Marlin

Would be bloody great if they were good as well as cheap!

Keen to hear your thoughts on those new Nankangs Harry.

Yeah if I lived in Tas and it all wasn't so far away and difficult to do I'd be there racing often. But alas it's not.

No. Adam is a great mate and has sat beside me a couple of times in official roles. We will carry a couple things for him but I'm actually servicing for Closey. Getting into the whole "Spirit" this year and taking the boat over and back from Melbourne.

Shame did thread kind of died in the arse - FB has a lot to answer for. See you there gents. I'm servicing for the first time ever this year, will be great to see the event from that perspective. It's going to be a great year, I'm sure the organisers have a bunch of cool things organized Good luck to you all!

Not at all mate It's been too long since I competed and I'd dearly love to return! I'd need to convince Timmay to sit beside me again if I was to complete the dream

Excellent. I'm a bit all over the shop with far too many projects going on. If I decide to go I'd be disappointed if I could spend the time to do it justice in the leadup. Hence I'm even considering the idea of leasing a car instead of readying my own (which just sits in the garage these days).

I'm ummming and ahhhhing You?

Good innit! Now, don't Fawk around Fatz, take it up to Baz in The Battle of the Boats!

You are reading the regs for MODERN. You need to read the regs for Early Modern For some reason it's not letting me copy/paste it. Refer page 30, Section M9 Twin Turbo Systems. Specifically lists 32/33/34 GTR and '92 - '02 RX7's.

Have you read the rules Bazil? F-all has changed for EM and you can definately still have big singles for both GTR and RX7...... Link for those who want to read them; http://targa.com.au/tc/page_standard.asp?asset_id=11394- the Pdf on the right is the one you want.

So big single turbo, E85, free computers, etc etc etc is "stock" is it? You're allowed all of that and more in Early Modern. So go and have a crack and don't let fear hold you back.

Great effort by you and your father Liam, well done to you both! Great to catch up with everyone down there, as always

See you all there. Heading down Sunday arv, stepping into the Trophy Sweep car, so will be mingling up near the front. Home early for beers though Very much looking forward to doing the traditional course again, albeit in a slightly altered, smoother layout. Sideling in the tradional direction is awesomesauce. Can't wait! What aren't you sure of Damo?

I definately hear your side of the discussion mate. I've just never had the need to. I dunno, maybe just a long run of luck with the Yoki and Dunlop semis that I/we have used? Remember I did say that the more road biased Kuhmos I've used definately needed balancing.

And..... despite the ribbing, they still slip.

Not sure Harry. If you find out let us know. The guys that know their tyres shift on the wheels will just continue to do what they've always done..... not balance.

DJ, the GTR wheels are good, so if they're not stuffed they'll be fine. I always take note of any slippage, and it can happen either end of the car, though the front is the obvious place it happens most. Obviously the slip is FAR worse if the tyre shop uses lube to get them on, and I always advise the fitter not to use it for that reason. Sometimes it is simply neccesary though to get the tyre mounted. I do lie. I have balanced wheels/tyres with R comps, but only to balance them after a big flat spot. I screwed one so bad in Targa with the GTS-t (had to get through on one set back then) that we put just under 250 grams on the wheel. It was stuffed lol, and bloody hard to drive!

Never ever balanced or needed to balance a proper decent quality semi slick such as a Kuhmo, Dunlop, Yokohama etc. There's not much point either, because if you're having a proper crack, they turn slightly on the rim in competition anyway, even with knurled bead rims, so by balancing them you'll actually throw them out of balance in time. More road based "racey" tyres I do balance, and I've never found one slip around the rim, as they just don't seem to generate enough grip.

I'm loving the new rules with total weight incl crew. What do you guys think?

What was your car weighing before Ben? Did you find some weight to use?

Well I think it's obvious this forum's pretty much f*cked. lol I suppose nothing stays the same forever.......

Well done to everyone who was there! Was a great event, and very few incidents in outright terms. Sorry to see your tyre issues there Dunc and Kel. THC is very bloody hard on tyres, and Big River stage itself is responsible for ruining many sets of previously good tyres. One of THC's greatest challenges is tyre management and choice. Big River for instance needs special consideration with what pace you chose to run at early on in the stage. I was there but was out fairly early each day and only saw Kel briefly. I was surprised and very very fortunate in being able to step into the 0B role for this event. It was really great to go back to a Targa after three years away. The V6 TDi Jaguar XF is a really impressive car too, far better than I could have imagined.

Nice work Piss Bin and to everyone else down there. Looked like a bloody tough year! And as stoked as I am for Jamie to come through for an outright, I'm absolutely shattered for Matt Close in his Audi. Knowing what Captain Fathom puts into it, and what a result it could have been, has kept me sleepless. Awesome that YT could get that Evo over the line too. Really happy for him and John, and props to their mates and crew for pitching it so admirably. Although I do hope to see a somewhat more competitive field in the future events, as I don't think it's just me who looks at it and wonder where some very long term (and fast) competitors have gone?

Gutted for Gus Kennard. He's just phoned me an said he's done what you always see some silly bugger do; binned it 3 kays into the first stage.