Targa New Zealand: day one pace setters lead the way

27 October, 2015

Still in front at the end of the second gruelling day (Tuesday, October 27) of Targa New Zealand 2015, Glenn Inkster and Spencer Winn (Mitsubishi Evo 8) have an impressive lead over five-time event winner Tony Quinn and co-driver Naomi Tillet (2008 Nissan GT-R) by just four minutes and 36 seconds.

Information on both the main (six-day) 2015 Targa New Zealand and two-day Targa Regional Rally events can be found in the latest copy of (November 2015) New Zealand Classic Car magazine.

Results:

Andrew Simms Allcomers 4WD

  1. Glenn Inkster / Spencer Winn (2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) 01:32:57
  2. Tony Quinn / Naomi Tillett (2008 Nissan GTR) 01:36:21
  3. Brian Green / Fleur Pedersen (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) 1:42:06
  4. David Rogers / Aidan Kelly (2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) 01:43:52
  5. Matthew Wales / Mitchell Osborne (2006 Mitsubishi Evolution 9) 01:46:17
  6. Graeme Wong / Kim Blatchley (1998 Subaru Impreza Type R) 01:48:15

Metalaman Classic 2WD

  1. Mark Kirk-Burnnand / Chris Kirk-Burnnand (1987 BMW M3) 01:40:49
  2. Bevan Claridge / Campbell Tannock (1992 Holden Commodore) 01:41:00
  3. Bruce Farley / Glen Warner (1986 BMW 325 325) 01:42:44
  4. Ashton Wood / Chris Lancaster (1976 Ford Escort RS1800) 01:45:38
  5. Keith Callinan / Mary Anne Callinan (1977 Ford Escort) 01:45:46
  6. Barry Kirk-Burnannd / Dave Ocarroll (1989 BMW M3) 01:46:54

Instra.com Modern 2WD

  1. Clark Proctor / Sue O’Neill (1973 Escort MK1) 01:39:36
  2. Martin Dippie / Jona Grant (2007 Porsche GT3 RS) 01:39:43
  3. Robert Darrington / David Abetz (2002 BMW M3) 01:41:45
  4. Grant Aitken / Caroline Cullimore (2013 Toyota 86 RC) 01:41:50
  5. Steven Kirk-Burnnand / Mick Hay (1994 BMW 318ti) 01:42:23
  6. Chris Lewis / Kieran Anstis (2013 Toyota TR86) 01:42:46

Also retaining their class lead in Instra.com Modern 2WD were Clark Proctor and Sue O’Neill (Ford Escort/Nissan V6)

Defending Targa New Zealand title-holders Glenn Inkster and Spencer Winn extended their lead in the 2015 Targa New Zealand event from Auckland to Palmerston North

Meanwhile, getting the feel for their new car was Mike Lowe and co-driver Philip Sutton in the Enzed Abarth

Image credit: Fast Company / ProShotz

Performance art

Shelby’s targets were Superformance — a South African company that wanted to sell its versions of these cars in the US — and the US-based Factory Five. Their defence was that the name and shape of the Cobra car were abandoned when Shelby American ceased production of these particular models back in the 1960s.
Shelby countered with: “We spent millions of dollars creating the name and the car and winning the world championship. These knock-off-car guys don’t deserve the credit or the profit for what my team and Ford accomplished in the ’60s.”
Superformance painted an even bigger target on its back by also producing a version of Shelby’s Daytona coupé. Other cars in its production stable were Mk1 GT40 and 1962 Corvette Grand Sport replicas, but we’ll focus here on the Daytona.

Design accord

You can’t get much more of an art deco car than a Cord — so much so that new owners, Paul McCarthy and his wife, Sarah Selwood, went ahead and took their Beverly 812 to Napier’s Art Deco Festival this year, even though the festival itself had been cancelled.
“We took delivery of the vehicle 12 days before heading off to Napier. We still drove it all around at the festival,” says Paul.
The utterly distinctive chrome grille wrapping around the Cord’s famous coffin-shaped nose, and the pure, clean lines of the front wing wheel arches, thanks to its retractable headlamps, are the essence of deco. This model, the Beverly, has the finishing touch of the bustle boot that is missing from the Westchester saloon.