driving the fastest cars with no safety equipment. Every event someone in the tour manages to bin a brand new car driving beyond their abilities. It's just a matter of time before they have a serious incident & with spectators along the course it's a recipe for disaster.....IMHO the open comp is much safer especially for the slower classic cars (and more fun). Unfortunately the management of the event appear to have limited interest in the classic group. At last years targa the drivers & their crew had a very small finishing area with a limited side view of the podium / finish. Spectators were also pushed to the side with limited space / view....both sections were packed !!! Meanwhile the enormous tour group area with 180 degree views was almost empty....perhaps they had moved onto their next lifestyle event ? 

[Redracn]

Yep pretty bad that the invite only area was opposite the finish and not very full. Not sure that any tour people were in there though. Most would have been from this event 

http://www.tasvacations.com/attachments/TasVacations_Classic_Rallye_2017.pdf

Which only shows up for a few of the iconic stages and VIP treatment. 

[OBRUT]

Sad to see.  I tarmac rallied pretty heavily for a while there and TT was the pinnacle.  I have some fantastic memories - and a Gold plate to boot!

I actually enjoyed Classic Adelaide more as an event overall, but the sense of achievement when you finished TT was huge.

Ps. Did Mt Buller once - never again...

[Snowman]

I was a Targa competitor back 2009-2011. 

I gave up for reasons listed already by Redracn. A few times I have considered coming back and every time I do I find out rules have changed again, or there is something else annoying going on with the sport.

For this reason my Targa racing budget now gets spent competing at Bathurst for Bathurst 6hr and Challenge Bathurst. In it's own way Bathurst provides an equally mental challenge that Targa does and the event organizers at both events treat all competitors equally even though we are racing against many "Pro" drivers such as Chaz Mostert and Tim Slade etc. Both events also run regularity events for those that want to come along and drive the track at speed - but not compete in real serious level motorsports.

I can't see myself going back to Targa anytime in the future sadly.

 

[Pokiou]

Why dont we just start another Targa Event? 

[Redracn]

Why dont we just start another Targa Event? 

There is the Australian Tarmac Rally Championship which I have been doing for a few years now.

http://www.australiantarmacrally.com/

This is supported by RaceSolutions which are easily the best motorsport safety and rescue crew in the country. The events are focused on what makes enthusiast motorsport great and well worth giving a go.

 

[9fan]

You have been spot on in what you have been saying Red !

ATR used to run the Dutton Rally where you could enter your road car in closed events at various venues. They were great fun with a variety of great cars and competitive although no road open competition. They didn't see it as making enough money, but people would pay a slight premium to enjoy that sort of competition without car restrictions.