Billed as "The Ultimate Driving Experience" the Dunlop Targa provides an opportunity for drivers to test themselves and their cars on some of New Zealand's most challenging roads. 2004 was the 10th anniversary of this classic event, and attracted 240 entrants to compete over 907km of closed race stages plus 1628km of touring stages. Check out www.targa.co.nz for details.

This was our Team's fourth assault on the Targa, but the first in the Arrow Wheels sponsored Almac Sabre S2 (check out Arrow's range of racing and road wheels at www.arrowwheels.co.nz) - in previous years we have competed in a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder replica. With the Sabre only completed a couple of days before the event, preparation and testing was not ideal! However we made it to the start line in Auckland (after a mere 52km of road testing), and after 7 days of competition we crossed the finishing line in Wellington with only minor fibreglass damage (the airbourne images below will explain the destroyed front spoiler!).

Highlights of the 7 days include...

• Sunday Oct 24th (Day 0) Prologue : Sabre driven first time in anger; discover 350lb rear springs are too soft.
• Monday Oct 25th (Day 1) Auckland to New Plymouth : Run a rear wheel bearing; replaced overnight.
• Tuesday Oct 26th (Day 2) New Plymouth to New Plymouth : Airbourne over humps; front spoiler damaged.
• Wednesday Oct 27th (Day 3) New Pymouth to Palmerston North : Support vehicle written off in road accident.
• Thursday Oct 28th (Day 4) Palmerston North to Hastings : Broken bolt in front suspension; retire from 4 stages.
• Friday Oct 29th (Day 5) Hastings to Hastings : Loss of brakes slow us down all day.
• Saturday Oct 30th (Day 6) Hastings to Wellington : Finished 101st overall, and 13th in class.
  

Images courtesy of Ground-Sky Photography. Check out their work at www.groundsky.co.nz. Click on each thumbnail below to view a larger image.