Targa Tom

He's learning!!! The old girl looks good in the avatar. Ben V Griffo will be a good dice. My money on woosher, because he has a girl for a nav.(Jokin). And just because Benno has seen the light - we might have another crack.

Pssst, Was that a familiar Red Evo being dropped at Peter Nunn Motorsport today for engine freshen?

Yeah - Now mum is a nav (insert word) you sit at home bitter and twisted looking to upset everyone... LOL We know. TT

Thanks Tim, will manage to stop at Supercheap. Now just by way of a news flash. The driver hears it all and processes what he needs. I only read the first part of the email, but I put the important info later in the call. Us old fellas have small ROM. My brain doesnt like to be trying to remember the aspect while the ballast is telling me the direction. But that is purely personal. Next time you get a chance listen to the notes JR gets from the broadcaster. I would be off in a flash. May I suggest that when a driver says "whats this" the Nav has called it too early The thing I rarely hear from navigator and crew "My Shout" BW. Meant the Nissan family - not the limited gene pool mob. TT

Pray for Rain Ben and drive it like dry.... those little 32's are the most confidence inspiring thing I have sat in... Still havent been as quick on some stages in the Evo. And you are part of the family over here... never under-estimate just how special that is. At this point its over and out for the X Bunnings mob... but never say never. If we dont get to the grid, watch out for people in the bush. We do know the good spots, and rally spectating is an art. Ciao TT???(maybe)

BW. Dont think Dunc has got it right either... I know of a few strokers out there, but like my experience with motorcycle racing - the cheaters are normally not the front runners. The fact that SG jumped in JVBs car at basky and did a time nearly identical to the HLCA IX on his first flyer has more to do with a special gift rather than stroke. The guys that cheat are only kidding themselves. They are never going to win, so what if you finsih 35th instead of 39th. And to give up the opportunity to race on = footing with the guns... that I dont get. I am not sure about the whole water spray issue on your old car - maybe more to it. From my experience, most people who accuse others of cheating are more than likely cheating themselves. As far as I'm concerned all the cars in Targa are legal. TT

Driving style, road temp, and car weight has more to do with this equation. I know guys who did the full TT last year on Dunlop M in evo. The reason why they dont make M in that size is that those tyres are normally fitted to heavy cars. Dunlop R, Bridgestone (wet not so good) seem to be the front runners unless your gt-r ends in "Thrty Five"... then you can use BJ all rounders. TT

Chicane on Yolla was a little open, but they are something to drive by eye... didnt see any problem. The place ment of bollards meant the roads were very clean... good thing. Broken pass mirror - not so good LOL. I am glad they didn't stop Savage east for the mazda... it was no worse than the escort or jag. The guys were a little excited, but that meant you could see them. We get all the road and they had only blocked one lane. Great little event... and one we will do in the future. TT

When those with time get a chance. Compare the time of one x 81 commodore... after 4 x stages, same time as the gentleman in second outright!!! TT

Hey Benno, you need to dip into the Octagon bucket... Get 46 big fcuk off signs that say "No Road Works Required for Next **ks" Go round the Targa course next week and put em in. The council workers from the gene pool challenged state will then take their 2 cote seal else where. (I'm from there so I can say that) Hope it goes well M8 - I have an idea of how much time you spend making sure it can happen. Say good'ay to the "oohps no brakes" Evo Crew. Will Check the score when in Dubai. TT

You are going to need one with gyro bw - other wise all your vids will be of where the car is facing rather than where it is going. My experience is - the more you spend, the better it is.. We have 4 x 520 TVL bullets running to a quad box. these are then recorded onto a handicam. We also have handicam mounted centre of the cage. I have it on good authority the handicam is the only way to shoot in differing lights. ie from inside the car looking out. The bullets must be mounted in a constant light source like pressed up against the screen. For TT this year we are putting all the footage into a 2 x channel solid state recorder (XM-DVR Pro) so it is set n forget every morning. then we can upload from CF card to hard drive every evening. The other thing we are using is a lanc. The current system is horn except for the duration of the tapes when in SP mode. google PDR100, DVR1000, XM-DVR Pro, GV-D1000, FFV Mini DVR Pro. They are a good price spread of recording devices. TT

Yeah, end of Day 1 2005 there was one sitting 13th outright. GTS-t is one of the most forgiving, easy to drive fast cars you will ever sit in... I regret letting minego to that useless Rocket - just as the rules came round to suit them even more. and to rub salt into the wound, he took a snap of us this year with the old girl in the back ground! Not sure you will run with the RSR in the dry, but you'll hose him in the wet. Anyhow, I'm all emmotional now... Winton, what are you doing down there... I thought you were a Queenslander? TT 984

Hello Lads & Rosey If you happen to run out of talent and pollaxe you R32 front bar, we have tooling to make you a fibreglass replacement. Will fit HCR too. We can also repair your fibreglass kit parts if required. PM me for contact details TT984

Whats with the sig Ben... Have Evo Brembos but not sure ife the PCD of the mount is the same. Also DMS shox although your mates with Fulcrom aren't you. You drive a "T" like the R34 and it will shake a lot up... And the RB20... you'll love em. Good luck. PS Also have springs too lots of springs! TT984

So..... was I right about the Turbo???? Or does it need to be somewhere in between? "The dark side" 984

How do you blokes afford the fee to upload car footage onto the net? Yeah Ben, that big yellow stain is a giveaway. The Gravel - much better than running on two coat seal flat out... Sidling for eg. Longley a few years ago too. Bit of gravel - our tyres didnt pick up jack. But Duncan did warn me!! Even though we went M. TT984

Thanks Duncan for including us in your results summary. We had overheating issues early in the event (fan control box) which meant starting stages in limp mode. Lost inter hose in prologue, but was seeded on last years time. Then the lower hose burnt through on ex pipe (day 3) - half a day on .9bar boost thanks to racetape and zip ties! Rest of the time I was just slow! We now can give qualified comparison with regard to Tyres. We ran Yoko "M"(from the US) and I reckon they are >1sec/k slower than the D03 M. On the track they may be closer, but what they do to your confidence is at least .75sec/k. Ben M (we have that as Brake! R4>2) - never mind M8, you guys in comfortable shoes were going well. You may need to get a new cat too, yours appears to be RS Big W - Respect, and what I said post race summed it up... you drove like a champion. Everyone in the top 30-40 are trying, and know just how hard it is to be near the top ten. Most other years that performance may well have seen you in the top half dozen. In 2003 we finished 23:58 behind the leader in 24th. This year a simalar performance would have put us in 49th (SH in 803 was 25th in 03)... this year we were 12:19 back in 19th. FYI one particular Evo driver still has a soft spot for the N1 R34. SO next time he wins he may be in one... (maybe get Dean to call HLCA and sell the promotional advantage of the said model) So thanks to Ralliart, Intrax (NL) & carbonXtc for their support in TT08... Well done to those who made the start, too - that also requires a huge commitment. TT984

Thanks Ben, FYI we ran into a little trouble with the Kumhos for Evos... they are only 91W (93W required). Think Subi are 90W so they are fine... So I have another plan. I have rang the Hydro, and asked them to seed clouds a month early this year. So it will be glorious sunshine up until Wednesday, then like in '94 the heavens will open. (I talked this up last year too - but no result) We have with this in mind chosen to go super-soft... we will use two sets, but because everyone else is on hard the tyre penalty wont hurt us... No seriously, have taken a punt on tyres and gone to another brand. Dont know what my excess luggage bill will be on the way back to Oz, hope my client doesn't mind. Did consider the runflat option too... saw an old volvo here the otherday - front right stuffed full of grass to get from up state to the city!! Thanks for Dougs No. very helpful, and I rang to say thanks but no thanks. Cheers TT984

Well it is nearly here - well less than a month. Our thoughts not to run and a last minute change of heart has created a few dramas. Tyres for one... as I let my alloted tyres go, and now after 6 years on one brand, we are faced with the best of the rest decision. ATM Khumo are getting big wraps and although the A048 is quite good, i am struggling going to a tyre that was developed in 2000. Suspension is another story... because all our data is based on one brand, the set-up will most probabley not transfer. Our Shox are currently in Holland getting OEM top spring mounts fitted because we cannot run camber plates. Anyhow we will make it hopefully with time to spare. Our report time for scruitineering is about a week early Late Sunday... by then most people will be pissed in the bar. It looks like being a numbers game - with Porsche being the majority stake holder. Of the 304 official entries (inc tour) Porsche 60 20% Mitsi 33 11% Niss/Dat 27 9% Subaru 23 8% Ford 23 8% Holden 17 6% Mazda 17 6% The other 30% is made up of all sorts. It may just be an Evo year, given that one of the best talents in Oz Rally is in the X LWR IX. Our goal is to finish. We haven't done that for a while, for a number of reasons - a couple being operator error. While the diamond brand has got the numbers on track, we all know which brand has the all the support. Wonder what happened to that lunatic from Japan, he was good value - leaping out of the scrub when a Nissan came by. So if you see me and I dont speak, take it as a given that we are having fun, and yes we will be more relaxed when it is over. Good luck to all the fellow punters... Rocket, look after the old girl, and she will look after you!! Not so much bloody air! V700, A048 V700, A048 V700, A048 V700, A048 V700, A048 V700, A048 buggered if I know. TT984

What, availability? We are in the same boat. Just a cock up really... and you dont recon the tyre boys love demand exceeding supply! I think a plan is to do RT & RB on tyres you may use, and then the take-offs are spares. We are starting from scratch so need 2 x sets to start with... Anyhow, good luck Ben. See you at the bar hopefully, but we are close in the Q again. TT984

Benno, The whole bloody thing is expensive... that is why we do it. If it was cheap and easy, everyone would do it. Well done Ben/Tim, we will see you at Georgetown and not before I reckon. I am in Nigeria, my strut tops are in Holland having some shox hung off 'em, car is in the race shop, engine sitting on stand, gearbox on its way from Ralliart... the list goes on. Anyhow, hope to be back by April 1, we have a week to bolt the car back together (heaps) quick test at Symmons a couple of days recce then up to the Dome. "Next year I am going to ready in plenty of time has been my quote every may for the last 5 years" Tim, you must be like a cat on a hot tin roof - well done and to you Ben for following through - the easy choice would heve been to say bugger it. Anyhow - its my turn to go and keep watch for pirates. Ciao TT984 PS Still the best forum/brand family - I just cant afford a 35.

From Mumbai - India: Oh my goodness gracious me... Competition is always a good thing and I think that also applies to motorsport administration. I will miss some of the CAMS officials, but there are a couple who wouldn't get a job picking up trolleys in coles car park that I will NOT miss. Benno - all someone has to do now is lobby for "adjustable camber plates" and it will be perfect. I think the 15% rules makes sense too. People want to here race cars as well as hissy production cars. Ah well back to work, then off to Nigeria - UK - Holland and home... not ideal preperation, but better than none at all. SO repeat after me "Camber plates are OK... common every one, I cant hear you Congrats SB/MP & crew Greg

Thanks for the vote Tim. The reason you got to run them was as a favour to Holywood, but as much as I would like to do them commercially I just dont have the time... Maybe if you lend Ben a stage from last year it will give him an idea. Jamie/Simon' notes have fairly consistant corner gradings, but as Marlin mentioned sometimes need linking as your driver prefers. I know ours are probabley the only ones with distances at the beginning of each line... that comes from when my partner was nav and shit scared of falling off. Also is a boon when you have several cars off in the stage to pin point their whereabouts. Laurie Pitt also does 1-6, but as mentioned by Ben - the notes are to paint a mental picture for your driver and every driver has a different perception. We for eg use a lot of distances, breaking markers etc and our crest calls are different to most. For this year we have and continue to Evolve(shit that word) our notes to knit the whole plot together. BenM, if Marlin can get you a deal - or even pay full price - for VDB MS notes, I suggest you get them and Recce them to your drivers style (if they dont sound right to you, then change them). If you are having trouble give me a call, take Ben up on his offer too for pre-event checking... and another thing - Buddy up with a slow car that is in the tour or a fair way in front of you... Great for a gravel car and also to prevent Targa Cars being targeted by the plod. TT984

They may crash, but the two incidents that have focused attentiion on the speed have been gun circuit racers. 05 and the young Cup pilot. R spec tyres are "????" in the wet Ben? I happen to think they are outstanding! Having done the event 3 years in a 2WD too - the extreme level of grip astounded me. But maybe just brand too... Get rid of soft top cars in competition class - done. Pick the right roads and massage the Chicanes. Throw in higher minimum safety harware and.... are we trying to make rules to cover the perceived ability of some punters... next thing I will be getting an entry form for the Targa regularity trial! This may well be our last year - so thankfully it will still be fun. TT984

Got an email from the lads and apart from a case of WTF, OK. Cant wait to rebuild... Wipe away the tears TT984