On the opening day, running on roads expected to suit the faster cars, the pair managed to stay in touch with the leaders to sit in 4th place at the end of the first leg. “We were really pleased with our performance during Saturday”, noted Dean at the end of two hard days of competition. “The stages didn’t really suit our car, and all the guys ahead of us were in cars with much larger engines. On top of that we had a few brake dramas, so to be in fourth by the end of the day was great.”

“Sundays stages were twistier than Saturdays, and we expected to be a lot more competitive. Unfortunately our brake problems re-appeared during Sunday morning and for three stages we had virtually no brakes. That meant we had to slow down to make it back to service. But once we got on top of that we managed peg back a fair bit of time to Jimmy (Richards).”

“So although Sunday didn’t quite work out the way we’d planned, it was actually better than the results suggest. For this event we ran E85 fuel in our car, and we’re really happy with the improvement in horse-power and torque. We’ve now got some good points ‘in the bank’ for the rest of the championship and we’ve got some more development planned for the car. Maybe not the result we wanted, but a solid result”.

After a post-event of timing revision Kevin Weeks was named the event winner, beating fellow Lamborghini driver Jason White by 20 seconds, with third-placed Jim Richards just over a minute behind.

The next event is Targa Wrest Point, run on roads south of Hobart. “We had a great run at Wrest Point last year. I think we shocked a few people by beating the Lamborghinis on the first day. Second place was good, but we’d like to go one better this year.”

Targa High Country – Final Results (Provisional)
1. Kevin Weeks, Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, 11:35
2. Jason White, Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, +0:20
3. Jim Richards, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, +1:21
4. Dean Herridge, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +1:41
5. Matt Close, Audi TTRS, +3:02

Photos courtesy of www.targahighcountry.com.au

“I guess it might be a surprise for some people when they hear that we’re running E85″, commented Dean. “But it’s something we’ve been planning for a while. We’ve got a development plan for our cars, and this is the next step along that path.”

“We’ve running two cars here at Mt Buller. I’ll run E85, while Graham Iddles will continue with 98 RON fuel in his Impreza. Our cars run virtually the same spec, so we’ll get a good idea of what difference the E85 makes, and what changes we’ll need to make to get the best out of it.”

“There’s already a growing number of competitors using E85 in Targa, and it’s becoming more popular in a variety of motorsport categories around the world. So if we can make a gain with our car, and reduce our environment ‘footprint’ at the same time, that’s a good thing all-round.”

“Targa High Country is an all-new event. Although it uses some of the same roads as the Mt Buller Sprint, there’s a lot of new stages. Tomorrow has a series of high-speed stages, so that will be a really good test. Sunday features some tighter an twistier stages which should suit us a little more. But we’ll be going flat-out from the start to give ourselves every chance of victory.”

Targa High Country kicks off this afternoon with stage through the streets of his Mansfield, with stages held near Wangaratta on Saturday and Eildon on Sunday.

Förch, an automotive consumables company, was foundered more than 40 years ago in Germany, but today has offices around the world. “We’re very excited to be supporting the Maximum Motorsport Subarus”, commented Förch Australia boss Terry Childs. “Förch has a long history of supporting motorsport around the world, and currently we’re an official supplier to the Porsche Carrera Cup in Germany. But this is the first time we’ve sponsored an Australian motorsport team, and we’re very proud to see the Förch logo on the sides of the Maximum Motorsport Subarus”.

“Maximum has a high profile, not only here in Perth but in rallying and motorsport circles around Australia. We had a ‘trial run’ at Targa West in August, with Rob Herridge driving a Förch-backed Impreza, and we got a great response. We’re really excited to be involved with one of the leading teams in one of the fastest growing areas of motorsport in Australia”.

The deal will see the twin WRX STi Imprezas of Dean Herridge and Graham Iddles fly the ‘Förch flag’ at all three rounds of Australian Targa Championship, starting with Targa High Country in November.

“It’s great to have Förch come on board as our major sponsor for 2011″, Dean Herridge said at the announcement of the deal. “We’ve had great support from Primepoint for the past three years, and we’ve achieved great success in that time. But to have a major multinational company like Förch involved, it’s just a great compliment to what the team has achieved over the past few years, and it makes us all the more determined to improve this season.”

“We finished 3rd in the 2010 title with two of our main rivals being Jason White (Lamborghini) and Steve Jones (Nissan GTR), but we’ve been competitive with them at various times and also shown just how competitive our Subaru’s can be. We’re getting closer all the time and with the help of Förch and our other long-term sponsors, Subaru and City Subaru, we’ll be aiming for the top spot of the ATC”.

The first round of the 2011 Australian Targa Championship is Targa High Country in November, followed by Targa Wrest Point in January and Targa Tasmania in April.

Photos courtesy of Peter Evans.

“It’s going to be great fun, both for us and the crowd”, commented Dean. “These cars, the Subaru WRX STi and the Mitsubishi EVO, have dominated the World Rally Championship and regional rally championships for much of the past 15 years. It will be great to see them going one-on-one again. Both marques have a large following, here in Australia and right around the world. So expect to the crowd to getting involved.”

Along with the ‘Rally Explosion’, the Festival of Speed will also feature hot laps by Mark Webber in his Red Bull F1 car, Dean Fiore in his Triple-F V8 Supercar, V8 touring cars from the 1970s, Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette and Cobra supercars, current and vintage motorbike, Truck racing and even an Eagles vs Dockers race.

For full details, go to www.festivalofspeed.com.au.

Photos courtesy of Levi Buzolic – loudphotos.com, and angrymanphotography.com.au.

“Our 2011 season starts in November with Targa High Country”, commented Dean this week. “It’s the first time this event has been run, and although it includes the same road used in the Mt Buller Sprint, it also incorporates roads around Mansfield and Eildon. In some ways it’s similar in format to Targa Wrest Point, I can’t wait to see if it and I think it will be an event that suits our Subaru WRX STi.”

“Late last year we took just one car and a small crew to the Mt Buller Sprint, and were very pleased to scored a podium at our first attempt. This time we are hoping to take multiple cars from Maximum Motorsport; one for myself and one for Graham Iddles, and we’ll have the full team and a full support team. So we’re going there to have a good hard ‘crack’ at it.”

And while Dean is focused on the ATC, Maximum Motorsport cars will also contest Targa West in just two weeks time. “We had a great time at Targa West last year”, said Dean. “It’s my local tarmac event, but it was the first time I was able to compete in it, and a second-place result was pretty pleasing. This year the dates clash with some of my promotional commitments with Subaru Australia, so I’ve had to pull out. But Dad (Rob Herridge) will be there again. He’s competed in all the Targa West events and has scored top-10 places each time, and this year will drive an ’08 WRX STi for the first time. Plus we’re running cars for Graham Furness and Brian McGrath. So even though I won’t be driving in the event, there’ll be plenty of Maximum entries ‘flying the flag’ for Subaru.”

Along with his tarmac rally commitments, there’s a possibility Dean will return to gravel rallying later this year. “I’ve been talking to one of the leading teams in the Malaysian Rally Championship. We are hoping that I’ll be able to going up there for the final two rounds of the national series in October and
December. It’s still early days, but it would be great to get back onto gravel, and in a series I’ve never contested.”

Targa West starts on August 26, Targa High Country on November 5, with information about the progress of all the Maximum Motorsport cars available on www.maximummotorsport.com.au.

Photos courtesy of Angryman Photography, Scott Wallace and Rhianon Smyth.

The new online shop allows motorsport enthusists from all over the world to access Maximum’s range of rally and race components.

“Maximum Motorsport was founded in 1993 as a specialist motorsport company”, commented Dean Herridge, who announced the launch of the new web site. “Manufacturing specialist rally and race components has always been an important part of our business”.

“The new ’shop’ means rally and race competitors, both here in Australia and internationally, can make use of the same componentry that we use in our rally cars”.

Along with the specialist race parts that Maximum manufactures in-house, the Maximum Shop also features Monit Rally Computers, VIO in-car video cameras and pace note books, as well as a range of supporter gear including Maximum Motorsport shirts and caps.

“We’re very happy with the look of the site and how easy it is for our customers to use. At present there is a good base of products which we hope to grow over time, once we’ve reviewed our customers feedback and online shopping trends”.

To check out the range of products available, and even have them autographed by Dean, click the ‘Shop’ link at the top of the page, or browse to shop.maximummotorsport.com.au.

Both days were challenging. Saturday was longest day of the event, and included a series of 30+ kilometre stages, just to test the already weary crews and support teams. But overnight rain caused competitors plenty of problems on Sunday mornings tricky mountain stages, with several teams crashing out in the final few stages.

Starting Saturday in seventh place, Dean and Glen made some gains during the final two days, with the afternoon stages suiting their hard compound tyres. “We had two pretty solid days”, Dean remarked at the end of the event. “I was a little disappointed on Saturday morning. I’d hoped to make up some more time, but it was a bit of a struggle for the first couple of stages. The roads were still pretty greasy and cold. But once it started to dry out, we started to set some reasonable times. And we made some good in-roads during Sunday morning”.

“We lost nearly three minutes on Wednesday morning, and it’s pretty hard to make back that time unless you get a little bit of luck with the weather, or your competition has a problem. We started the event confident that we could challenge Jason and John White for the ATC (Australian Tarmac Championship). But we had a bit of bad luck, and they’ve had a perfect run. So while we could be disappointed, we know we’re punching well above our weight with the Maximum Motorsport Subaru, and it’s a real credit to all the team that we can turn up to an event like this and be competitive against Lambourghinis and Porsches and GT-Rs”.

So with Targa Tasmania run for another year, the Maximum Motorsport crew will now return to Perth and begin preparations for their next event, August’s Quit Targa West.

Targa Tasmania 2010 – Final Results

1 – White / White, Lambourghini Gallardo
2 – Vandersee / Reeves, Skelta G-Force, +1:03
3 – Quinn / Tilett, Nissan GT-R, +2:30
4 – Jones / Searcy, Nissan GT-R, +2:54
5 – Vandenberg / Vandenberg , Mitsubishi EVO IX, +4:03
6 – Richards / Oliver, Porsche 911 GT-3, +4:38
7 – Herridge / Weston, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +5:49
8 – Alford / Farmer, Nissan GT-R, +10:37
9 – Bartter / Wheeler, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +12:48
10 – Kennard / Grimwood, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +13:30

Check out the Maximum Motorsport Photo Gallery for more photos of the event.

Dean and co-driver Glen Weston put the disappointment of a puncture behind them, and steadily moved forward up the leaderboard as the day progressed.

“It’s been a good day”, a relaxed Herridge commented. “We’ve not had any issues today. I was a little concerned on the way to Devonport. There was a bit of rain around, and that’s the last thing we want to see with the tyre choice we’ve made. But the rain held off and we had a good run. We’re now up to seventh. There’s a bit of a gap to Jim Richards, but we’ll just keep on chipping away and see what happens”.

“This event always throws up a few surprises. We’ve already seen a number of high-profile teams retire, and there’s still a long way to go before the finish.”

Tomorrow, the Targa teams leave Launceston for the final time, heading north-west to Ulverston for lunch, then turning south for the long trip to Strachan. The day includes three stages of more than 30 kilometres in length, including Cethana, Riana, and the challenging Hellyer Gorge stage.

Targa Tasmania 2010 – Leg 3

1 – White / White, Lambourghini Gallardo
2 – Vandersee / Reeves, Skelta G-Force, +1:00
3 – Quinn / Tilett, Nissan GT-R, +1:27
4 – Jones / Searcy, Nissan GT-R, +1:37
5 – Vandenberg / Vandenberg , Mitsubishi EVO IX, +3:41
6 – Richards / Oliver, Porsche 911 GT-3, +3:51
7 – Herridge / Weston, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +5:08
8 – Alford / Farmer, Nissan GT-R, +5:24
9 – Hendy / Willson, Daytona Couple, +5:37
10 – Bartter / Wheeler, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +6:15

Photos courtesy of Angryman Photography.

After surviving yesterdays wild weather, Dean Herridge started the ‘North-East Loop’ in equal fifth place. But the day got off on a wrong note, thanks to a stray rock. “The first stage (Sideling) is runs through some heavily forested hills, and the road was still fairly damp in patches. We weren’t trying push too hard on cold tyres, but that stage is littered with sharp rocks on the edge of the road. And, unfortunately, we had the misfortune to run over one early into the stage. We struggled on as best we could, but the tyre was deflating and eventually disintegrated”.

“I think we lost almost three minutes on the stage”.

“But we were competitive on the other stages. Our main goal all along was to win the ATC, and there is still a long way to go in this rally. So we’ll start again tomorrow, see if we can make up some time on the crews in front of us, and try and put ourselves in a position where we can capitalise if any of the guys at the front run into problems”.

Tomorrow the crews set out on Leg 3 of Targa Tasmania 2010, with eight stages to contest as they make their way from Launceston to Devenport, and return via Deloraine.

Targa Tasmania 2010 – Leg 2

1 – White / White, Lambourghini Gallardo
2 – Glenney / Webb, Mazda RX-8 SP, +0:31
3 – Vandersee / Reeves, Skelta G-Force, +0:47
4 – Quinn / Tilett, Nissan GT-R, +0:59
5 – Jones / Searcy, Nissan GT-R, +1:19
6 – Close / Close, Audi TTRS, +2:28
7 – Richards / Oliver, Porsche 911 GT-3, +2:52
8 – Alford / Farmer, Nissan GT-R, +3:49
9 – Hendy / Willson, Daytona Couple, +3:53
10 – Vandenberg / Vandenberg , Mitsubishi EVO IX, +3:57
11 – Bartter / Wheeler, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +3:59
12 – Herridge / Weston, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +4:13

At the end of the stages, Dean Herridge led the Maximum Subarus, sharing equal fifth place and 50 seconds behind rally leader Jason White. “Given the circumstances, it’s been a reasonable day for us”, Dean explained. “It was wet all day; I think SS5 was the only stage where it didn’t rain. We’re on hard tyres, and the conditions just didn’t suit us. We struggled all day, but the main thing is we’re still in the event. We lost a lot on competitive crews today; Kevin Weeks, the Vandenbergs and Tony Sullens are all out. So to have just made it to the end of the day, and not too far away from the lead, is not too bad of an effort”.

Of the other Maximum crews, Graham Furness and Graham Iddles put in great efforts to finish the leg 24th and 32nd respectively. The one sour note was an accident involving Brian Green’s WRX STi. The Kiwi hit a post after understeering off the road. While the bodywork damage looked relatively minor, the damage to the engine was significant, and will force them to sit out the Leg 2 while repairs are made.

Thursday’s ‘North-East Loop’ begins early, with crews heading toward St Helens, on the Tasmanian east coast. Leg 2 takes in six competitive stages, the first being the tricky and twisty ‘Sideling’ stage.

Targa Tasmania 2010 Leg 1

1 – White / White, Lambourghini Gallardo
2 – Glenney / Webb, Mazda RX-8 SP, +0:09
3 – Quinn / Tilett, Nissan GT-R, +0:30
4 – Jones / Searcy, Nissan GT-R, +0:32
5 – Herridge / Weston, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +0:50
5 – Vandersee / Reeves, Skelta G-Force, +0:50
7 – Close / Close, Audi TTRS, +1:08
8 – Richards / Oliver, Porsche 911 GT-3, +1:10
9 – Alford / Farmer, Nissan GT-R, +1:25
24 – Furness / Furness, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +2:45
38 – Iddles / Cary, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +4:20