South Australian Steve Glenney has driven brilliantly over the slippery stages on day two of Targa Adelaide, extending his lead to one minute and three seconds in his 2009 Nissan GT-R.
In treacherous conditions in the Adelaide Hills, Glenney was too fast for his rivals, with reigning event champion, Jason White (Lamborghini Gallardo), the next best in second, and Matthew Rickards (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) third another 53 seconds back.
With two days of the event still to come, Adelaide’s Craig Haysman (1981 Triumph TR7 V8) leads fellow local Simon Hoff (1975 Ford Escort RS2000) by 24 seconds in the Classic Outright competition, after overnight leader, Roger Paterson (1974 Porsche 911) crashed out on the opening stage of the day.
Day two of Targa Adelaide was the longest of the event with 72.05 kilometres of competitive driving over eight closed road stages. The day started with the tricky Montacute test, and included two runs up and over Mt Lofty.
Glenney and co-driver, Bernie Webb, started the day with an 18 second advantage and were determined to increase that advantage over White’s Lamborghini, the winner in Adelaide last year.
With his Nissan GT-R on song, Glenney was able to win six of the day’s eight stages, and finished the day with a lead of over a minute.
“It’s been an interesting tussle. Conditions this morning were just treacherous – there’s was water running across the road everywhere and it was basically just survival out there,” Glenney said.
“We really had to concentrate hard this morning to make sure we had the correct line around every corner – it was absolutely hard work.
“The car was slipping and sliding around all over the place, but we stuck to our plan of one corner at a time and being disciplined to stay on the pacenotes and it worked, so we’re rapt with the lead we’ve got at the moment.”
White was disappointed to have dropped so much time during the day, but said the conditions were tough.
“This morning was definitely the worse and most unpredictable conditions I’ve ever had to face. It certainly kept us on our toes,” White said.
Tasmanian Matt Rickards moved up to third place in his Lancer Evolution, at the expense of Tony Quinn and his Nissan GT-R. Quinn had been as high as second, but dropped to fourth late in the day.
Adelaide surgeon, Roger Paterson, held the lead in Classic Outright heading into the day, but his joy was short lived when he crashed his Porsche on the very first stage of the day.
That gave the lead to last year’s winner, Craig Haysman, who then battled hard with one of the surprises of the event, Simon Hoff in his Ford Escort RS2000.
In conditions that seemed to suit Hoff’s nimble Escort more, Haysman had to use every ounce of his ability, and the Triumph’s V8 power, just to stay ahead of his rival. He finished the day 24 seconds clear.
“It was very wet this morning with rivers across the road, and I was really surprised that Roger (Paterson) went off,” Haysman said.
“The roads are drying, but we’ve still got to push because that little Escort (Hoff) is flying through the hills. It’s just amazing what he’s doing – it’s really cool to see.
“The roads have been really greasy and slimy through the trees, but if it clears tomorrow our car’s horsepower will just kick in and it will be cool.
“We’ve had no problems with the car, so we’ve just been trying to preserve things today and get ready for tomorrow.”
Jai Raymond is in a tight battle for third in Classics, with the 1979 Rover driver just ahead of Peter Ullrich (1963 Jensen) and Glenn Dean’s 1973 Ford Escort.
Local drivers continue to put in strong performances, with Tim Possingham a clear leader in Early Modern, and Scott Limbert (Nissan GT-R) and Andy Sarandis (Toyota Corolla) winning the Modern and Classic Rookie Rallye respectively, which finished today.
In Showroom 4WD, Stewart Liddle (Mitsubishi) has a four second lead over Ben Newman (Subaru), and Adam Spence heads a Renault 1-2 in Showroom 2WD. It the tightly controlled Regularity competition, the lead is held by the Ford FPV GT of Colin and Wade Zytveld.
The third day of Targa Adelaide once again heads into the hills surrounding the South Australian capital for a further eight competitive stages, and with further showers predicted, conditions will again be tricky for drivers.
2013 Targa Adelaide - Results after Day 2 of 4
MODERN
1. Steve Glenney / Bernie Webb, 2009 Nissan GT-R Spec-V
2. Jason White / John White, 2011 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, +1m03s
3. Matthew Rickards / Michael Potter, 2002 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII RS, +1m56s
4. Tony Quinn / Naomi Tillett, 2011 Nissan GT-R, +2m01s
5. Jamie Vandenberg / Dennis Sims, 2009 Nissan GT-R, +2m25s
6. Matt Selley / Hamish McKendrick, 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX RS, +3m04s
CLASSIC OUTRIGHT
1. Craig Haysman / Neil Branum, 1981 Triumph TR7 V8
2. Simon Hoff / Peter Hoff, 1975 Ford Escort RS2000, +24s
3. Jai Raymond / Jen Mathwin-Raymond, 1979 Rover SD1, +3m17s
4. Peter Ullrich / Sari Ullrich, 1963 Jensen CV8, +3m28s
5. Glenn Dean / Damian Reed, 1973 Ford Escort, +3m45s
SHOWROOM 4WD
1. Stewart Liddle / Michael Lloyd, 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X RS
2. Ben Newman / Crichton Lewis, 2010 Subaru WRX STI, +4s
3. Clinton Arentz / Pete Burrey, 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, +1m08s
SHOWROOM 2WD
1. Adam Spence / Erin Kelly, 2013 Renault Megane RS 265
2. Bunjamin Noor / Lee Challoner-Miles, 2011, Renault Megane RS 250, +14m53s
EARLY MODERN
1. Tim Possingham / Ben Scott, 1990 Nissan Skyline GT-R
2. Robert Balint / Peter Lane, 2001 Mitsubishi Laner Evo VI, +1m49s
3. Andre Lukasz / Adam Tillett, 1995 Nissan 200 SX, +3m46s
LATE CLASSIC HANDICAP
1. Simon Hoff / Peter Hoff, 1975 Ford Escort RS2000
2. Bruce Power / Andrew Buerckner, 1979 Mazda RX7, +1m20s
3. Robert Gambino / Mary Hughes, 1976 Ferrari 308 GTB, +2m22s
EARLY CLASSIC HANDICAP
1. Peter Ullrich / Sari Ullrich, 1963 Jensen CV8
2. Andrew Bryson / Craig Milich, 1964 Hillman Imp Rallye, +53s
3. Jack Waldron / Vin Gregory, 1955 Fiat Abarth 750, +3m27s
SHOWROOM SPORTS
1. Glyn Crimp / Paul van der Mey, 2012 BMW 1 Series M
MODERN MUSCLE CARS
1. Toby Gill / Sam Tapping, 2009 HSV Maloo
2. Neill Ford / Colin Maher, 2007 Chevrolet Corvette Z06, +4m50s
ROOKIE RALLYE MODERN
1. Scott Limbert / John DalCollo, 1989 Nissan GTR R32, +2s
2. Craig van Diemen / Michael Mohr, 2004 Mitsubishi Evolution VIII, +2m05s
3. Ben Calder / David Rowe, 2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6, +2m22s
ROOKIE RALLYE CLASSIC
1. Andy Sarandis / Michael Busby, 1986 Toyota Corolla
REGULARITY
1. Zytveld / Zytveld, Ford FPV GT, 162 points
2. Amos / Amos, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, 237 points
3. Farkas / Farkas, BMW M3, 259 points
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