Hankook Competition Australia (HCA) is aiming for outright Showroom honours at this year's Targa Tasmania where it will partner with category leader Dean Evans in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.

Hankook teamed with Evans in his Club Spec Evo X at the recent Lake Mountain Sprint - where the combination claimed second in category on debut.

The result allowed Evans to retain his overall lead in the Showroom standings of the inaugural Australian Tarmac Championship (ATC), of which Targa Tasmania is the fourth and final round.

Evans was impressed with the Ventus TD (Z221) tyres he used at Lake Mountain and believes they will give him a key advantage when he again relies on them in Targa.

"The best thing about the Hankooks is the immediacy of the performance from cold," Evans said.

"We ran the Hankooks at Lake Mountain in cold conditions and their performance from standstill was outstanding.

"They were extremely consistent throughout the runs, they have good wear characteristics, but it is probably in the cold weather that they really hold an advantage.

"That is probably the key in Targa where you have 40 cold starts from standstill, so that is where it will definitely be to our advantage."

Evans said the Ventus TD tyre's superior durability would also be a key factor in achieving Targa success. This was due to the event's tight regulations, which restrict modern competitors to just six tyres for the six-day event.

HCA's chances of success have also been boosted by Team Mitsubishi Ralliart (TMR) undertaking a performance upgrade of the car, including removing more than 50 kilograms of excess weight.

Evans believes the improvements to the Hankook Evo, along with the advantages of the car's all-wheel-drive system, give him the tools needs to challenge for the Targa Showroom title.

"We are going there to win," he said.

"I think we've got all the equipment to pull off a win. We've pulled together a strong team this year, with a very good car. This is my third Targa and I now have experience on Hankooks.

"I basically think the tyres, like the Evo, are going to have little or no weaknesses at all."

The 19th edition of Targa Tasmania gets underway with the popular George Town Prologue stage on Tuesday, 27 April. Competitors are set to contest 40 competitive stages across six days of racing. 

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