Targa Sprints

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:50 am

Maps are in the latest issue of Classic Car, plenty of spectator viewing take some shade, sandwiches and lemonades

Each stage repeated 4 times so watch the times come down and carnage go up. Or bring your Schedule A car with a warrant and have a skid!

The 2015 Metalman Targa Rally Sprint is designed to welcome new competitors to the Targa Family. This one day event does not form part of the Sanction Series, so it appeals to a wide audience for a variety of reasons. All Drivers must hold a minimum of an M grade license and Co Drivers do not need to have a license. This means you can take your sponsors, hardworking service crews, friends and family for a ride in the passenger seat.
This event is located amongst the picturesque scenery of the Celevedon/Papkaura area in Auckland. We will be based at Ardmore Airport where we will run repeat stages allowing alterations for the set up and testing of your car. We will be using Monument Road from Clevedon to Hunua and Ardmore Quarry Road from Hunua to Ardmore. This will be repeated four times, totalling approximately 80kms of Special Stage. These roads typify a Targa event and are a great introduction for the Targa Bambina and Targa NZ later this year. There is an opportunity to experience standard rally safety notes, route books, time cards and rally protocol to give you a feel for what Targa is all about. This is the experience you need before taking on our Ultimate Road Race in October.
The Metalman Targa NZ Rally Sprint is a fantastic, friendly event where you can bring the whole family for a day of entertainment and an afternoon BBQ. Don’t miss out on an exhilarating way to start your Targa experiences, entries are limited so enter online now!

Andy · Post by **Andy** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:08 pm

Targa New Zealand
2015 Metalman Targa Rally Sprint
Ardmore
Papakura
Auckland
Sunday
March 08
2015

EVENT PREVIEW
24-02-15
ARDMORE BASE MEANS LATEST TARGA EVENT IS CLOSER TO HOME
Basing the first Targa tarmac motor rally event of the year, the one-day Metalman Targa NZ Rally Sprint, at Ardmore Airport in south-east Auckland, on Sunday March 08, has proved a popular choice, and not just with competitors in the greater Auckland area.
Event Director Peter Martin lives and works in nearby Papakura, and after spending literally hundreds of hours last year flying backwards and forwards from the South Island overseeing the organization of the 20th annual six-day Targa New Zealand event from Christchurch to Queenstown, he says having the first event of the new year 'just down the road' has been a godsend.
"Just being able to get in the car and be at Ardmore in five minutes has certainly been a novelty, " says Martin. "Even our event sponsor, Clark Proctor the Metalman, is just up the road in Takanini. It makes a change from driving to and from the airport then spending another hour or two on a plane, that's for sure."
This year the one-day Metalman Targa NZ Rally Sprint is the first of three events on the Targa calendar. The second is the re-named now three-day Targa Bambina in the Coromandel and Bay of Plenty in May, and the third is the six-day Targa New Zealand - which this year will start in Auckland and finish in the lower North Island in late October.
A season-opening one-day 'sprint' event in the south Auckland/Franklin area has been part of the Targa calendar for three years now and Martin says it has been a popular addition for a number of reasons.
"One is obviously that it gets all our regulars back into the swing of things. Another is that it is the ideal chance for the many people who have 'always wanted to do the Targa' to dip their toe in, if you like, and see what one of our events is really like."
Like the two previous events run in Waiuku and Pukekohe, this year's Metalman one has a central base - the Conference Centre at Ardmore Airport - with two stages repeated four times in the morning and four times in the afternoon with a lunch break in-between.
"All-up," says Martin, "we're looking at around 80kms of timed special stages, with three service breaks, one in the morning, one at lunch and one in the afternoon.
"The roads are typical Targa roads, nice and twisty and not too fast or slow, and competitors have the option of competing against the clock to see who quickest, or using it as either a test and tuning day to dial in their cars and driver/co-driver combinations."
Entries are spread evenly over the three class categories, with around 10 - 15 each in Instra Corporation Modern 2WD, Instra Corporation Allcomers 4WD, Metalman Classic 2WD.
Included in the lineup are 2014 Targa South Island winners Glenn Inkster and Spencer Winn (from Patuamahoe and Howick respectively) in their Ecolight Mitsubishi Evo 8 and event sponsor Clark Proctor and his co-driver Sue O'Neill in Proctor's Nissan turbo-engined Ford Escort.
During the day, good viewing opportunities of the cars will be available at the Ardmore Airport or off Creightons Rd.
Road maps and more information can be found at www.targa.co.nz
Targa New Zealand events are organised with the support of sponsors Ecolight, Federal tyres, Global Security, Instra Corporation, Kids In Cars, Metalman, NZ Classic Car magazine, Race Brakes, TeamTalk, TrackIt, VTNZ. and Woolrest Biomag.