Lotus Club Queensland
Dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of the Lotus experience
  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Monthly Meeting
    • Join the Club
    • Stay informed
    • Membership Application
  • Events
    • Current Events
    • Day Run Sign On Form
    • Articles
    • Lotus 2019
  • DTC
    • 2021
      • DTC Live Results – March 2021
      • DTC Live Results – Feb 2021
    • DTC Results Archive
    • DTC Entry
    • DTC Articles
  • Calendar
  • For Sale
    • Classifieds
    • Merchandise
  • Technical
    • Expert Panel
    • Model Info
    • Driving
      • Paul Stokell’s Driving Events
    • Autokhana Layouts
  • Links
    • Suppliers & Parts
    • Video Links
    • Lotus Racing
    • Lotus Cortinas
      • Lotus Cortina Articles
      • Lotus Cortina Videos
  • Galleries
    • All Galleries
      • Gallery 2020
      • Gallery 2019
      • Gallery 2018
      • Gallery 2017
      • Gallery 2016
      • Gallery 2015
      • Gallery 2014
      • Gallery 2013
      • Gallery 2012
      • Gallery 2011
      • Gallery 2010
      • Gallery pre-2010
    • Articles
  • Magazine
    • Magazine 2021
    • Magazine 2020
    • Magazine 2019
    • Magazine 2018
    • Magazine 2017
    • Magazine 2016
    • Magazine 2015
    • Magazine 2014
    • Pre-2014
      • Magazine 2013
      • Magazine 2012
      • Magazine 2011
      • Magazine 2010
      • Magazine 2009
Sweeney-targa

Targa Tasmania 2016

Targa Tasmania this year was the largest tarmac rally ever held with over 350 cars taking part in what was the 25th anniversary running of the event. This is a mega meeting of car enthusiasts.

By John Barram. Photos by Andrew Graham.

There were five Lotus entered in Targa this year and I was lucky to be part of it. My mate Graham Vaughan (now resident in Tasmania) had completed seven Targas to date and asked me to co-drive with him this year in his S4 Lotus Elan.

Arriving in Launceston for the start, it was like a baby boomer’s convention as some rude person said, with lots of car people obviously out for a good time with their cars. Not everyone had grey hair!! There were all sorts and shapes of cars. Ferraris, Lamborghinis, acres of Porsches old and new, Aston Martin DB4, as well as Alfas, Toranas and Datsuns, an Austin A30, and lots of modern cars such as BMW, Subarus and Mitsubishi EVOs.

Patrick Mewing from Queensland was having another run, with navigator Gezim Bashi, in his well modified Elan. Modern Lotus were represented by the 2013 Exige of Martin Duursma and Richard Woodhams from Sydney with backing from Simply Sports Cars. Brian and Kerryn Coates from Tasmania were driving their blue, 2003 Elise 111S and from Victoria was the red 2004 Elise owned and navigated by Victor Sweeney being driven by his son Mathew who had come from the USA for the event.

Car 313 on the bend While Patrick was bravely taking on a strong field in the Classic class section, the rest of us ended up in the GT Sports Trophy class where you did not require a full roll cage and were limited to 130kph while competing. So we had four Lotus in 26 cars in our class. And to add to the interest Grahame has some good mates from the Brisbane Citroen scene, Alec Lowe and Lance Collins, who were running their incredible 1955 Citroen Light 15 also in our class.

It was important that we beat the Citroen!

After day one the Exige was running third in GT Sports and we were dead last. Patrick was also in third place in Classic, behind a Jensen CV8 and Aston Martin DB4.

Day two saw the Exige pushed back to fourth, we rose to only fifth last with the two Elises about mid field. Then half- way through the day Patrick had a failure in his drive shaft. So it was back to Launceston and some great help from local Lotus and small Ford people who got the tail shaft rebuilt and Patrick ready to go by next morning.

Day three saw the Exige regain third spot, we crept up to only ninth last, and over in Classic class, Patrick began the task of climbing back up the field. Then the Coates’ 111S Elise had a failure with its through-out bearing so they could not use the clutch. Rather than miss a days competition sorting the problem Brian decided to continue the drive making clutch-less starts and gear-changes. And he continued that way till the end. What a hero!

The GT Sports class was in two sections, pre 1985 cars and later cars. So in the Elan our real competition was a TR4a, Triumph Stag, 427c.i. Ford Thunderbolt Coup, Datsun 280Z, Renault Alpine A 110 S, Alpha Spider, MGB roadster, Citroen Light 15, Lancia Beta Coupe S4, and a 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RSR. What a collection! By this time we were third of these cars.

Day four saw the Exige retain third but there was less than two seconds between second and fourth. They had a good tussle on their hands. We retained third in our section and the two Elises were locked together at 13th and 14th. Patrick was flying now and cleaned two stages but the delay had left him well down the field. On day five Patrick cleaned another stage, the Exige retained third under tight competition, and we sneaked up to second of the older cars when the Lancia DNF’d. The Coates’ soldiered on without clutch in 12th.

To this point we had enjoyed a dry Targa, a bit unusual. Day six saw wet and slippery added to what had so far been only narrow, twisty and bumpy roads lined by trees and cliffs and drop-offs! But by now the focus was on finishing the last day. Patrick had a close call with lightish contact with an Armco fence on his front guard. We tip-toed through the wet and made it to the finish still second behind the Porsche in the older cars. The Exige maintained third to the finish.

I particularly enjoyed being part of the Lotus presence at such a large and mixed event. There were a few other Lotus owners known to us competing in “other” cars with whom we kept in touch. But also an amazing number of Lotus owners and old acquaintances popped up during the event. It is that sort of an event. If you have a chance, do it!

Car 151 on track
Car 151
Car 176
Car 194
Car 313 on the bend
Car 313 on track
Car 313
Graham & John
Martin Duursma and Richard Wodhams
Mathew and Victor Sweeney
Patrick

[Show slideshow]
2016 Track & Driver Training Day David Hack Classic – May 2016

Related Posts

Elan S2 Greg Test Driving

Articles, Lotus Cars, Technical

The rebuild of my 1965 Lotus Elan S2 SE

gear-banner

Events, Gallery 2020, Homepage, Lotus Cortina, Racing

GEAR Club Nov 2020

dtc-banner

DTC, Events

DTC – 28th March 2021

Random images

img_1114
IMG_0276
Arbarth
Antibes_France
Pau_for_the_historic_GP
F1000016
Heading_up_Tamborine
P1010409
Sharing-thoughts-
Greg-in-the-Lotus-61
Evan,-Matt-and-friend
main-21
IMG_6406
IMG_8473
122_2254_IMG
image_101
image_181
IMG_7322
IMG_7329
IMG_7349
IMG_7375
IMG_7392
IMG_5068
IMG_5163
IMG_5202
0079
0097
Daryl_and_Mitch_checking_times
IMG_7998
IMG_6311
Cane_field_Cats
P8310153
IMG_3897
P1060286
IMG_1348
IMG_2617
P1060538
P1060550
PICT7311
119_1976_IMG
IMG_7606
IMG_5309
IMG_7752
IMG_3312
image_246
image_273
IMG_4912
IMG_6848
IMG_4436
121_2130_IMG
IMG_4860
IMG_4280
118_1808_IMG
Hosts_Tim_and_Carol_Moore
IMG_5299
10.Sandy-Mike
07
7-Penny-John-Ken-Clive-Peter
MG_6329
MG_6509
2-Mike-W.jpg
Geoff N on the track
zero-one-two
Giles returns
Jason the Cat Man
20161105_111913
Johns-winning-Lotus-7
George
Garage-2
Garage-5
gw_Pato
20180415_135036
Garry
Jons Rubber
Aston-Greensill-rocking-the-black-and-gold
Mitch-and-Darryl-braving-the-wet
The-all-important-beers-and-BS-session-to-round-out-the-day
Cairns-15
img_2016
IMAG5988
IMG_1816
Not-so-bad
Lotus display_gw
Only-50-kg-allowed
IMGP8190
Lunch-at-Old-Petrie-Town-gw
Peter-and-Norma-gw
cadillac-1
Steve & Scott_gw
Aussie-Elise
Lunch-at-Pickled-Sisters
IMAG6006
Dick R
_MG_9719 as Smart Object-1
170730 SMM Dyno Chart
main-36
main-41
IMG_0866
Love those Avons
main-107

Recent Articles

  • The rebuild of my 1965 Lotus Elan S2 SE
  • GEAR Club Nov 2020
  • EMR to Mt Glorious 05/01/2021
  • December Day Run
  • DTC – 28th March 2021
  • Noosa Summer Hillclimb 2020
  • Interclub Challenge MGCCQ – Hillclimb Round
  • Off-street parking in Cairns

Latest Gallery Images

The-Europas Shanes-Seven Europas-new-and-old Daryls-Seven Daryl-manning-the-timing IMG_20200621_104957

Search articles by category

Archived articles

Lotus Club Queensland
© Lotus Club Queensland   |   Site by Black Eye Studios