Third in Early Modern, Targa Tasmania 2012
First in the Australian Targa Championship (Early Modern)
First in Category 8, Australian Targa Championship (Early Modern)

The SS Rallysport team has clinched the Australian Targa Championship in Early Modern for the second time in three years with a podium placing at one of the world’s toughest tarmac rallies, Targa Tasmania.
Despite early problems with a new braking setup and a loose wheel hub nut, this writer along with codriver Daniel Lemish brought the Behind The Drive/FoS Evo VI home in third position and 17th outright from 260 cars after 600 competitive kilometres and around 1800 touring kays - no mean feat for a 13-year-old turbocharged car.
The Early Modern category saw some blistering speed and close competition, with drivers climbing into the top ten and even claiming outright stage wins.
The class was initially led by Hobart local Tony Warren and Natasha Deniese, who won the tricky Rossarden stage and led the class by a massive nine minutes on day two before crashing out, leaving the path clear for Targa veterans Jeff and Nerida Beable in a Skyline R34 GTR.
The pair nearly retired on leg five before a massive effort from many other competitors and locals saw them source and install a new clutch and maintain their lead over the Mitsubishi EVO VI of Danny Stutterd and Richard Scoular.
Right behind us, despite many stages soaked with rain was a Mazda RX-7, and a rear-drive Skyline GTS-T that unfortunately suffered a misfire on the final leg while in second place.
Over 70 of the 260 cars entered did not make the finish line; such is the mechanical toughness of this rally. Even after its relatively trouble-free run, the Evo will need a gearbox and front diff refresh, new front brake calipers and rotors, a new clutch, and a good wash. But it deserves it.
A huge thank you to Behind The Drive Show, Yokohama Australia, GSC Power-Division, iAutosport, Festival of Speed, Shane's Signs and TurboXS for the support and the subsequent spoils.


13/02/2012 - FIRST LADY TAKES TOP SPOT IN 2012 AUSTRALIAN TARMAC CHAMPIONSHIP

In a series of firsts, the Mitsubishi Evo VI of Samantha Stevens and co-driver Bernie Webb has taken the lead in the 2012 Australian Tarmac Rally Championship with a decisive win in wet conditions at the Mt Baw Baw Sprint – the first time a female has won a national tarmac rally.
The inaugural Mt Baw Baw Sprint rally – the first round of four in the AASA national series - saw a small but prestigious field of cars line up on February 11-12 for multiple runs up the twisting 16km tarmac access road from the base of the mountain to the Baw Baw resort at its summit.
Samantha, who won the Australian Tarmac Championship for Early Modern cars in 2010, has until now danced on the edge of a win with consistent top-five finishes in a short three-year driving career. But this time, she and co-driver Bernie Webb took the 13-year-old car to the top spot on the outright table with consistently fast times in wet conditions.
“I went to the Baw Baw Sprint hoping to develop both my driving skills and a better suspension setup on the Behind The Drive Evo - and of course to have some fun - but I never dared dream an outright win was possible!” said Samantha.
“We took some risks, changing springs overnight and dialing the car in and out, but Bernie is a master of both car setup and of keeping a hot-headed driver under control, and we kept improving over time.”
As the rain and fog set in on the mountain, Samantha and Bernie won all but one stage on day two, pulling up to 30 seconds on their nearest competitor.
“My forte is in the wet – both myself and my car are not as speedy as some of my incredibly quick peers when the conditions are dry and fast – yet,” she added. ‘But in the wet with all-wheel grip and commitment to the notes, we plugged away and came out with a surprise win. It’s a shame that the leading Evo IX of Danny Traverso slipped off the road in torrential rain on the final run. But a win is a win, and we’ll take it.”
Samantha is now leading the AASA Australian Tarmac Rally Championship, and is currently second in the CAMS Australian Targa Championship in the Early Modern category.
When asked about her status as Australia’s first female to top a national rally, she said: “It’s not about gender; its about teamwork, persistence, and guts. While it’s fabulous to have such an honour of being the first girl to top the tables, I’m still surprised that it has taken this long. I was Bernie’s 30th driver, but his first female. There should be more women taking up the wheel.
“Rally is such an amazing sport; the mateship and help on hand is wonderful. I would not have finished the rally had my fellow competitors not lent me parts when my camber bolts stripped, or push-started my car when it decided to play dead. It is such an equal playing field. The only balls you need are metaphoric!”
The championship continues on May 25 – 27 with the multi-stage Snowy River Sprint, before the Northeast Tarmac Rally on August 10 - 12, and the Lake Mountain Sprint on November 24 – 25.


29/01/12 - TARGA WREST POINT

My kingdom for a $1 bolt...
The Behind The Drive Evo 6 has been pampered and prepped like never before, with no bolt unturned nor torqued. Yet a little bolt that locks in the gearbox oil managed to wriggle itself free of its thread on the second stage of day one and proceeded to spray the navigator's side with oil and fill the cabin with acrid burnt oil smoke by the end of the 30km stage.
The crew found the problem at service, and the search was on for this tiny $1 part. And the brilliant thing about rallying - as opposed to circuit racing - is that everyone had a flick through their various service vehicles to see if the plug could be found. It was, and we were on our way again; but only after filling the gearbox with 2.4 litres of oil. The gearbox takes about 2.7L. A very fortunate, if slow, day for us.
The next day went far better, clawing our time back and eventually finishing in the top 10 and 23rd outright from 130 competitors. Not bad, considering the drama of day one! And some valuable points in the bank for the Australian Targa Championship, where we sit second on the ladder on the Early Modern field.

Smashed windscreens, crashed cars, missing panels and ill-fitting wheels - ah, for a rally that did not start with drama!
The Behind The Drive team and Evo are awaiting the start of the Targa Wrest Point rally, or Targa Lite, which is the warm-up for the Big One, Targa Tasmania. It uses the southern Hobart roads that used to be a part of the main event before the course changed several years ago, and they were so missed that Targa WP was created four years ago to bring them back into play and sate both the locals and the drivers.
But this rally, at which this writer and co-driver Claire have competed three of its four years, has always been a dramatic one.
The long haul from Sydney to the docks of Melbourne itself takes a day, then there is the overnight boat ride across the bass Strait to the top of Tasmania, before a final three-hour leg to the little island's base in Hobart. It was in the latter, closing stages of the journey that the dramas began.
Our teammates have just purchased a beautiful Evo 9 rally car, and on the liaison down to Hobart, the windscreen was cracked. Swapping the Behind The Drive Evo 6 off the trailer and the Evo 9 onto it, we continued on our way, only to find two miles down the road that a fellow competitor had run out of fuel. Stopping to give them our only jerry can, we managed only 10 more miles before coming across a massive head-on accident involving members of the public only, though many competitors had stopped to render assistance by using their oil spill kits to mop up the escaping car fluids and clamping off fuel lines.
By the time we finally got to Hobart airport to collect codriver Claire, we were two hours behind schedule and missing a part of the car, the rear wheel flare, which had been lost somewhere along the way (another 'fix it in Hobart' part we had forgotten about before unloading and driving the car).
And on arrival, we discovered the brand new rims we had bought recently did not fit the car. While we had checked the clearance on the rear wheel for clearance under the flares, we had not thought to check the brake clearance at the front wheels. And nothing could be done or fixed, as it was Australia Day - one of our largest public holidays. Sigh!
But with the crew flying in last night (Friday), tyres were swapped back to old rims, new windscreens were fitted, and the car is ready to go as I write this the morning of the rally.
It would not matter if we had six hours, six days or six months to prepare - it is always a last-minute rush, ensuring the adrenalin is rushing well before a key is even turned. And that's why we love it. Or, at least that's what we tell ourselves...

They say the way to make a small fortune in motorsport is to start with a large fortune. They’d be right.
But we do it, because of the thrill, the speed, and the comeraderie; the challenge of scaling a stretch of road in the fastest and most fun way possible.
In the case of tarmac rally, this is particularly true - the essence of the game, Released at 30 second intervals, it is rare to catch a car, let alone rub a panel. So the true competition is against the road on which you are running, and - of course - the clock.
This writer has posted my team’s exploits previously on Festival Of Speed, but we are now proud to introduce our Mitsubishi Evo 6 - now dubbed 6.1 - with naming rights sponsor Behind The Drive TV. As part of the Festival Of Speed business, we will bring you exclusive insights into this unusual world of racing, albeit halfway around the globe in Australia, as part of our commitment to motorsport and the fabulous world of the automobile.
So begins the journey of the 6.1 - dubbed so because of its complete rebuild after an explosive run in Targa Tasmania earlier this year, that left us with a shattered car and five holes in the block, the result of an overexcited tune and too much hard driving with a damaged, dodgy bottom end. Check out the video HERE.
An Evo 4 half cut was purchased not long after the April demise, and the block and transfer case used to rebuild the engine from scratch. With help from FoS, new forged internals were purchased from GSC Power Division, another American company, and flown over to begin the long road to the 2011 Targa Championship.
Of which this current event, Targa High Country, is the opening round. Based in Victoria’s north east in the Mansfield and Mt Buller area, the event has eight stages each day heading north to Wangaratta via Whitfield, and Eildon via Jamieson. Both days will end with a 20 kilometer stage to the summit of Mt Buller, where the event is based each night.
The competition concept is drawn directly from the best features of the Targa Florio, Mille Miglia, the Coupe des Alpes and the Tour de Corse. It had long been thought that a multi-stage tarmac rally was an impossible dream in Victoria - but it happened for the first time last year, and has grown to 160 entries and two-and a half days this year.
The first day kicked off the event with a “demonstration run” through the town of Mansfield, a 3km zig-zag through the streets in front of four-deep crowds. There was a real carnival atmosphere in the town, as families munched on local produce and breathed in the fumes of ramped-up race cars.
The 6.1 did a fine run on newly revised suspension and a mild boost setting - codriver Claire and I being quite aware that this is a new engine with only 300km on its clock. Claire on the horn, and the driver naughtily throwing punches out the window, we completed the stage to cheers from the crowd and look forward to what lies ahead…
Day one dawned bright but chilly over the alpine summit of Mt Buller, the start and finish of the Targa High Country rally for each of its two full days of competition.
The BehindThe Drive Evo may had broken in its new engine on the Prologue stage, but today would be the real test. A short 7km warm-up run down the mountain let the competitors warm up ther brakes and set their minds to race, before three stages in a row towards the inland town of Wangaratta.
It’s a shock to the system; the first real competitive stage starts with a 500m straight, into a series of long, fast bends that take the cars up to top gear and in the case of our car, top speed (230km/h).
The field made it through the first slog of these stages unscathed, but after a quick lunch break, the stages were reversed, along with the fortunes of several teams. On the longer of the three back to back stages, the rally saw its first victims, with classic cars breaking down, and several modern cars finding walls and banks (no drivers or codrivers were hurt).
As we returned to the base of Mt Buller for the first of the weekend’s two hillclimb stages, a quick check of the boost gauge revealed that it had reverted to its default setting - of 160kW! We had been running on just 11 pounds of boost, but the car had felt strong and quick.
Changing to the top setting of 220kW and 464Nm, we prepared to take the mountain at full boost. Then yours truly stalled the car coming into the staging area, and the eBoost reset again! No!
We finished the day in ninth place in Early Modern - still a top 10 finish, but with a long way to climb the next day…
Summer had arrived - even in the alpine region of north-east Victoria, the temperature was hovering around 100 degrees. Turbos panted, radiators cooked, and drivers steamed in their fireproof suits. But the BehindTheDrive Evo VI proved it was one cool customer.
Since the engine rebuild and reverting to 98RON the car had been faultless, and with full boost on day two of Targa High Country, nothing changed. For the first time in our short rally career, Claire and I clocked a fastest stage time, and followed it up with seconds and thirds consistently all day. Then disaster struck!
One of the biggest downsides to being a female in a male-dominated sport is the lack of loos. Arriving at the last stage of the day, the final run up the mountain, yours truly was busting, With many people milling around and no bathroom in sight, I scrambled off into the bush to do the do. And managed to find a nest of fire ants.
Running back up to the car with my ass on fire, we had no choice but to get going and drive. Perhaps we should keep ants on hand - another fastest stage time, despite being baulked by an Evo X for close to 40 seconds, and 10th outright of all 170 cars behind the biggest names in the business.
Our team finished fourth in Early Modern, tantalisingly close to the podium, and 27th outright. We look forward to the next round where we always do well - Targa Wrest Point on January 30-31 - with much anticipation.

It aint called the Stealth Edition for nothing, and Jaguar Australia certainly surprised both punters and competitors recently when our black-wrapped XK-R turned up in full race livery at the Supaloc Classic Targa Adelaide International Rally on September 14 – 17.
The South Australian tarmac rally is an annual event that sees classic cars of all ages take on over 200km of closed road special stages in the Adelaide hills. In the tradition of Targa Tasmania, Targa Florio, Mille Miglia and the Tour de Corse, the Classic Targa Adelaide event started with a street circuit time trial through the wine-maker town of Tanunda on Wednesday September 14, followed by three competitive days with eight closed road stages each day.
With the field restricted to cars built up to and including the year of 1991, the appearance of the 2011 Jaguar XK-R Stealth Coupe was even more of an anomaly. But fast, modern vehicles traditionally top and tail the classic rally field as official course cars: up front was the Supaloc Lamborghini Gallardo, and behind the winning competition car at the rear of the field was the XK-R, in the role of 999 Sweep.
With competition cars running at 30 second intervals from slowest to fastest, the Jaguar XK-R was charged with cleaning, or sweeping, the stages after the fastest car had gone through, to open the roads back up to the public, or halt the opening of the road to retrieve stricken vehicles and teams. And with time constraints and police on the Jag’s tail, eager to open the roads, the mission was simple – do it fast.
Able to run at unrestricted speeds using both sides of the closed road special stages, but restricted by a lack of rollcage, helmets and other safety attire, the 999 car runs a fine line that cannot be crossed. The public still want to see a bit of sideways action and spinning wheels from the exotic course cars, and this writer was only too happy to oblige, however when the needle ran near 200km/h, the brakes (on both the car and the adrenalin) were applied.
Such was the easy power and supple suspension of the car, that this self-regulated speed limit was reached far too easily and quickly. Besides, we only caught trailing competition cars once or twice… That’s right, in standard trim and on road tyres, the XK-R was catching full competition cars – through the twisted sections, not the straights! Oops...
The field returned to the Adelaide CBD each night for street displays and exhibitions, giving spectators a first-hand look at the classic machines, and allowing time for drivers to rest and revive between the strenuous competition days
And whenever the rally drew to a stop, the XK-R drew the crowd – one lunchtime stop had a gathering two- and three deep that blocked part of the road, and officials were forced to move the gawking crowd on. Images of the Jag immediately cropped up on fansites, exotic websites and blogs, and it featured as a lead article in the local Adelaide Advertiser newspaper on day one of the event. The article featured co-driver Amanda Dwyer, who won the chance to co-drive for the Prologue day after entering a raffle to raise money for cancer. The raffle raised an even $1000 from $5 tickets through Facebook!
But most importantly, the XK-R’s surprise appearance raised awareness of the brand's recent open-minded attitude. With the impending release of its 2012 model range and the bombastic XKR-S supercoupe, what better way to shake off the cardigan than with a flash of matte black and the echo of a forced-induction V8?

Talking green cars with an exclusive first drive of the Alpha Lujo
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8240409

Rally veterans have always told me that Targa Tasmania will break your heart, and I wrote it off as sour grapes – how could the ultimate tarmac rally cause anything but enjoyment?

Well, this year, I was taught that lesson, the hard way. After a consistant yet fun day 1, we started day 2 with high hearts and a new turbo. The Evo felt amazing – strong and fast, and the tyres were clawing at the road like a rabid fox. The first stage of the day is the classic Sideling, a steep climb up and over a mountain pass. To our eternal happiness we managed a 9th on this stage, only seconds off the leaders, and that pace continued for the morning.

Stage 12 is Weldborough Pass, a slippery run through forest roads which then speeds out into farmland. About 3kms into the stage, we heard a heart wrenching bang and watched our engine explode in front of us. The usual rush of pulling off the road safely, getting OK boards and warning triangles out resulted, and it wasn’t until we were home that night that we realised how much we had actually lost. In the middle of the forests of the East Coast of Tasmania, our Targa Tasmania ended with even more pain than usual, given that this could now be our last rally together for some time, pending finances and a full engine rebuild.

In nearly a decade of codriving, I’ve had my share of crashes and DNF’s. I have to say with total honesty that I have never felt as shattered after a DNF as I did on Thursday. Targa did break my heart, and I now know the pain. To go from the highs of 2010 where we had a blast and won a national championship, to a smoke filled gully with a broken car is a big fall, and one I will remember for a long time.

Having said that, we take comfort in knowing that earlier in the day our times had been faster, that our car and logistical preparation was exemplary, and mostly in that we were enjoying ourselves. To that end, we have stayed in Tasmania to cheer on our team mates and revel in the atmosphere of the rally.

Thank you Simon and Kathy, Adam and Dan for making us feel better. Thank you to our sponsors Century Yuasa, VSport, RaceCam, Festival of Speed, JoinForces, Yokohama, TurboXS, and Shane's Signs for getting us here. And mostly, thank you to our crew John and Brook for building and maintaining an amazing car, keeping our spirits up, looking after us during the event and beyond…..

- Claire, navigator Car 808

PS. And yes, we are still doing a party tape ;)

With an entry list of over 70 cars in early modern alone, we knew it was going to be a different Targa this year; and today we were proved correct. Most of the stages that make up Leg 1 are comparatively simple and, with the first 3 stages having very achievable base times to ease crews into the event, our aim was to get a feel for the car, not worry about times, and have a ball. It seems we were the only ones who felt this way however, with a large portion of early modern competitors coming out of the blocks firing and setting some impressive stage times.

Last year, it was us who were fighting for a championship win and that was the only thing on our minds. Thankfully we achieved that goal, and this year made the conscious choice not to worry about times and positions (particualerly after an engine failure put us out of the race).

In addition, Sammy is back in the drivers seat after her first ever crash, and therefore we are being even that little bit more careful. So to that end, we are very pleased to have come through todays stages with safety, speed and happiness.

It seems the large field is creating some issues for those of us further back, with significant amounts of gravel on all the stages, creating many incidents and accidents on Sheffield in particular. We had one ‘moment’ (see youtube) which created many giggles and the idea that maybe it was time for Sammy to try her hand at dirt rally!

Our turbo held out for the day (even while making ever more frightening noises) and the new one has arrived from its holiday, nicely tanned and relaxed. As I write, our amazing crew is installing it ready for tomorrows more challenging stages. Other than that, Edward the Evo performed beautifully, the sun was shining and we are looking forward to a great day tomorrow.

- Claire Ryan, Navigator car 808

Targa Tasmania 2011 has finally arrived, and the Centuary Yuasa sponsored Mitsubishi Evo 6 is back again for another run with Sammy at the wheel and Claire calling the notes.....

Our event started with a bit of stress (as usual), due to a turbo issue developing during a pre-event test day. A previously unheard whistle made its presence known in front of the firewall, and our trusty and highly knowledgable engineer, John Healey from V-Sport, recommended we change it. A new turbo was sourced and amid much airport drama, arrived in Launceston with unknown damage. A second turbo cartridge was found and purchased, and the hysterical laughter continued when we discovered it had been sent with a wrong consignment note and was now lost in the air somewhere in Australia.

Amongst all the drama, we enjoyed our day out at George Town prologue. A previously unmatched field of 350-plus cars were shining in the sun (without a week of scars from crash and carnage), and taking to the suburban streets to secure a seeding position for the event. We decided to have fun and alleviate the stress of the past few days, taking some influence from the classic 80's computer game, Sega Rally (easy right, hard left, what are you doing!).

Despite laughing our way through the stage and saving both tyres and turbo, we managed 12th in Early Modern, all due to John and his meticulous preparation and hard work in the weeks leading up to the event. We also discovered that the car loves to wag his tail (don't tell John!)

Tomorrow, we take to the relatively short stages of Day 1 and hope the turbo holds out until the one taking a holiday in Queensland decides to make its appearance.

Thanks to our sponsors and crew (John and Brook) and to the friends and family who have supported us to get here.

Love Sammy and Claire.

PS - For those who have been asking and wondering, yes we are here, despite being left out of the official programme. We'll just have to make ourselves known in other ways!

Australia’s leading female tarmac rally team will head into the 20th Anniversary round of Targa Tasmania with backing from Australia’s first group buying website for new automotive vehicles, JoinForces.com.auTM.
Samantha Stevens, a motoring journalist from Sydney NSW, and her navigator Claire Ryan, an ICU nurse from South Australia, are the reigning Australia Tarmac Rally Champions in the popular Early Modern category, and head into the infamous Targa Tasmania road rally this week as hot podium favourites.
JoinForces.com.auTM offers the online browser the opportunity to purchase new cars, boats and caravans at a big saving as a group, and saw this rally team as the perfect vehicle to raise awareness of the power of partnerships.
“JoinForces is very proud and excited to sponsor Samantha and Claire in their Targa Tasmania campaign for 2011” said Florian Joo, Founder of JoinForces.
“As well as reaching out to general new car, boat and caravan buyers, JoinForces is keen to have a presence in the elite world of motorsport. Those in the motorsport community all exhibit a common automotive attribute: passion! We here at JoinForces identify with this and therefore we wanted to be a part of the local motorsport scene. We chose to do this through the sponsorship of Samantha and Claire who have a proven track record and great potential. The fact they are also the best looking duo in the rally is an added bonus!”
Samantha and Claire will hit the Apple Isle this week in their privateer-entry Mitsubishi Evo 6, with the hope of bettering their 2010 Targa Tas result of fourth outright in Early Modern - just six seconds off the podium. However, the result helped them clinch the national title, and a strong 25th outright finish from nearly 300 entrants was a stellar achievement for the young team.
“We are very grateful for the opportunity to join forces with this new and exciting company, as we are well aware of the power and synergy of a partnership,” said navigator Claire Ryan.
“When you are travelling at speeds over 200km/h on a slippery winding road, the fog and rain blocking your sight and your driver driving by ear to your pace notes, there is complete trust. You are putting more than the price of a car on the line! JoinForces understand this, and make for the perfect sponsor at our 2011 Targa Tasmania campaign.”
Savvy car buyers have long used the power of group buying to afford parts and accessories for their cars – and now that power is offered to prospective new car, boat and caravan buyers with JoinForces.com.auTM.
Buyers can search for other buyers through this site, combine their buying powers and then save on their purchase. For a limited time it is free for buyers wishing to sign up on the website.
Dealers can also search for groups of buyers (synergies) through the site, finding likeminded groups of interested parties and making multiple sales in the time it takes to make one. Since JoinForces is not a broker, all savings are kept by the buyers, and all sales income is kept by the dealers – everybody wins!
For more information on JoinForces, go to www.joinforces.com.au.

BY DANIEL LEMISH

While the focus of many reports pertaining to rally is aimed squarely at the driver, an equally important team member exists and experiences all of the ups and downs that occur within a competition rally car, the Navigator. This is where I come in, and this is my quick look back at the 2011 Rally Tasmania.

Having called the notes for Samantha Stevens last year at the ASP Adelaide Hills Rally and with that event turning out to be a lot of fun (despite not finishing), I jumped at the opportunity to once again team up with her in her 1999 Mitsubishi Evolution 6 and tackle the wild roads of Australia’s ‘Apple Isle’, Tasmania. Our aims for the event were simple, have fun, be competitive and complete the event with the car in the same shape as we began. After all, Samantha needs this car for her tilt at Targa Tasmania in the first week of April and any damage would put more financial and time pressure on her than otherwise necessary.

The competitive section of the event began late on the afternoon of Friday 25th February with an untimed stage less than 5kms from the regional center of Burnie and straight away we knew something was wrong. Whilst usually having enough power to light up all four tires out of tight corners, the Evo was well down on power and felt flat and unresponsive with a hint of a misfire. This wasn’t going to be easy, let alone fun.

With only two more stages that afternoon we decided to press on and get to the planned service where our crew could take a good look at the car and try to find the source of our woes. With a limited crew we chased the problem until well after dark reaching the conclusion near midnight that the boost controller was faulty and gave us either little boost or too much presenting us with the possibility of a blown engine. Our fix for this was to by-pass the controller and run low boost on Saturday morning until the midday service where we would have a new manual controller waiting for us.

Working against this ‘quick fix’ was the otherwise picturesque Tasmanian countryside with the first Saturday stage a 3-mile high speed blast through rolling fields where our lack of power would be really show its head. We were well of the pace and our only hope was to carry corner speed to negate the straight-line speed loss we suffered once the roads opened up. This would be no more important than on the second stage of the morning, a tight and twisty 9-mile challenge down into, and back out of the aptly named Hellyer Gorge.

The run down into the gorge went well with Samantha committing to the pace notes by braking late and carrying great corner speed but waiting for us at the bottom was a steep climb back out of the gorge. We were struggling and made it halfway out before it all went wrong. Despite being highlighted in my pacenotes, there was a bump mid way through a right hander that threw us off line and into the earth wall, destroying the front left wheel and severely damaging a majority of the suspension parts surrounding it. Our Rally was over.

Fixing the car began early the next morning and by the end of Sunday we had the front bumper bar repaired and re-painted and parts sourced for the fix prior to Targa Tasmania. We didn’t finish, we weren’t competitive but as usual, Samantha and I had a lot of fun rallying together.

A Victoria versus Tasmania battle awaits the Early Modern competition at this month’s Targa Wrest Point, the second round of the Australian Targa Championship.

Victorian Adam Newton and Tasmanian David Ayers are expected to wage a battle royal for class honours when the two-day event takes place on the roads southwest of Hobart on January 29 and 30.

Ayers, from Sandy Bay, is the veteran of the pack, but knows the Victorian will be hard to beat.

Early Modern, for cars manufactured between 1986 and 2002, is the largest group in the event, with over 40 entrants in the total field of 150 cars.

Newton, in his 1997 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV RS, was second in class at Targa Wrest Point last year before rosing to prominence with victory in the 2010 Targa Tasmania Rookie Rallye.

Newton and co-driver Dan Lemish then stamped their authority on the class with victory in November’s Targa High Country at Mt Buller.

But Ayers has been on the sidelines since an unfortunate incident ended his charge to Early Modern honours at last year’s Targa Tasmania.

He’s been rebuilding his Nismo 400R and will return to the fray to try and take his second Targa Wrest Point Early Modern victory after previously winning the title in 2009.

However, his fortune this time may depend on how his rebuilt car stands up to the rigours of competition and how quickly he can bond with a new co-driver, as his regular note-caller is away on business.

“There’s no point going if you don’t have a crack, so we’ll be out there trying, but we start with a few reservations,” Ayers said.

“Our car is untried really, as we’ve had to rebuild it from scratch. We’ll just see how it goes, how we gel in the car, and take it from there.

“Max Griffiths will be calling the notes for me, and we’re looking forward to being together in the car.

“Max is part of a dedicated team that have put the car back together. He, his brother Garry and Damien Moore have done a huge job on the rebuild and I’ve got a service crew of six that I rate as highly as any service team in the business.

“They have done a fantastic getting the car ready and will keep me going across the two days of competition.

“But the competition is tough. Adam Newton is very fast, and he’ll be very fast again.

“And I expect another Tasmanian, Leigh Finlayson, to be up there as well. He’s done well in his (Mitsubishi) Evo in the past, and I reckon he’ll be up there again.”

It is a highly competitive field. Blaise Paris and Raechel Krause were third at Targa High Country in their Lancer and will be in with a chance, as will Andrew Richmond, another Victorian, in his 2001 Nissan GT-R.

Sydney motoring journalist Samantha Stevens and her South Australian co-driver, Claire Ryan, have been increasing their speed in recent events, and with further refining of their 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI, they’ll be pushing hard for a podium place.

The Early Modern category, for cars manufactured pre 2001, is dominated by Nissans and Mitsubishi, but the field also includes Mazdas, Holdens, Porsches, Subarus, Hondas, Alfa Romeos and Citroens, giving fans of most manufacturers something to cheer about.

The third running of Targa Wrest Point includes 14 closed road special stages to the south west of Hobart, with a total competitive distance of 208 kilometres.

Organised by Octagon, Targa Wrest Point is round two of the three round Australian Targa Championship that also includes Targa Tasmania, and Targa High Country in Victoria.

For further information on Targa Tasmania, go to www.targawrestpoint.com.au.

As a car journo, one of the better ways to keep informed on the industry is to tap into the car company’s neverending slew of official releases and sift the hype from the real information. It’s tedious, but then again, so is PR. But if there was one thing that tops the tedium table, it’s Car of the Year. Not any one in particular, but all the Car of the Year car-fuffle that slams my inbox into spammed fits every November to January.

And every car publication and its dog now holds a Car of the Year, and the PR machine swings in for every little victory for its models, no matter how small, obscure, or plain stupid.

I suppose they have to, what with the damage sustained by some irresponsible journalists who see COTY as a chance to fang a whole host of cars around at breakneck speed in the name of ‘testing’. But COTY seems to be nothing more than a big fat marketing exercise, and not about real testing and evaluation at all.

For example, a few years ago there was a dreadful website run by a bunch of women who really had no idea at all about cars. The head of this organisation was a nice enough lady and a great PR person, but never pushed herself to learn the difference between a suspension bush and a hairbrush.

I groaned inwardly upon hearing about their Womens COTY, but gaffawed loudly when the car companies actually picked up their wins and ran with them - as real press releases. Subaru won the Yummy Mummy Award (yes, that’s what it was called) for its Forester SUV, and ran the press release on their site in between the likes of ‘real news’ such as the new STi and big managerial appointments within FHI. Unbelievable.

But as far as marketing shennanigans and COTY goes, it’s the journalists who can be the worst offenders.

Until this year, I was a member of the World Car of the Year panel since its early days. When asked for my latest freelance publications to update my profile, I informed them that my major medium at present is television.

The response was a little surprising; then again, it was not.

“The steering committee has decided that in order to build and grow WCOTY, we need to make some sweeping changes with our jury panel. This includes inviting jurors in each country who can give us the best possible coverage… After debate inside our steering committee, we have decided to ask (two other writers) to represent Australia because our research has shown that these two journalists offer the best possible coverage in the Australian market.”

While it would be rather difficult to send these guys all of the radio interviews, television guest spots and regular news and current affairs features in which I have mentioned or been introduced as a WCOTY judge, the real question is - why would one have to?

I had been concerned in recent years at the emphasis placed upon the amount of press the WCOTY jurors were asked to procure - we had to send in copies of all our WCOTY stuff each year - as well as the blatant push to become the leading COTY award. Surely, the integrity of a COTY award could be brought into question if said ’sweeping changes’ and juror selection are purely based on the coverage they can offer.

Not to mention the appearance of Team World Car, a rather self-serving entry to racing in the Nurburgring enduros an the like, featuring the creators of the WCOTY as the drivers.

It’s hard to hold a reputable, purist car test incorporating a year’s worth of motor cars, and it is even harder to be reputable and pure of intention as a motoring writer in such an atmosphere. There certainly aren’t too many of them, in both respects.

Here’s hoping that those rare few keep going in this vein, and don’t get lost amid the flood of journalistic mediocrity and multiple COTY category crowing that threatens to wash over all of us every December.

"With a range of new small cars to pick from, how do you pick the best? A Current Affair has motoring guru Samantha Stevens on a mission to pick the very best for under $15,000. We road test new models from Suzuki, Holden, Toyota and Hyundai."
http://aca.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8123348

Our 2011 Championship Title defense has begun in strong form, with a top showing among a field full of big names and bigger horsepower.
We finished fifth outright in early modern after 200km of hard competition kays, after chasing initial setup issues brought about through a last-minute change of tyres. More impressively, we finished in the top 20 outright, out of 230 competitors.
With two rounds to go, our biggest threat is Adam Newton in an Evo IV. The man is phenomenal, and led from the start of the rally. We were only three seconds off him in the last two runs, which gives us hope that the battle is far from over.
Claire and I will aim to bring the fight during Targa Tas, where endurance and distance gives us a distinct advantage.

Samantha Stevens and Claire Ryan have hit the high country this weekend to vie for back-to-back national title wins in the Australian Targa Championship.

The girls took the inaugural Australian Tarmac Championship title in both the Early Modern outright category and the Limited Modification class (LMS) earlier this year in their rookie season, driving a 1991 Nissan Pulsar GTI-R and 1999 Mitsubishi Evo VI.

“To win a national title in our first rally season was an amazing achievement from the whole team,” said Claire, herself a South Australian championship gravel codriver.

“We have accomplished so much in such a short time. We don’t need to play the girl-racer card, but I must say that there aren’t many women drivers or teams in this game, nor have they won a national championship. Our results speak for themselves, and we are looking forward to mixing it up with the best again this year.”

Starting with the brand new Targa High Country rally this weekend (Nov 5 – 7), the privateer pair is hoping to continue their strong results this season, and have the artillery to fight the battle.

“Targa Tasmania was the ultimate test of mind and machine, and our Evo only made it home through the strength of our team efforts and a bit of sheer luck,” admits Samantha.

“The car needed a full overhaul when it limped home to Sydney. My mechanics at V-Sport and I have spent the last six months refreshing the engine, fixing the decade-old fuel system to cope better with E85 ethanol, and completely changed the diffs, exhaust and suspension. The result is the Evo VI I have always wanted.”

Samantha is one of the few motoring journalists in Australia who regularly competes in motorsport, and is revelling in the Early Modern competition in the car she helped to build from a shell.

“As a motoring writer, we get to test some amazing new cars on tracks around the country, but nothing compares to this,” she said.

“Building and driving an older car, without the electronic aids of modern vehicles and on unpredictable open roads is simply worlds apart. And driving for a championship needs a huge amount of discipline. I love the challenge, and Claire and I are so excited that Targa has come to Victoria and formed this amazing tri-series championship.”

Samantha and Claire wish to thank team sponsors Century Yuasa Forklift Batteries, John Healey and V-Sport competition equipment, RaceCam camera systems, Sydney City Trailers, iAutosport, Shane’s Signs and TurboXS, who have made this season possible.

http://www.sportcom.com.au/targanews/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=1&limit=1&limitstart=16&Itemid=59

In September, I found myself strapped into the codriver's seat for what is arguably the roughest rally on the WRC calendar, Rally Japan.

In 2008 the rally moved to the island’s main city of Sapporo to utilise the city’s futuristic indoor stadium and gravel forestry roads to the north and south, but while the stadium houses a spectacular two-lane super special that rivals the Race of Champions indoor track, complete with bridge jump and tunnel, the roads are the antithesis of stunning.

Unfortunately, the organiser’s idea of fixing the boggy corners and rutted straights was to fill the gaps with fist-size volcanic boulders. Even on reconnaissance the ruts were already re-forming, and by the time the WRC cars had carved through the stages in front of us, the roads resembled an artistic interpretation of wartime trenches.

The unsupported event, without a naming-rights sponsor, was running bare. While the officials were friendly and numerous in number, and the safety practices and recovery teams (which we would unfortunately run into all weekend) were excellent, the cutbacks in some areas were obvious.

And it’s a true shame, given the excitement of the general population on seeing our near-standard Evo VII, let alone a World Rally Car. The Japanese rally fan is arguably the most enthusiastic and passionate in the world.

Though the name may have provoked some giggles from western crews, the first gravel stage of the rally, called Iwanke, was nothing to be laughed at. Nearly thirty kilometres of twisted forest road peppered with pebbles, ruts and dirt moguls would catch out a score of competitors, and twice force the pacenotes almost out of my hands. How the WRC crews compete at breakneck speed on such roads is beyond belief.

The following stage was aptly called Sikot; 28km of humps and bumps that would turn a hardened seaman green. Our relatively standard suspension did nothing to quell the boaty ride, and the rocky landing after a blind flat crest folded our sump guard completely in half and tore the hoses off the intercooler.

We limped the 50km back to service in silence with fingers crossed, hoping the young crew could quickly turn the car into a tank on wheels to combat the ruts.

The second pass through the same southern stages were anything but passable, and interrupted by several big crashes including a doozey by WRC driver Al Quassimi and regular Asia-Pac competitor Toshi Arai. Sikot 2 was downgraded and turned into a Group N carpark as accidents were cleared and ambulances sent through, and as the night descended on the slow trek to SS6 our clutch finally packed it in.

The liason between stages five and six were worse than the actual stages themselves, and had already defeated several cars on the first pass. A 60kg girl trying to push car and driver up a particularly steep hill proved unsurprisingly futile, and we were forced to wait in the dark for our friend with the flashlight.

The recovery crew towed us to the rendezvous point - a cemetery and crematorium on the outskirts of the forest - where the flatbed arrived two creepy hours later to take us back to the service park.

FIA rules stipulate that the cars can rejoin under SuperRally rules providing the car is entered into Parc Ferme no less than four hours before the first car is scheduled to start; in our case, 5am. The car scrapes in at 4:45.

The suffering Evo VII survived the first round of Day Two stages, but again the ruts carved by the preceding field took their toll on the roads and the cars trying to traverse them. Straddle the ruts, and you risked slipping off the road in the soft debris; run in the ruts, and it ripped strips off the underbody.

By the fifth stage of the day, the driveshaft was hanging out of the main tunnel in tatters, and an attempt to ratchet it to the exhaust resulted in some burnt fingers and a round of applause from the crowd of locals snapping and shooting the roadside repairs.

One more stage is completed at slow pace before the main driveshaft rattles itself off its makeshift support and finally breaks, stranding us at the end of the sixth stage (again).

Our teammate’s Evo VII recce car is stripped to a shell throughout another long night of running repairs, much like the multiple metal skeletons at the rear of the WRC garages.

The rally turns to the north for two short, fast stages and one hilly 18km mountain climb that must double as a goat track the rest of the year. We travel the long liaison in steely silence, hoping to bring the car home to the Sapporo dome super special at least once this rally. The irony of waiting a decade to try a WRC round, but dreaming of the finish line and of home is a sad, sad reality.

Raikkonen crashes out on the first 4km stage of the day, and the bovine-friendly Naekawa ruins Solberg’s steering along with his chances of victory. Ogier takes the lead, Loeb drives a sensible race to keep the championship, and Latvala salvages third.

And we DNF again. A puncture on the spectator-friendly Sunagawa stage makes us late for the second loop, and my driver’s temper along with my confidence in the notes hit an all-time low. The repeated run through Naekawa ripped the tub liner off the passenger front and taking half the wiring loom with it.

Up to the elbows in foul-smelling mud and getting shocked by the loose wires, I concede defeat before bloody stage six again. But this was a World Championship event, not a putter round the park. Motorsport is a hard mistress, and she whipped everyone well this round.

Then perspective arrives in the form of a little old local lady. She passes us in her diminutive Toyota as the dusk settles in, looking concerned at the stranded team awaiting rescue in sullen silence, and returns five minutes later with two newly-purchased bottles of Pocari Sweat. The selfless gesture is enough to make all the hardship worthwhile. Almost.

Targa West was not the rally we wanted it to be.
With the Evo 6 still in rebuild, I agreed to codrive in a Hankook Evo X with fellow journo Dean Evans, running Century Yuasa livery on the car's bonnet and roof.
Unfortunately we did not garner the right exposure, running wide into a bridge support post and ending the our rally on SS6.
The Nissan R35 GT-R has again triumphed at the 2010 Quit Targa West tarmac rally in Perth, WA last weekend, but it was not three times a charm for defending champion Steve Jones.
Jones, who has claimed the podium for the past two years, was left stranded at the end of SS1 after terminal engine failure ended his hat-trick campaign.
Arch-rival Peter Major and navigator Kim Screaigh took the lead part-way through the first leg after the demise of Jones, utilising Western Australia’s speedy coarse-chip tarmac and rate of attrition within the top pacesetters to the powerful GTR’s full advantage.
The pair maintained an early gap to Competition Modern rival Jim Richards and Barry Oliver in their Porsche GT2 to win by an astounding 51secs by the close of Leg Three.
Richards finished clamped in a GT-R sandwich, ahead of another R35 of Peter Rullo and Simon Iseppi.
Wanna win Targa West? Buy a GTR or a Porsche…

After nailing our exhaust and almost blowing the head gasket on the Evo in Adelaide earlier this year, the Six has undergone a major heart transplant at VSport.com.au under the meticulous eye of our star mechanic John Healey.
The Evo now has a steel crank, forged pistons and rods, Ralliart head bolts and gasket, and we will tune it with a lower compression ratio to get more low-end torque in the next few weeks.
Our new MCA Murray Coote suspension has also arrived, and we hope to be testing in the next month in preparation for Targa High Country in November.
Thank you to our wonderful platinum sponsors Century Yuasa and VSport, Gold sponsors Nevco Engineering and RaceCam.com.au, and sponsors TurboXS, iAutosport, JustJap and Shane's Signs.

Samantha on the Kerri-Anne Kennerley show.
http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/parking-fines/x84aa8v?fg=AU_ninemsn_kerrianne

Samantha has taken up the role of Motoring Editor for national Nine program A Current Affair. Check out the Showreel page!

Our Targa campaign has been published in a first person article in the July edition of MOTOR magazine.

Our Evo on the Queenstown stage at Targa Tasmania is the opening image for the latest Unique Cars magazine article on the rally. The article's feature car is actually the Evo IV of Newton /Lemish, our biggest rivals!

The trials of largely untested alternative fuels again reared their head at ASP, a two and a half day tarmac rally set in and around the Adelaide hills just three weeks after Targa.
Initially blamed on the wet ECU, we first felt an odd fuel surging and cutout on day 5 of Targa Tas. Now, we know it is one of several things: after high throttle fifth gear application, the car starts to cut out, indicating either an electrical or a fuel problem, or combination of the two. We will be putting a new breather on the fuel tank, replacing the coil pack and possibly putting 8ml fuel lines on the car. Before we had to retire on the third-last stage of the event, we were consistently running in 5th and 6th position outright.
The good news is that we have five months to get it sorted before the 2011 championship begins...

The Forklift Power Solutions all-female team of Samantha Stevens and Claire Ryan has claimed the Early Modern title in the Australian Tarmac Championship with an impressive result in the final round at Targa Tasmania last week.
One of the toughest road challenges in the world, the Targa Tasmania tarmac rally, covers 2000km of twisting tarmac with over a quarter of that distance as competitive kilometres. Of the 260 cars that started the six-day rally, many fell victim to mechanical and human error, and 56 cars did not make the official finish in that Tasmanian capital of Hobart.
The girls managed to bring their 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI home without a scratch, despite a computer malfunction on Day Three slowing their progress and dealing them a substantial time penalty.
Perseverance paid off, and the team finished second in class, fourth outright in the Early Modern category, and an impressive 25th outright amongst stiff competition and cars ten times the Lancer's value.
This has been the most challenging week in my relatively young driving career - the balance between bringing it home straight, versus the red mist that makes the brain switch off and the right foot turn to lead was agonising," said driver Samantha.
Claire did an excellent job keeping me both on the notes and the leash. Our crew were integral in bringing the car home despite some potentially rally-ending electrical gremlins.
And we would not have made it there in the first place without the support of our sponsors, particularly Century Yuasa Batteries, V-Sport Performance, Kumho Tyres and Nevco Ezy Approach Trailers. We were close to calling it a day before Century Yuasa came on board, and are pleased that the faith in our skills paid off: we are a national champion team thanks to their support.
The swift but conservative drive secured the team a double point score in the Australian Tarmac Championship to seal a top 10 position on the outright Modern leaderboard and the title of Early Modern Australian Champions.
The 2010 championship consisted of the Mt Buller Sprint, VIC (1991 Nissan Pulsar GTI-R, 2nd in class), Targa Wrest Point, Tas (Lancer Evo VI, 3rd in class), the Lake Mountain Sprint (Lancer Evo VI, 2nd in class) and Targa Tasmania.
Being a part of an all-girl team gave me an extra sense of achievement," said navigator Claire, herself a South Australian Rally Champion Co-driver (2009).
We have a lot of fun in the car, but take our motorsport seriously and our win reflects this.
The girls also raised over $1000 for their official charity, the McGrath Foundation, with a notable $350 donation from DriverDynamics.com.au, and wish to thank sponsors Century Yuasa, V-Sport performance Equipment, Kumho Tyres, Nevco Engineering, Racecam, JustJap, Insight Dyno, iAutosport, Shane's Signs, ABC Tyrepower, and the Octagon officials and volunteers.