Targa Tasmania was a great event for Daniel Willson, co-driving for Luke How, in a BMW E30 in the Classic section of the Rookie Rallye. This was Luke’s first tarmac rally after competing in some recent circuit racing events. The car had undergone some changes to make it more suited to rallying, such as a softer suspension setting.
Using Pace Note Works pace notes, the boys carried out a thorough recce of all the stages with Luke adapting well to having a co-driver call the notes for him.
Competition would come from Stuart Craft – Alfa GTV, Karen Cariss – Ford Escort and Adam Kudra – Ford Falcon. The BMW would certainly give away some horsepower to the bigger engine cars but the crew were hopeful of putting in some good times where the car was suited to the conditions.
Day 0 consisted of stages at Lilydale and Georgetown to determine the starting order for day 1. The boys were to start second in class to Kudra’s Falcon.
The morning of day 1 took crews from Launceston to compete in stages around Deloraine, Merseylea and Sheffield. A quick service at the lunchbreak saw the car in great condition, and it was then off to Paloona, Holwell and Kayena. At the end of a good day of rallying, which saw some drizzly conditions, Luke and Daniel were a strong second in Rookie classic to Kudra.
Day 2 was a tough one with the classic stages of the East Coast this year being run in the reverse direction to the previous 20 years of Targa. The morning started with Rossarden and Elephant Pass which were both intermediate conditions; hard conditions to drive in as the grip level varies so much. Luke drove well to keep the much more experienced crews behind.
The stages after lunch consisted of Pyengana, Weldborough, Moorina, Legerwood, The Sideling and a street stage at Longford to finish of the Rookie Rallye. Mainly wet conditions greeted the boys as they tackled the flowing roads. Rain and fog were a big problem on The Sideling stage with many cars crashing and crews losing a lot of time. The young duo came through unscathed, which is a credit to their maturity.
After completing the final stage the crew were to stand in the second spot on the podium to husband and wife crew, Adam & Hayley Kudra. A fantastic effort considering Luke was the first ‘rookie’ driver...
The boys would like to thank Imparts, the hard working service crew and Pace Note Works.
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