Friday 9:30am Update: There’s been a few dramas for Dean and the Maximum Motorsports Subaru during day 2 of Targa Tasmania. Although he and co-driver Glen Weston were able to keep in touch with the leaders, the smell of oil caused some concerns throughout Thursday’s stages.

“We were dumping oil, and we think it was damaged piston. Under the rules we’re allowed the change the pistons and rings, so the boys have rebuilt the engine overnight!”, Dean said as he prepared for the start of Friday’s stages.

“We should be fine, but it was dry all day. Now we really need some rain. We’re conserving the tyres OK, but we just can’t keep up with the exotics in front of us. If we’re any chance for a win, we need some different weather. We’ve not driven this car in the wet before, but we really need to rain to mix up the field a little bit”.

During leg 2 crews travelled from Launceston to St Helens on Tasmania’s east coast, taking in five competitive stages before lunch. Then a less than leisurely loop back, which included three stages, including a stage through the streets of one of Australia’s most famous motorsport towns, Longford.

While Tony Quinn, Kevin Weeks and Jim Richards all fought for the lead, Dean maintained a steady pace to run within the top 10 cars all day.

Friday’s leg 3 sees the crews again run a loop from Launceston, this time heading to the north-west, with a stage in central Devonport, then south to Sheffield and returning via Deloraine. The forcasted showers have arrived, so today should be great opportunity for Dean to move closer to the leaders.

Results – After Day 2
1. Quinn / Tillett, Nissan GTR, +04:08
2. Weeks / Crunkhorn, Lamborghini Gallardo, +04:10
3. Richards / Oliver, Porsche 911 GT2, +04:11
4. White / White, Lamborghini Gallardo, +04:24
5. Jones / Soutar-Dawson, Nissan GT-R, +04:29
6. D Herridge / Weston, Subaru Impreza STi, +05:11
7. Close / Reeves, Porsche 911 Turbo, +05:34
20. R Herridge / Chudleigh, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +09:03
34. Furness / Furness, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +12:36
47. Iddles / Hopwood, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +17:20

Photos courtesy of Targa Tasmania.

Targa Tasmania has begun in earnest today, a field of 250 cars starting from the Launceston Country Club this morning. And it’s been a trouble-free day for Dean Herridge and the #993 Subaru Impreza.

“It’s been a good day”, Dean exclaimed after the field returned to Launceston having completing a loop of nine stages to the north and west of the city. “There were no issues at all with the car. We completed the first four stages under base time, which was a good way to start. We lost a little bit of time in the afternoon, but we expected that to happen on some of the longer stages which don’t suit our car”.

The way category winners are determined is a little bit different to conventional rallies. Like a WRC or ARC event, each car is timed on each stage. But at Targa, the winner is determined by the penalty time. Each stage has a target base time. If you take four minutes to complete a stage that has a three minute base time, one minute is added to your penalty time. The crew with the lowest penalty time at the end of the event, is the outright winner in each category.

“We’re currently 9th, but we hope to have some of our penalty time reduced. We slowed on the last stage for an accident which cost us around 10 seconds. We’ll appeal to have that time given back to us, and hopefully we’ll improve our position”. [Update: Overnight, the 10 seconds were taken off Dean’s penalty time, moving him up into 6th position]. “But overall it’s been good. The tyres are in good condition, and it’s all looking positive for tomorrow’s stages”.

Like Dean the other three Maximum Motorsport crews completed the day without incident, Dean’s father Rob sitting 25th overall after his first day to ‘Targa’ rallying.

Tomorrow the crews head east from Launceston to St Helens for five competitive stages, returning to the city via a southerly loop that includes three stages that include the famous Longford township stage.

Results – After Day 1
1. Quinn / Tillett, Nissan GTR, +00:26
2. White / White, Lamborghini Gallardo, +00:32
3. Richards / Oliver, Porsche 911 GT2, +00:34
4. Weeks / Crunkhorn, Lamborghini Gallardo, +00:35
5. Jones / Soutar-Dawson, Nissan GT-R, +00:39
6. D.Herridge / Weston, Subaru Impreza STi, +00:45
7. Close / Reeves, Porsche 911 Turbo, +00:46
7. Miedecke / Willson, Daytona Coupe, +00:46
25. R.Herridge / Chudleigh, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +02:38
36. Furness / Furness, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +03:38
47. Iddles / Hopwood, Subaru Impreza WRX STi, +05:09

Photos courtesy of Targa Tasmania

Dean Herridge has completed the Prologue stage of Targa Tasmania, and will start the competition as the sixth fastest among the ‘Modern’ competitors.

A short blast around the township of George Town, at the mouth of the Tamar River, determines the starting order for the first day of competition, and Dean and co-driver Glen Weston completed the course without incident.

“It was a good clean run”, said Dean after completing the stage. “The car was perfect. In fact, we went a little bit faster than we were intending. Tactically, it would have been better to start a little further back. But the starting order will change during the event anyway, so it’s not the end of the world”.

With dry weather predicated for the first two days of the event, Dean will be looking to control his speed and tyre wear. “We’ve elected to run soft compound tyres, so we want the rain! We’ll have to look after the tyres for the first couple of days, but it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. If we can stay in touch with the leaders and then get some rain on the final couple of days, we should be in the mix for a good result”.

During Prologue eight-time Targa winner Jim Richards set the pace in his Porsche 911 GT2, and with the cars running in reverse order, he’ll start as the final car on the road tomorrow morning, a field of more than 250 cars beginning a loop of nine stages to the north and west of Launceston.

Results – After Prologue
1. Jim Richards / Barry Oliver, 2008 Porsche 911 GT2
2. Matt Close /Cameron Reeves, 2000 Porsche 911 Turbo, +1.33s
3. Jason White / John White, 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, +2.21s
4. Steve Jones / Ruari Soutar-Dawson, 2007 Nissan GTR, +3.47s
5. Kevin Weeks / Rebecca Crunkhorn, 2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, +3.54s
6. Dean Herridge / Glen Weston, 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, +3.55s

Photos courtesy of Targa Tasmania

After his recent cameos in two rounds of the Australian Rally Championship, Dean Herridge is back in ‘tarmac mode’ and ready for another ‘crack’ at Targa Tasmania. Often referred to as a ‘high-speed game of chess’, Targa Tasmania is a six day tactical battle that covers 2000 kms of Tasmania’s trickiest roads.

2009 will be Dean’s third ‘Targa’, and after a promising 3rd outright last year, his sights are focused on an even better result this time around.

“I’m looking forward to the event”, Dean said after travelling from his home-base to Australia’s island state. “I think it will be as tough as ever. There are some really strong teams and the event has made some changes to the rules that will see the outright positions being fought for over every kilometre. Particularly over the last couple of days!”

Like traditional rally events, Targa features timed competitive stages; the quickest car over all of the timed stages wins. But unlike other rallies, Targa penalises crews who use too much of their cars too quickly. Mistreat your tyres and you’ll either struggle on the twisty Tasmanian roads, or be forced to change them and incur a time penalty.

While outright car speed is important, so too is how the driver is able to preserve the car early in the rally and fight to the end of the event. And that’s why the leaderboard can change dramatically on the final few days of Targa.

By far the biggest ‘unknown’ to the Targa competitors is the unpredictable local weather. “As always the weather will play a part. My last two Targa outings (’06 and ’08) were completely dry, so I am hoping for some rain. I don’t think that will make it any easier, but I think it would help us be more competitive than if it stayed dry!”

Once again Maximum Motorssport will run a small armada of Subarus at Targa. Dean and co-driver Glen Weston (a rookie Targa competitor) will pilot the #993 ’08-spec Subaru Impreza in the fight for outright honours, while Graham Iddles and Paul Hopwood return in the sister Impreza STi (#985).

Father and son combination Graham and Cameron Furness make their debut at Targa in an ’05-spec Impreza, as does Dean’s father, former Australian champion Rob Herridge. A master on gravel, this will be Rob’s first Targa, and he and co-driver Anthony Chudleigh will share the ’07-spec Impreza that Dean took to a podium last year (and most recently used in the Quit Forest Rally).

Targa Tasmania ’09 starts tomorrow (Tuesday April 28) with the Prologue run through the streets of George Town, continues from Launceston on Wednesday morning, and concludes on Sunday afternoon at the Wrest Point Hotel in Hobart.

And (internet and mobile phones willing) we’ll have daily updates from Dean and Glen as they compete for outright honours at Targa Tasmania 2009.

Photos courtesy of Optical Note Productions.

It was a weekend of highs and lows for Dean and the Maximum Motorsport team in the Quit Forest Rally. They finished the event with a 4th place in heat two, but it could have been a podium position if not for transmission problems on Saturday.

“It was an interesting weekend”, said Dean, who left Perth straight after the rally to begin recce for Targa Tasmania. “It’s always great to compete in my ‘local’ round of the ARC, but it took us a little while to get up to speed on Saturday. There was quite a high rate of attrition, particularly with the leading crews. Both Neal (Bates) and Simon (Evans) went out early, so although our speed wasn’t where we wanted it to be, we could have finished with a podium.”

“But we ran into trouble on Saturday afternoon. There was section with a series crests, but after one of the landings we broke something on the car; there was just no drive. We landed after the crest and just rolled to a stop. The boys pulled the gearbox out, and found we’d torn the centre out of the clutch. So that was it for Leg 1. But we managed to get back out late in the afternoon and was classified 12th for the heat”.

So a disappointing start to the event but Leg 2 was a different story, and Dean and new co-driver Glen Weston were much more competitive during Sunday’s stages. “After the first stage on Sunday morning, we were again too slow”, commented Dean. “Glen and I really put our heads down after the first stage and increased the pace a fair bit. We ending up trading times with Simon and Neal, so it was encouraging”.

“It takes a little while to get back into the swing of things when you’re jumping from one series to another. The ARC heat rounds are all about flat-out speed, whereas Targa Tasmania and Targe Wrest Point are very tactical events, and in China we have a different set of objectives again”.

“But it’s been good to be back in the championship, particularly with the backing from City Subaru. We would have liked to be a bit closer to the lead, but it’s been encouraging”.

Dean’s rally year now begins to speed up, with a weeks testing with Subaru Rally Team China, Targa Tasmania, and then back to China for to tarmac events, rallies Shanghai and Beijing. And that means the Forest Rally may be Dean’s final ARC event for the year.

“The scheduling of Targa Tasmania and the first of the Chinese events means it’s too tight for us to get to Rally Queensland. There’s a possibility we’ll be at Rally Australia later in the year, but for now we’re focused on Targa and then the five rounds of the Chinese series”.

Final Results – ARC Quit Forest Rally

1. Raymond / Raymond
2. E.Evans / Murphy
3. Bates / Taylor
4. Smart / Smart
5. Shepheard / McCarthy
6. Herridge / Weston
7. S.Evans / S.Evans

Photos courtesy of Peter Evans.

Next weekends Quit Forest Rally look like it will be a cracker! Dean will be back in his ’07 Subaru, his new Impreza currently prepared for Targa Tasmania. But this may be an advantage, as the Maximum Motorsport crew know this car well, particularly on the gravel tracks of the Nannup forests.

While it’s Dean’s second ARC round of the year, ‘Forest’ is the third round of the Australian Championship, with all of the leading contenders making the trek across the Nullabor. The manufacturer teams may have left the ARC, but the quality of the fields hasn’t diminished, and this weekend will be a tough fight between Dean, defending champ Neal Bates, series leader Simon Evans, and Eli Evans who’ll been looking to make up points after his spectacular exit from Rally Canberra.

“It’s a very tough field”, Dean commented. “I think, although there can be some fallout with the manufacturers moving away (from the series), in some ways it gets the sport back to basics.”

“The leading privateers can now see that they can have a shot (at winning events), and I hope that’s what gets the ARC back on its legs again. It should be as good as ever, and if there are some good decisions made by ARCom and CAMs in the direction we take the series, we can have a series that’s as good as it’s ever been. The driver talent and the depth (of talent) hasn’t changed”.

It’s been a while since we caught up with Dean, so in this interview we not only preview the Forest Rally, but also dig in to the results of Targa Wrest Point, Rally Tasmania (and the differences between Targa spec and Group N spec), why he isn’t driving in the APRC this year, and Dean’s recent trip to China. To hear the full interview, just click the ‘Play’ button.

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