E-newsNOVEMBER

Inside the OctagonThe Event Director’s insight into Octagon

On the CourseBehind the mind of the

Sporting Director

Targa Q&AYour most frequently asked

questions, answered!

Octagon would like to thank the following sponsors

Principal Partners

Naming Rights Partners

Major Partners

Environmental Partner

Event Partners

Supporting Councils

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“ N O O N E K N O W S Y O U R

P A S S I O N L I K E S H A N N O N S.”

Inside the OctagonMark Perry, General Manager - Events

Well, we are just days away fromthe third running of Targa HighCountry in the Mansfield and MtBuller Region.

It is fantastic news to say that wehave 165 entries, which is eleven upon last year and shows that in spiteof tougher times that the firsttarmac rally ever staged in Victoriaholds great appeal for ourcustomers in providing a shortformat, relaxed event within closeproximity of Melbourne.

The street stage and Targafest willagain be a highlight in the heart ofMansfield as will the long toughstages the event is known for.

We return home from Mt Buller forjust a couple of weeks before weare off again on a journey aroundTasmania to run the Swisse MarkWebber Tasmania Challenge andwith some of the world’s greatestathletes attending along with a fewcelebrities, it promises to be a greatexperience for all those involved.

In closing off from Supaloc TargaAdelaide for 2012, I just wanted toconfirm that NO irregularities werefound in the Three NISSAN R35GTR’s tested in post eventscrutineering and the standings asprovisional do stand.

It is fair to say the venue for thisyear’s finish was not an ideallocation to conduct this check dueto the amazing turnout we had forthe Street Party and therequirement for all competitors tostay on. We apologise to thefollowing competitors for theperception of guilt that the locationcreated:

• Tony Quinn• Naomi Tillett• Peter Rullo• Simon Iseppi• Peter Leemhuis• Ben Fitzsimmons

We do however refute theperception that this particular carwas targeted specifically, as weregularly conduct checks of acertain type of car to enablecomparisons to be made.

We have conducted this process atother Targa events on variousmodels of the Evo, WRX, Skylineand Lamborghini in 2012 and willcontinue to conduct these checks inthis way.

I would like to wish all thecompetitors listed above along witheveryone else at Targa HighCountry the best of luck.

On the course with Stuart Benson, Sporting Director

Targa rallies have changed an

amazing amount in a relativityshort the period of time… when Ifirst become involved all the wayback in 1997 competitors wouldsledge each other for daring towear a race suit at Targa, evenBathurst legends wore jeans andjumpers while blazing their way tothe podium. A half cage was Ok,and there wasn’t an EvolutionLancer for Subaru WRX in sight, asthey were specifically excludeddue to their dubious sportingattributes in a field of prestigesports and grand touring cars.

Only a few years earlier therewasn’t even the necessity for a rollcage, nor race harness or even ahelmet! Back in the day, servicecrews actually used tools to repaircars instead of laptops and if youlisten to early Targa veteransthey’ll try and tell you R tyres wereso hard sparks came off them!

When the millennium bug was dueto hit, a Targa license cost over$600, plus medical every year andthe car was only used at TargaTasmania.

So much has changed, but I doubtany of it has been to thedetriment. It’s now trendy to havea complex welded-in roll overprotection system and head

support seats in your car. Peergroup pressure suggests heavybike helmets are out while newgeneration lightweight Stilohelmets and hans devices are inand Sabelt race suits are now lightand actually breathe. Plenty ofrecce helps make you feel more atease with the journey ahead andinstead of laying on cold concreteworking on the car, you’re morelikely to see crews enjoying somegood meals while working on fueland tyre strategies.

Although becoming faster,statistically cars have becomesafer on the whole, with fewerand generally less-serious injuriesare being seen by our dedicatedteam from Motorsport Safety andRescue, primarily thanks tocompetitors investing in qualitysafety gear. Finishing rates havebeen improving for a few yearsnow and I believe this has a lot todo with competitors having moreseat time. Every event you doimproves your driving experienceand helps you develop your car tobe more drivable and morecomplimentary to your drivingstyle.

From my observation though, onething has very much remained thesame since 1992, and that’s theaccessibility of targa events. Sure,

you’ll need something prettyspecial to win any of the highlyprized categories of Supaloc TargaAdelaide, Targa High Country,Targa Wrest Point or TargaTasmania and rightly so, nothingworth winning is ever easy. Thatsaid though, to simply enjoyplaying you certainly don’t need toinvest hundreds of thousands ofdollars into a targa car… well notin just one year anyway!

A quick look around the usualwebsites suggests there are somegreat buys out there for anyonewanting to jump onboard thetarga train, but almostacknowledging the early days,even in 2012 you don’t actuallyneed a race car to be part of theaction, check out the Tour(100km/h limited, spiritedly leadprocession) and Regularity(130km/h limited, 90km averagebase times) categories forstandard and modified carswithout roll cages, which bothallow a steady introduction intowhat has to be some of the bestways to have fun you your favoritecar.

See you next week… ‘on top ofthe world’!

NEW DEPOSIT SYSTEM FOR TARGA EVENTS IN 2013There has been much discussion on the currentdeposit system for the Cams Australian TargaChampionship with the reduction in the depositrequired being welcomed, but with it the removal ofthe ability to transfer not being well received in somecircles.

Transferring of funds around four events has provedto be an accounting nightmare and to which event andhow many transfers have been very difficult things tomanage.

There appears to be widespread acceptance thatwhen you enter that there are initial costs involvedfor us to administer that entry but most feel that thelevel of funds retained on withdrawal is too high.

So with that in mind, we will be introducing a fairersystem from Targa Wrest Point 2013.

The deposit will remain at $500 for all Targa eventsbut if a competitor withdraws from a particular eventmore than 30 days before the event, only $250 willbe retained to cover administration costs and theother $250 (and any additional funds) will berefunded.

As many items are purchased close to the event, if acompetitor withdraws thirty days or less before anevent, the full $500 will be retained to cover theseadditional costs.

We hope that this simple and inherently fairer systemwill be welcomed by all our valued customers.

The next Longford Revival Festival will be held in March 2014, after organisers took the decision to make the celebration of Tasmania’s golden era of motorsport a biennial event.

The popularity of the Festival was underlined with strong attendances on debut in 2011 and again in 2012. However, Octagon’s General Manager - Events, Mark Perry, says his company believes its future is best served by holding it every other year.

“We were really overwhelmed with the support we received both years and the positive feedback we had from exhibitors and fans,” Perry said.

“While these have been tough times to establish an event like this from absolute scratch, we’ve actually done it.

“We rely a lot on the support of the car collectors, who really make the event by bringing along some of the rarest automobiles in the world.

“They are saying to us that it is hard for them to be at Longford every year, or to always have something new to bring along, and we know we need to keep it fresh and interesting if the Festival is to have a long term future.“This change should ensure that every Longford Revival

Festival is really special - full of unique and classic cars with genuine appeal.

“It has been amazing to get emails from around the world and all over Australia coming in every week saying they want to come down to Tasmania and see this event they have heard so much about.

“Now we have a date for 2014 and a plan for the future. The state government and the Northern Midlands Council have been very supportive of the Festival and I thank them for sharing our vision to date and we look forward to working closely with them in the future.”

Mayor Kim Polley of the Northern Midlands Council said that after travelling along the “Flying Mile” in the Shannons Goggomobil at the inaugural Revival Festival in 2011, she was delighted to hear that the event will again be staged at Longford in 2014.

“The motoring festival is a major event which celebrates an important chapter in the history of Longford where car races were held from 1953 until 1968”.

The dates set for the 2014 Longford Revival Festival are Saturday March 22 and Sunday March 23.

This change should ensure that every

Longford Revival Festival is really special

South Australia will again host the opening round of the CAMS Australian Targa Championship next year with Supaloc Targa Adelaide to be held from August 21 to 25.

The rally attracted the best modern and classic Targa cars from across the country in August this year, and organiser, Octagon, is confident it will grow in 2013.

Series director, Mark Perry, believes the huge crowd that turned up at the Adelaide Showgrounds to watch the cars under lights on August 22 demonstrated that the people of South Australia are ready to embrace Targa racing.

“Targa came to Adelaide for the first time in 2011 as a classics only event, but this year we also added modern cars,’’ Perry said.

“We had 25,000 people turn up for the street stage this year at Wayville, which just blew us away, and convinced us that the sport has a big future in Adelaide.

“We’ve got tremendous support from South Australian Tourism, who share our vision for the event.

“We are working on developing the course even further in 2013, adding more competitive kilometresand spreading the economic impact that flows from having 150 cars and support crews to more areas around the state.

“The Showgrounds night stage allowed us to bring Targa racing to the heart of one of the country’s major cities. This can’t be done anywhere else and it has certainly opened the eyes of many as to what can be done in the future in Adelaide.

“We can’t announce course details yet as securing roads and stages is a long and consultative process, but we are very excited about the potential of the event in 2013 and some of the real innovations, again close to the heart of the city, that we might be able to introduce.”

The CAMS Australian Targa Championship is a four round series that includes Supaloc Targa Adelaide, Targa High Country at Mt Buller, Targa Wrest Point in Hobart and Targa Tasmania. It is the largest national motorsport championship in the country, attracting over 300 entrants.

Round two of the 2012/13 championship, Targa High Country, will take place from November 9 to 11.

Targa High Country QuestionsQ: Refueling on top of Mount Buller and Parc Ferme? Surely its changed….A: After feedback on last years event on Parc Ferme, we have changed the layout so that it is now on flat ground. In addition to this we have also changed the designated refueling area, to make this component much easier on event. Maps will be available at Headquarters so please pick one up if you have any queries.

Q: How many cars have entered into this year’s event?A: 130 competitive cars will be tackling the terrain, for what will be the 3rd Targa High Country. The competitive cars will also be joined by 10 regularity vehicles and, for the first time; 30 vehicles in the Porsche Tour. So with 170 vehicles participating, on two lanes of open road around the Victorian Countryside there will be plenty to see at this years Targa High Country!

Q: Regularity at Targa High Country, will we have the option to chose between group A (90 kmph) and group B (80 kmph)?

A: The layout of the Targa High Country course certainly resembles a sprint event; in comparison to the highly technical course’s of Targa Tasmania and Targa Adelaide. At our short course events, Targa High Country and Targa Wrest Point, competitors in regularity will only have the option to be in Group A.

Additional Questions Q: How does it affect our Championship points if we change driver?A: CAMS Australian Targa Championship points are calculated on personnel within a particular category. For example you can change your vehicle within a particular category, however if you want to keep your points you can not change the driver. Eg: Greg Burrows decides to purchase a Subaru Impreza WRX instead of his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, they (Greg and Rhonda) are still eligible to win the 4WD Showroom Championship despite the team changing cars within the competition. If Team 950 decides to list Rhonda as the primary driver then points are accumulated differently, as they are set on the domain of the listed driver, so it is all about the competition and the listed driver.

Q: Targa Hot Laps - 2013 Formula 1™ Australian Grand Prix, have you had much of a response?A: We are strictly limited to 60 people for the corporate marquee hire and I can confirm that well over half of this booking is already confirmed so if you are interested I urge you to get in fast to avoid missing out, as it is first in best dressed and application close on the 30th of November.

On event please go to www.targa.com.au to stay up to date with all the latest news or search Australian Targa Championship in the App Store

Targa Q&A Todd Grant, Sales Executive

An exclusive “member’s only” booking page has

been created on the Spirit of Tasmania website and

is ready for your use!

The online web address is:

www.spiritoftasmania.com.au/targa-tasmania

When booking via this page, members will have

access to the best available fares on their chosen sailing dates and access to limited passenger and

vehicle space on selected dates. Bookings via this

members only page are valid for travel between 01/04/2013 – 30/04/2013 Limited car/passenger space

has been protected for ex Melbourne to

Devonport 09/04/13 to the 14/04/13 inclusive – PM

departures and Devonport to Melbourne 21/04/13 to

the 24/04/13 inclusive – PM departures

Protected space for vehicles is based on vehicles

under 2.1m in height. Protected space for accommodation is based on Twin Porthole cabins –

alternative accommodation styles & vehicle

dimensions will be subject to availability at time of booking.

Protected space will be held until cob 29th January 2013 or until sold out.

Make sure you log on to www.targa.com.au to keep up with all the action next weekend.

With over 160 cars hitting the roads, the 2nd round of the CAMSAustralian Targa Championship is sure to deliver it’s normalamount of thrills and excitement. Download our Targa app to get upto the minute results and news.

Can the Whites be beaten?Will Todd and Tighe bounce back?Will Renault win on debut in the High Country?

All these questions and so much more will be answered next weekend.

TARGA HIGH COUNTRY 9-11 NOVEMBER

MANSFIELD – MT BULLER – EILDON

This Targa season we're delighted tohave Other Side Productions as part ofthe Targa TV team to providecompetitors access to high qualityvideo production services for their ownpromotional use. Over 2 million peopleviewed the Targa Championship onYouTube last year and now they canview you with a variety of differentvideo and sponsorship options to suitall competitors. Contact | Ben Sale0434 906 673 or 03 9041 4002ben@othersideproductions.com

Phone (02) 6227 0133or email info@bsmsport.com.auSuppliers of

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Over 20 years supplying top tier Australian race categories means definitive knowledge in the world of motorsport

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For the full range, visit the truck at Targa High Country, November 9th-11th 2012.

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• Race fuels available • New café diner • Awesome takeaway selection • Healthy sandwich & salad bar • Renowned barista coffee • Ice, groceries, ATM • Swap & go gas bottles • Oil and automotive parts • Camping goods • News and Magazines

Launch WeekendLaunch WeekendLaunch WeekendLaunch Weekend

Targa Weekend Trading Hours Friday: 6:30am - 12:00am

Sat/Sunday: 6:30am - 9:00pm

145 Mt. Buller Road, Phone: 5775 2807, www.vantagefuels.com.au

pit stop

Saturday Nov 10th Targa Service HQ 12:30pm Watch service crews race against the clock to ensure their rally cars are race ready for upcoming rally stages. SES Display & BBQ

Car Displays, Give Aways & Rally Highlights

Friday Nov 9th Post Targa Fest Feed 7:30pm Take advantage of our dinner specials and enjoy the rally atmosphere as the Targa competitors grid up for the Mt. Buller convoy.

Explore the High Country Targa route

Challenging 4WD to enjoyable road cruising

Great diversity of activities & interests along the way

Thrill to an outdoor adventure; or

Simply enjoy the views

From 5 stars to under the stars!

YOUR ROAD TO MANSFIELD’S HIGH COUNTRY starts here........