The Lake Mountain Tango is made up of nine timed runs up the 10km access road from the ticket office at the base of the mountain to the Ski Village of Lake Mountain, and two runs downhill.
Mark Clair, owner of a rare, standard class Porsche 911 Club Sport (one of 53 in the world), was originally scheduled to run with Victorian co-driver Ken Garrioch. Ken was in Burma and had planned to return on January 25, however, things did not go to plan and he was unable to start the event.
After some anxious talks with event organisers, Tim McNeilly suggested another well known co-driver for Mark, and Jenna Kelley happily accepted the offer.
A field of 34 entries started on Australia Day and there was plenty of excitement from the start. Clair and Kelley set their fastest time for the weekend on their first run with a time of 5m28s. Quirky weather conditions made it difficult to improve. Overall, they finished 20th outright and 1st in Class.
The weather at Lake Mountain was as Victorian as it can get. True to the lyrics of the Crowded House song, “Four Seasons in One Day”, the crew experienced heat, rain, fog and snow!
This event is ideal for anyone wanting to “test drive” a tarmac rally before committing to a Targa Tasmania or Classic Adelaide type event. Close to Melbourne and run over just the weekend it has a relaxed, fun atmosphere. Although run repeatedly over the same course, the weather provides its own unique challenges with every run seemingly different.
“I want to thank the organisers for everything the team did for me on the weekend. I had an absolute blast! Jenna was a joy to compete with,” said Clair.
“The car handled beautifully and ran like a dream all weekend! I’ve never had so much fun in a car with that much protection on,” Kelley announced cheekily.
Clair and Kelley have already entered the Porsche for the next Lake Mountain event scheduled in May.
Photo: Red Hot Shotz
If you’d like to view some of the crew’s footage, CLICK HERE
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