“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

The shorty, twisty Prologue, run through the streets of Georgetown, is used to set the starting order for the rest of the event. One of the last cars in the 260-strong field to attempt the Prologue course, Dean was happy with his result. “I’m very happy with that”, Dean commented after his run. “We’ll start eighth-last on the road, which is just about where we wanted to be in the starting order. The car was good. Like all the other guys, we couldn’t really get too much heat into our tyres on such a short stage. But we coped OK with that. I made one little mistake towards the end of the stage and over-revved a little-bit, but there was no problem there and the car is ready to go again tomorrow”.

The other Maximum cars of Brian Green, Graham Furness and Graham Iddles also found the road slippery, with Iddles spinning early in the stage. “It was just dumb!”, the Perth businessman exclaimed. “The third corner in, I locked it up and spun. The tyres were still a bit ‘green’. I think we lost around 15 seconds, but there’s no damage to the car”.

With the starting order now determined, the crews will begin Leg 1 tomorrow. The ‘Northern Loop’ takes in eight stages, including Lilydale (to the north-east of Launceston) and then heads west to Sheffield before returning to Launceston.

Targa Tasmania 2010 Prologue

1 – White / White, Lambourghini Gallardo
2 – Hendy / Wilson, Daytona Coupe, +5.65
3 – Jones / Searcy, Nissan GT-R, +6.36
4 – Quinn / Tilett, Nissan GT-R, +6.87
5 – Richards / Oliver, Porsche 911 GT-3, +8.77
6 – Weeks / Allen, Lambourghini Gallardo, +9.28
7 – Vandenberg / Vandenberg, Mitsubishi EVO IX, +9.33
8 – Herridge / Weston, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +10.26

“It’s been a really good shakedown this morning”, a smiling Dean said at the end of the session. “The car feels great. We ran on old rubber this morning, just to ensure reduce the amount of kilometres on the race tyres. So it’s not exactly what we’ll start with tomorrow. But the car has run perfectly, and we’re giving ourselves the best chance of not only winning Targa, but also of taking the Australian Tarmac Championship title”.

Along with Dean, who is again be partnered by experienced co-driver Glen Weston, the 16-person Maximum crew is running cars for regulars Graham Furness and Graham Iddles. And experienced Kiwi Brian Green will debut a brand-new 2.5L Subaru WRX STi, which was completed just in time for Targa Tasmania.

Tomorrow the 260-strong field heads out to Georgetown, at the mouth of the River Tamar, for the Prologue. This short blast through the town determines the starting order for the rest of the event, with the fastest car running last on the road. And on Wednesday Targa Tasmania 2010 kicks off with the first competitive stages, with loop east from Launceston to Lilydale, then heading west to Sheffield for a total of eight stages.

After taking two podiums from two starts in the Australian Tarmac Championship, Dean Herridge starts his fourth Targa Tasmania full of confidence. “This year we’re starting from a really strong base. We now have a lot more experience with our targa-spec Imprezas. Our reliability has always been there, and we showed at Targa Wrest Point that our cars are a good enough to put some pressure on the Lamborghinis, GTRs and Porsches”.

“To lead Wrest Point at the end of leg one, against cars which are much more powerful than our own, was phenomenal. It’s a real testament to the Subaru product and the skill of our guys to build and prepare the car. So we’re going back to Tasmania full of confidence.”

“We also have our sights on the Australian Tarmac Championship, which will be decided at this event. Jason White (Lamborghini) has driven really well to take three wins from three rounds, and I fully expect him and Steve Jones (Nissan GTR) to be right up the front setting the pace. But with double points on offer in Targa, there are all sorts of different scenarios that could happen. We are hoping to continue our speed and reliability and have a good run so that we give ourselves every opportunity of becoming this year’s champion.”

In the first two events of the ATC series Dean was joined by his regular co-driver Chris Murphy. But with Chris now residing in the UK, and not returning for Targa, Dean is fortunate to have the very experienced Glen Weston join him for this event. The pair have competed together on several occasions, including last year’s Targa Tasmania.

Along with Dean’s Impreza WRX STi , Maximum Motorsport will take a three other Subaru’s to Tasmania.

Regular Maximum drivers Graham Iddles and Graham Furness will line-up for their third Targas. Iddles will campaign his 2008 WRX STi, the sister car to Dean’s Impreza. Furness, a Perth-based eye surgeon, will again pilot a 2005-spec Impreza WRX with his son Cameron as co-driver.

And adding an international flavour to the team, Kiwi’s Brian Green and Fleur Pedersen (against whom Dean competed in the 2008 APRC series) will step out of their Mitsubishi gravel rally car and into a brand-new Impreza 2.5L tarmac car, which is nearing completion at the Maximum workshop.

Targa Tasmania kicks off with the Prologue through the streets of Georgetown on Tuesday April 27, with the podium finish at Hobart’s Wrest Point Casino on Sunday 2nd May.

“We didn’t really get a great run at qualifying and we were a little further down the grid than the car deserved. But we knew that our race pace would be respectable”, a relaxed Dean commented before the start.

In mixed weather conditions the team had a strong start and after the three hour mark, found themselves running smoothly and on the lead lap. This was soon to change when the team had some trouble with a brake pad change during a pitstop, the time lost causing them to fall a lap behind the leaders.

With the unpredictable weather continuing, including a fallen tree on the circuit, the fight-back started and by the eighth hour the #44 Subaru was seventh place outright, with Dean in the car and chasing down Evo X of Peter Hill, Eric Bana and Tim Leahey.

But on lap 130, Dean’s race came to dramatic end. A problem with Hill’s Mitsubishi left it stranded in the middle of the track, between The Cutting and Reid Park.

At the time, Dean was on the tail of the eventual winner, the BMW of John Bowe, Garry Holt and Paul Morris. With caution flags waving, both Dean and John Bowe slowed. But while Bowe managed to swerve to the right of the stranded car, Dean was unsighted and slammed into the rear of the Mitsubishi. The damage to both cars was extensive, putting them out of the race.

“Firstly, I am just glad that everyone was OK”, Dean said a few days after the accident. “I was advised by the team that there was a car in trouble, but in a different part of the circuit. Coming up the hill, out of The Cutting, it’s a 4th gear, 100km/h plus section of track. I guess the extra split-second of vision that John had, was the difference between him managing to swerve and just miss Peter’s car, and me driving into the back of it.”

“Thank goodness for the HANS devices; I woke up on Monday with a few sore muscles in my back and neck. But considering the force of the impact, I’m feeling fine”.

“I am just sorry for both teams involved, because it was going really well up to that point. Our car was very competitive and we had done a good job to move up the order. I have to thank Barton for a great job during his stints and particularly Jim and his team who have been great all weekend. Jim’s passion and motivation is incredible and he has vowed to come back bigger and better in the future”.

The race was won by the #20 BMW of Bowe, Holt and Morris, just ahead of the Wall/Wall/Symonds Evo X, with the Seton/Crompton/King Mitsubishi taking third place.

Final Results – 2010 Bathurst 12 Hour

1. G.Holt/P.Morris/J.Bowe, BMW 335i, 202 laps
2. D.Wall/D.Wall/T.Symonds, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10, 202 laps
3. N.Crompton/G.Seton/M.King, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9, 201 laps
4. N.Pretty/C.McConville/A.Jones, Holden Commodore R8 Sportwagon, 201 laps
5. P.Conroy/A.Robson/M.Brame, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10, 197 laps

Photos courtesy of Achilles Zsolti – www.racetrackphoto.com