In Australia, the annual Targa High Country event was held again this month. In the "Mansfield Shire GT Sports Trophy" class, the Lotus competitors were hugely dominant with the top seven being exclusively Lotus teams.
© Otherside Productions
What is Targa?
Targa is a mix between a touring and a racing event. There are speed sections and sections where you have to stick to the traffic rules, so it is very similar to rallying. The only difference with rally is that Targa is only held on tarmac, unlike rally where there are also events on other surfaces.
The Targa High Country 2022
With a course of 900 km, 1/3 of which at speed, the participants were up for a serious challenge again. The winding nature of the track made a Lotus the ideal car to use. This was also reflected in the number of entries, with no fewer than 49 Lotus teams at the start!
This year you could participate in 2 classes.
GT Sports Trophy - a maximum permitted speed of 130km/h
GT Outright - a maximum permitted speed of 200km/h
The Sport Trophy class was a class that was very popular with the Lotus drivers. And they were very successful in it. This is the second consecutive year that Lotus has achieved a podium finish. The class was won by the team of Matthew Gibbens and Tim Jurd in their Exige Sport 410. They were closely followed by Steve Sher and Fergal Murphy in their Exige S, and then by Rob Bryden and Ian Noble, also in an Exige Sport 410. The top three were separated by less than 90 seconds after three days of competitive driving.
The results of the Targa rally can be found here: