Targa Tasmania 2005 starts !

[e72phil]

For anyone interested, one of the world's great tarmac rallies started today downunder.

pls visit : http://www.targa.org.au/ for daily updates and pics.

there are PLENTY of porsches racing, especially in Classic and Modern. there's a very good chance that Jim Richards will win it again for the eigth time driving a GT3.

Check out the site as they have lots of pics and news about the cars.

Klaus Bischof and Herman Ruettger are again in the event campaigning a 1959 Porsche 718 RS 60 Spyder, factory museum car. They were presented with the 2005 Flag car flag this year, a great honour allowing them to start first car on the road.

And just because its a museum piece, dont think Klaus takes it easy. Below is a pic of him in the 2001 event (also in a Spyder) with some (ahem) gaffer tape repairs to the front.

To all those heading off to Treffen 05, have fun ! Much as I would have loved to be there, it will have to wait till GAF in Sept to see all you guys.

[reedminor]

the classic section is currently being led Bill Pye and Grant Geelan (both from NSW) in a G series 2.7 Carrera.

I have ridden in the car - apparently when it was 20-30hp down - and the car is a weapon...

Their car is the orange one - in the galleries.

Justin Reed

[e72phil]

Here are some pics from Days 1 & 2.

This is Klaus Bischof's 550 Spyder, an early 1965 911 in yet another Targa event, a flying 996 and a visit into the scenery.

There are 5 Porsches in the top 10 after 2 days of racing !

[72targa]

Cool pics from 'down under'!

[Paul Schooley]

Yikes...don't think I wanna be the guy that owns the one in the last pic. That looks like some potentially bad damage up front $$$$$$$

[e72phil]

A couple more shots of interest;

8 Kms of Fun about to start,

and the Maestro - Jim Richards - 7 times outright winner of this event at work in his GT3.

[e72phil]

From the official website, this article gives some idea of how this event is viewed and supported by the Porsche Museum Director -

PORSCHE MUSEUM CELEBRATES 10 YEARS WITH TARGA TASMANIA FLAG CAR HONOUR

TUESDAY, MARCH 25: To honour the 10th successive year the Stuttgart Porsche Museum has entered in Targa Tasmania, the famous Porsche Type 718 RS 60 Spyder that won the 1960 Targa Florio road race is returning to Australia as the Flag Car for this year’s Targa Tasmania from April 26-May 1, with the Museum’s Director Klaus Bischof at the wheel.

First driven in 1996 by retired Formula One driver and Porsche sports car champion Jochen Mass, the sleek mid-engine open Porsche was the first factory-entered Porsche to participate in Targa, winning both the Outright Handicap Classification and its class.

The Stuttgart-based Museum that is the home to nearly 400 rare and historic Porsche models built over the past 58 years has entered a special sports-racing model in Targa Tasmania since 1996.

“We want to show people how good Porsches really are and to do this, we must bring cars out of the Museum and the cars must run,” said Bischof.

Some other international motor sport personalities that have entered in Targa Tasmania with the Porsche Museum over the years include, dual World Rally Champion Walter Roehrl, Australian GT-Production Champion Peter Fitzgerald, international rally legend Bjorn Waldegaard and famed sports car champion, the late Bob Wollek and of course, Bischof himself.

57-year-old Bischof, the only man in the world who holds the key to 400 Porsches, has competed in Targa Tasmania six times, kicking off his Targa tenure in a 1953 356 America Roadster with navigator, and mechanic, Herrmann Reuttger.

The collection of rare and exotic Porsche Museum cars that have adorned some of Tasmania’s roads also include, the Museum’s potent 1983 911SC RS, an alloy-bodied 1960 356 Carrera GS/GT, the 3.0 litre 911SC ‘Safari’ coupe that came close to winning the tough 1978 East African Safari rally for Porsche in the hands of rally legend, Waldegaard and the unusual-looking but very fast 356B Carrera 2000GT ‘Dreikantschaber’ sports car that won the 1964 GT World Cup and competed at Le Mans.

“But it’s also important for us that the cars run in absolutely the same condition and on similar tyres to the way they were in their prime. That’s rare to find in classic and historic motorsport these days.”

This year the classic RS60 will revisit Targa Tasmania. As well as giving Porsche its third Targa Florio win in 1960 in the hands of factory drivers Jo Bonnier and Edgar Herrmann, the same car went on to win the Sebring 12 Hour sports car classic and the European Hillclimb Championship that year.

But in the Spyder’s new role as the Targa Tasmania Flag Car and with no roof to protect him and co-driver Dr Georg Huber from the sometimes-fickle Tasmanian elements, Bischof is naturally hoping for fine and sunny weather in their ‘bathtub’.

“This is a special honour, both for a special car and for Porsche, that we want as many people as possible to see, hear and enjoy it,” said Bischof.

[ttweed]

Yikes...don't think I wanna be the guy that owns the one in the last pic. That looks like some potentially bad damage up front $$$$$$$

As they like to say on the PP forum: "That'll buff right out!"

TT

[JimR]

A couple more shots of interest;

8 Kms of Fun about to start,

and the Maestro - Jim Richards - 7 times outright winner of this event at work in his GT3.

If only I was half as talented as the Maestro.

[e72phil]

Hi Jim,

yes, your namesake is a legend in Australian motor racing and has been a factory supported Porsche driver for many years.

He is a magician in a car when it gets wet, even in a RWD Porsche with serious horsepower. Having won this Targa Tasmania event 7 times out of the 14 (?) times it has been run attests to his driving skills on the very demanding roads of our island State of Tasmania.