TMR DOMINATES TARGA HIGH COUNTRY

Mitsubishis built and run by TMR Performance have dominated Targa High Country, round one of the Australian Tarmac Championship for Modern cars.

With an incredible 11 cars spread across the Modern and 4WD Showroom categories, TMR Mitsubishis dominated the podium of the 4WD Showroom class, while others finished strongly in the Modern outright category.

The most tightly fought battle was the TMR-sponsored 4WD Showroom class, with Scott Millar (TMR Evo X RS), Dean Evans (TMR Evo X MR) and Ric Shaw (TMR Evo X RS) all fighting for the podium positions. Evans and Millar tied the first stage, before Evans forged out a lead of 49 seconds after leg one, back to Shaw and Millar in third. But running soft compound Hankook tyres, the two days of 30 degree ambient temperatures took their toll and Evans’ times slipped, allowing Shaw to pull back the time, with just four seconds separating the two going into the final Mt Buller 16km stage; Shaw won the stage by five seconds, subsequently claiming the victory by just one second, the closest finish in Targa history. Millar, who had consolidated his place on the podium, conserved both car and tyres and finished a secure third, forging a podium lockout for Mitsubishi’s Evo X.

Peter Wrench (5th), Michael Minshall (8th), Norm Sutton (11th) and Alan Evans (12th) were all TMR Evolutions, reinforcing the popularity of the car and the class for Mitsubishi.

In the Modern category, Max Williams’s TMR Evo X MR was the best in ‘outright’, finishing 16th, one place ahead of Barrie Smith’s TMR Evo X MR. Kim Illman had been running inside the top 20 in his Evo IX, until a mechanical breakage dropped him down the order, but he recovered to finish 30th.

An excellent effort by all the TMR cars to finish and reinforce the cost effectiveness of TMR’s cars in tarmac rallies competition. The next major round is in late January, for Targa Wrest Point.