The crew of 825 had a roller coaster of an event this year. With the heavens holding out for half the event, we found ourselves struggling a bit with some of the other GTR’S in our category. 
Once we both got back into the swing of the Targa pace notes, we were coming back with a vengeance.

On the first day of competition, we cleaned the first three stages, Legana (5.3km), Moriarty (6.8km) and Latrobe (3.9km), setting a 2:38, 3:15 and 1:44 respectively.
 After lunch came 7 stages, Devonport (16.2km), Nook (5.6km), Sheffield (14.6km), Glengarry (2.3km), Deviot (6.2km), Hillwood (5.5km) and Lilydale (4.3km). 
We cleaned the 7th stage, Glengarry and missed the base time on Nook by 2 seconds! Recording an actual time of 3:02
Other close times were Deviot  – penalty time of 15 seconds, actual time of 3:15 and Lilydale – penalty time of 14 seconds, actual time of 2:14.
The rest of the stages were as follows:
Devonport: 8:32
Sheffield: 7:47
Hillwood: 3:17 
The end of leg one saw the crew of 825 sitting 30th overall, 9th in category and 4th in class.

DAY TWO

Day Two comprised of 8 Targa stages, with one of my favorites, Longford, a short 3.5km blat around the town, with hundreds of people on every corner imaginable! 
The rest of Targa stages are The Seidling (13.8km), Derby (5.4km), Winnaleah (6.3km), Weldbrough Pass (11.9km), Pyengana (6.6km), Elephant Pass (8.6km) and the once famous racing track, Symmonds Plains (6.6km) 

The first stage of the day, The Seidling was a good run, much faster from last year’s efforts, (even if the co driver did have an attack of the green gills, but luckily didn’t meet Ralph!) This was done in a time of 8:41, with a penalty time of 2:11
Pyengana was the best run of the leg, with a penalty time of 36 seconds, and an actual time of 3:36.
Derby was done in 3:19, with a 49 second penalty, Winnaleah: 3:53 and a 53 second penalty and Weldbrough Pass: 7:05 and a 1:05 penalty. 
 After the lunch break was the start of heat two, and only three stages to go. Elephant Pass (though we didn’t see any!) was done in 5:31, with a penalty time of 1:31 and the last two stages of the day we cleaned, recording no penalty times! Symmonds Plains was done in 2:02, and Longford: 2:44.
By the end of day two, we were sitting in 35th position, 11th in category and 5th in class.
 

DAY THREE

Day three consisted of ten Targa stages, broken into 2 heats, with five stages in each.
 The first stage of the day was Quamby Brook; an 8.8km blat in the farming area, past some sheds and over some narrow bridges. We did this stage in 4:19 and getting a penalty time of
19 seconds.
Next was Deloraine (6.6km), recording a penalty time of just 6 seconds! And an actual time of 3:06. Followed by High Plains (5.6km) done in 2:56, which we cleaned, then Montana (4.3km), done in 2:10, with a penalty time of just 10 seconds. The last stage before the lunch break in Mole Creek, was called, funnily enough Mole Creek (5.6km). We did this stage in 2:35, recording a penalty time of 5 seconds. 

After the lunch break and a refuel, came the day’s longest stage Cethana, some 37.7km long. This was a warm up to the rally’s longest stage tomorrow, Mt Arrowsmith;47.2 km long. This for me was the day’s best stage. The section of road we rallied on is considered to be the best long section of tarmac road in the world! Winding with crests and dips, opening out to a fast section at the top and then a steep descent into the Forth Valley, then climbing back up the hill to the finish. The base time for the stage was 18 mins, though we didn’t achieve that, we weren’t far off, recording a penalty time of 1:54 and an actual stage time of 19:54.
Wilmot was next, a 5.7km stage done in 3:27 and recording a penalty time of 27 seconds. 

Next came Gunns Plains a 14.6km stage with some narrow roads and some interesting tee junctions. We recorded a stage time of 8:26 and a penalty time of just 27 seconds. Next came the new and improved stage, South Riana. This stage used to be called Riana. It was a dangerous stage because of the fast section in the middle of the stage, which had crest after crest. Last year they tried putting a speed restriction in the stage to keep the speeds of the cars down, but this didn’t work so they ended up splitting the stage in two, South Riana (24.5km) and Natone (10.2km) We did the first in 13:23 (recording a penalty time of 1:53) and Natone was done in 5:59, recording a 59 second penalty. It was lucky that Natone was the last stage of the day, as we had completely ran out of brakes as we pulled up to the stop point, and we had to use the handbrake and gears to slow us down as we headed for the Parc Ferme in Burnie. I think the Lonely Planet’s guide best describes Burnie: 
“If you are planning to stay in Burnie overnight…DON’T!”
At the end of leg three, we were sitting 33rd overall, 11th in category and 5th in class.
 
 
 
 
 

DAY FOUR

We all had smiles on our faces as we left Sunny Burnie, and headed out for what is probably the toughest day in the rally, with the Targa stages Helleyer Gorge (15,4km), Mt Black (8.6km), Roseberry (17.4km), Strahan (33.3km), Queenstown (6.2km), Mt Arrowsmith (47.2km), Tarrahleah (8.6km) and New Norfolk (1.8km). The sage Ellendale was cancelled due to a serious accident and a number of Targa cars that were off and blocking the road. 

Our best stage of heat one was Roseberry, recording a time of 8:09 and a penalty time of just 9 seconds. Helleyer Gorge was first though, a stage that twists its way down along the Helleyer river and back up again and through patches of over hanging trees that makes the roads slippery wet all year round. Time set: 9:09, penalty 1:09.
Mt Black was next, starting high up in the mountain, with visibility poor as heavy fog was around. Never the less, we set a time of 4:29, and picking up a penalty time of just 29 seconds. 
The last stage before the lunch break in Queenstown was Strahan, this stage is one of the most enjoyable roller coaster driving roads in the event. Sweeping corners followed by very tight esses, then a few straights. We set a time of 16:52, picking up a penalty of 1:22.

After lunch came the infamous Queenstown stage. The best way to describe the stage is to picture the final scenes of the movie “The Italian Job” where the bus is winding its way around the road and there’s a massive drop on the other side, well that’s what it was like except the rocks were PINK! I kid you not. There is also a fast run down the other side of Mount Lyell, but it is still tricky if you get a corner wrong. We set a time of 4:32, picking up just 32 seconds of penalty time. 
Mount Arrowsmith was next, the longest stage of the rally, and the most memorable. We set a time of 22:37, with a 1:07 second penalty. Tarraleah was next, set in 4:28, picking up a 28 second penalty. 
 The last stage of the day was New Norfolk, done in 1:27 and cleaning the stage! 
At the end of the day, we were sitting equal 27th, 10th in category and 5th in class… Mum’s rain dance had worked!

DAY FIVE
 

Day five is the easiest of the six days, with just 9 short stages in all: Hobart (2.6km), Richmond (3.2km), Runnymede (2.9km), Triabunna (3.3km), Rocky Hills (3.3km), Lake Leake (8.8km), Ross (2.7km), Colebrook (6.4km) and Grasstree Hill (7.9km).
Thankfully it was teeming with rain so we could pick up some places today! Hobart was fun as it was very wet and greasy on the roads, so we slid around a bit, but it didn’t effect our times as we cleaned the stage, and recorded a time of 1:38.
Richmond and Runnymede were both done in less than 2 minutes, 1:38 and 1:31. Picking up 8 seconds of penalty for Richmond and 1 second for Runnymede. Triabunna we cleaned in 2:38 and Rocky Hills was the last stage before the lunch break, picking up a 15 second penalty and doing the stage in 1:45

After lunch, came a new stage, Lake Leake. This was a fast stage with lots of long flowing corners. The car had some nice slides around them. This was the second favorite stage of the day; the first one was to come later! Needless to say we did the stage in 4:11, picking up 11 seconds penalty time. 
5 seconds penalty time was picked up in Ross, done in a time of 2:05, a quite difficult stage with a nasty jump over a railway crossing. Colebrook was next, now this was my favourite stage of the day, not only was it peeing down with rain and the roads were as greasy as anything, but we set the fastest stage time, beating everyone else in the rally, including Jim Richards!! Our time: 3:30, picking up a 43 second penalty. Not bad eh?? 2nd fastest too!

Last stage of the day - Grasstree Hill was done in 4:43 equal fastest to Jim Richards.

At the end of the day, we were sitting 25th outright, 9th in category and 5th in class, and slowly climbing our way up the ladder. 

DAY SIX
 

The last day! 8 stages in all, but no time to slack off yet. Mt Nelson was the first stage of the day, set way up in the hills with some nasty corners at the end. We did the stage in 44 seconds, and cleaning the stage. Howden was also cancelled due to a serious accident involving an Escort that slid off the road and plunged down a 12mt cliff and into the ocean. 
Oyster Cove was the real warm up stage, a 12 km stage, with a twisty bit in the middle and a downhill run to the finish. Stage time: 6:25, penalty: 25 seconds, 2nd fastest too. 
Woodbridge was next, 8.2km in a base time of 4:00, near impossible! We set a time of 4:38, incurring a 38 second penalty, and equal 2nd. Cygnet was next and I think this was by most the memorable stage of the rally, as it wasn’t until we checked the results that we found out we won the stage by 6 seconds! It was also surprising because there were a series of about 8 cars that were off in the space of 700mt, and we had a “moment” as well, so setting a time of 8:26, and incurring a penalty of 1:26, well quite frankly we were chuffed!
Longley came after, an 11.8km stage; containing sweeping bends and sharp corners and parts of the road that never see the sun.  We set a time of 7:17 - fastest by 9 seconds! and got a 1:17 penalty. 
 The horrible stage called Ridgeway Park was next; a stage that was cancelled last year, due to too many accidents. It would claim us too this year. 
It is only a short 3.9km burst but the rain factor and the taxi crashing and leaving oil on the road factor didn’t sway to our advantage. Unfortunately this was the end of the road for 825. If we had finished our placing would have been about 12th outright. But we were happy setting 3 fastest stage times and one second and up until the lunchbreak we were coming 2nd fastest! But there’s always next year!

-ENDS-