Raw Motorsport

At the risk of trying to avoid overstating how difficult today was, all I will say is Mount Arrowsmith (50 kms of competitive) was the hardest stage I have ever run.

Our car was shifting from one side of the whitelines to the other. We had built a lead from the car behind us of more than 1 minute 30, so we slowed to guaranteed getting to the end.

The Queenstown stage saw the normal number of offs.

The final stage was a non competitive stage through an industrial estate of approx 1.2kms. If there was ever a place to spin, then that was it, and yes we did. Coming into a tight left we spun around 270 degrees, whacked it in first and off we went. Hopefully the crowd appreciated it.

Safely in Hobart this week on reflection has been difficult but very rewarding.
My brother (Paul Rodgers) has adapted and performed extremely well as my navigator.

A big thanks goes to the boys at Porsche Centre Melbourne – Karl, Pete, Brian, Matt, Brett and Mitch “Ditch”.

Also my mate and partner in crime in my last 5 events, Paul Girt, who has supported us through this event, and who I know is missing been in the action.

This is my sixth event as driver and to cut through all the “targa” talk, I was going for a special trophy plate for competing and finishing within trophy time, and this year after securing my Gold three years ago, i was going for my Platinum.

Yes I got that, and Paul his first trophy plate.

But that is not all we achieved. We won our class, and the category and we managed to sneak into top 10 outright in early modern. I think I have spoilt Paul for his first run, but he sat beside me, trusted me to drive, and delivered words of advice (I think you should slow down a bit) and supported me in achieving this result.

Finally I would like to thank my wife.

Who would of thought many years ago, that her car would be turned into a club car, then eventually compete in 6 targa tasmania’s.
Although I am sure she worries about me, she continues to support me in my ongoing pursuit of motorsport pleasure.

Our final day in launceston area as we head through a western loop up near Burnie then downto Strahan.

First stage this morning was short, but needed to get your head around the day.

There is many kilometres of competitive today and conditions were varying from wet thru intermediate to dry. We had a good day with no drama, and we have arrived safely in the beautiful town of strahan. Our accomodation is out of town (by 4kms),so it was harder to organise transport as the car is quarantined each night.

Great dinner at the Fish Cafe with 2 lads from tasy. Michael and Tim are new to targa, and are running a Porsche 944 S2.

Unlike last year my navigator stayed away from the oysters. I think that worked better for everyone, least of all Paul.
The PCM boys helped out and Pete dropped us off and is collecting us in the morning. Early to bed for a 6:00am start.

Occassional rain populated our stages today, and as per the last few days, there were a number of offs. We started the day well and things went to plan all day – stayed on the road.

Lunch was provided in Devonport and then we completed a number of stages before returning to Launceston. We completed service and headed into town for local Thai.

Washing is the order for tonight, as tomorrow we leave for Launceston and start making our way to Strahan. We are expecting rain, but we will wait for tomorrow.

Two more days and we will be in Hobart…. Can’t wait.