After a tumultuous Day 2, Friday was a much better day for Dean Herridge and the #993 Subaru WRX STi.

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.

Leg 1 of Targa Tasmania 2010 was challenging. But Thursday’s Leg 2 was a test of character.

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

Leg One of Targa Tasmania has seen some rough and wild weather. It was a tough day at the office for Dean Herridge and the Maximum Motorsport crews, with high winds and sleeting rain contributing to a number of accidents in the 260-strong field.

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

It’s been a good Prologue for Dean Herridge and the other three Maximum Motorsport cars at Targa Tasmania 2010.

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 busy day for Dean Herridge and the Maximum Motorsports crew, with an early-morning shakedown session at Symonds Plains raceway in preparation for tomorrows Prologue of Targa Tasmania 2010.

“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.

With just two weeks to go before the start of Targa Tasmania 2010, the Maximum Motorsport workshop is a hive of activity. The Perth-based team returns to Tasmania for its third attempt at the iconic tarmac rally, this year with four Subarus.

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.