At the end of Day One of the 15th Anniversary Targa, it was perhaps no surprise that Australian entrant, Tony Quinn, in his Nissan R35 GT-R had driven to the front of the pack. More surprising was that Clark Proctor’s was hunting down the hi-tech Skyline in his V6-powered Ford Escort hybrid — finishing the day only just over a second behind Quinn.
Paul Manuell, whose previous Targa drives have been dogged by problems, had also made a good start finishing the day just a few tenths behind Proctor. Hayden Paddon, in his first Targa outing, also showed his mettle after finishing Day One in the top five.
The teaming of Paul Halford and NZV8 driver, Andy Booth, in their Maserati Trofeo also had a great first day, finishing Day One less than half-a-second behind Padden’s Evo9.
In the Classic Category, the clear leader at the end of Day One was the Toyota Corollla FX-GT of Greg Crene, which had pulled a five second lead out over the second-placed Holden Cheetah of Tony and Joanne Butler. The next two placings being taken by the amazing Kirk-Burnnand brothers — both teams running BMW M3s. It was also good to see Dr Nick Cooper’s Valiant Charger finish the day in the top ten.
Day Two
The Targa field left Taupo earlier this morning, staging towards the next overnight stop at New Plymouth.
In the Modern Category, a wet start to the day played into the hands of the 4WD cars, which Quinn’s Skyline setting a blistering time over the first stage of the day — Quinn being closely followed by Paddens EVo9. Clark Proctor’s 2WD Escort could do no better than seventh fastest time over the stage but you just know that Proctor intends to give those 4WD cars a real run for their money — let battle commence!
Classic Category — after the first stage of Day Two, Brent Emerson’s Holden scored the best time, with Mark Kirk-Burnnand second fastest. Early category leader, Greg Crene, doing no better than 11th fastest.
Photos: courtesy of Groundsky Photography
Photo Caption:
Clark Proctor, Ford Escort V6, Stage 3, Hampton Downs
