A third successive day-long domination of Targa Tasmania has Ray Vandersee’s Skelta G-Force as the clear crowd favourite on the Apple Isle. Backing up from nine stage wins during day two and three of the International tarmac event, Vandersee added to the kitty by securing another three outright victories, plus a second placing and equal third in an impressive display of consistency.
The opening four stages of today’s competition consisted of short sprint runs which again highlighted the outright speed off the mark and handling of the Skelta G-Force. Vandersee maintained pace with the Targa Tasmania front-runners and cleared Colebrook, Ross and Longford stages before clocking up outright win number 10 for the event on Mole Creek Long prior to the lunch break.
Durability was the key at the afternoon resumption and with understanding between Vandersee and co-driver Jahmeil Taylor in sync, the three longest stages for the day brought their combined skills to the fore. The 37 kilometres of Cethana was yet another conquest as the Skelta duo clocked in three seconds ahead of current overall leader Tony Sullens in the Subaru WRX and Targa Tasmania legend Jim Richards in his Porsche.
“We secured an all-time Cethana stage record to add to a few other stage records we’ve been able to establish this year so that’s definitely a further wrap for the Skelta G-Force, ” said Vandersee. “The car was faultless and perhaps the biggest thing for us personally is the fact out Cethana stage time was slashed by eight seconds on last year, ” said Vandersee.
“That stage is a very telling one and for us to be so strong and then continue the pace throughout the remainder of the day was a great achievement. “There’s not much further to be said about the car that the performances across the board over the past three days have already declared. ”
Backing up over the remaining four stages and covering a further 50-plus, timed kilometres there was no let up on the opposition as Vandersee kept the foot down. The final Fern Glade stage had most of the event front-runners contending with wet conditions and Vandersee finished in equal third, once again ahead of the drivers battling for outright Targa Tasmania podium honours.
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