Basing the first Targa tarmac motor rally event of the year, the one-day Metalman Targa NZ Rally Sprint, at Ardmore Airport in south-east Auckland, on Sunday March 08, has proved a popular choice, and not just with competitors in the greater Auckland area.
Event Director Peter Martin lives and works in nearby Papakura, and after spending literally hundreds of hours last year flying backwards and forwards from the South Island overseeing the organization of the 20th annual six-day Targa New Zealand event from Christchurch to Queenstown, he says having the first event of the new year ‘just down the road’ has been a godsend.
“Just being able to get in the car and be at Ardmore in five minutes has certainly been a novelty, ” says Martin. “Even our event sponsor, Clark Proctor the Metalman, is just up the road in Takanini. It makes a change from driving to and from the airport then spending another hour or two on a plane, that’s for sure.”
This year the one-day Metalman Targa NZ Rally Sprint is the first of three events on the Targa calendar. The second is the re-named now three-day Targa Bambina in the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty in May, and the third is the six-day Targa New Zealand – which this year will start in Auckland and finish in the lower North Island in late October.
A season-opening one-day ‘sprint’ event in the south Auckland/Franklin area has been part of the Targa calendar for three years now and Martin says it has been a popular addition for a number of reasons.
“One is obviously that it gets all our regulars back into the swing of things. Another is that it is the ideal chance for the many people who have ‘always wanted to do the Targa’ to dip their toe in, if you like, and see what one of our events is really like.”
Like the two previous events run in Waiuku and Pukekohe, this year’s Metalman one has a central base – the Conference Centre at Ardmore Airport – with two stages repeated four times in the morning and four times in the afternoon with a lunch break in-between.
“All-up,” says Martin, “we’re looking at around 80kms of timed special stages, with three service breaks, one in the morning, one at lunch and one in the afternoon.
“The roads are typical Targa roads, nice and twisty and not too fast or slow, and competitors have the option of competing against the clock to see who quickest, or using it as either a test and tuning day to dial in their cars and driver/co-driver combinations.”
Entries are spread evenly over the three class categories, with around 10 – 15 each in Instra Corporation Modern 2WD, Instra Corporation Allcomers 4WD, Metalman Classic 2WD.
Included in the lineup are 2014 Targa South Island winners Glenn Inkster and Spencer Winn (from Patuamahoe and Howick respectively) in their Ecolight Mitsubishi Evo 8 and event sponsor Clark Proctor and his co-driver Sue O’Neill in Proctor’s Nissan turbo-engined Ford Escort.
During the day, good viewing opportunities of the cars will be available at the Ardmore Airport or off Creightons Rd.
Road maps and more information can be found at www.targa.co.nz
Targa New Zealand events are organised with the support of sponsors Ecolight, Federal tyres, Global Security, Instra Corporation, Kids In Cars, Metalman, NZ Classic Car magazine, Race Brakes, TeamTalk, TrackIt, VTNZ. and Woolrest Biomag.
