Racewars adds Targa

By Grace Jones | posted on October 10, 2019

STATE rally sprint motor sport body Targa West will be the driving force behind the Racewars Sprint next year.

The Sprint had its inaugural run this year during the March long weekend that had cars of all makes and model making the 3km hurdle up Mount Clarence from Middleton Beach.

Targa West runs a series of closed road timed rallies across Perth and in some regional areas with competitors behind the wheel of anything from Ford Escorts to Tesla Roadsters.

Targa West Event Director Ross Tapper said he was in the pits during the event this year when he approached Racewars Event Director Jon Murray.

“I told him that when he was ready he could come and have a chat with me about the Sprint going into the future,” he said.

“I didn’t hear from him until a few weeks ago since he was tying up some loose ends with the City of Albany for next year.

“We got all the ducks in a line.”

A Racewars spokesperson said Targa West would use their wealth of experience to make the event bigger and better.

“It wasn’t an easy decision for us to hand over the Sprint,” they said.

“However by partnering with Ross and his team, we’re able to focus all of our energy on the runway racing side of Racewars 2020 knowing that Targa West will be able to grow this event beyond what we could do on our own.”

Mr Tapper said the newly named Targa Albany Sprint would still be held in the same place, at the same time.

“The Sprint is very similar to what we normally do,” he said.

“It made sense for us to run it. That way Racewars can concentrate on running their runway event.”

Mr Tapper said he hoped to make a few small changes to how the event was run for next year.

“We’ll fine-tune the chicanes so it’s not like a drag strip going up there,” he said.

“I’ve also spoken to the City of Albany to see if they would consider letting the cars drive around Mount Clarence and past Dog Rock to Middleton Beach instead of coming back down the hill.

“That way we don’t have the congestion of cars coming back down. It can flow better.”

Mr Tapper said he hoped Targa competitors would be tempted down to Albany for the competition and to see what Racewars had to offer.

“It’s an iconic piece of road for Albany and iconic scenery,” he said.

“It’s a good fit having a sprint.

“We’re hoping that we can bring more people down and have around 100 competitors instead of the 87 from this year.”

Mr Tapper said a website for registrations would be active before the end of November.

For more information on Targa West visit www.targawest.com.au