Targa Tasmania Day 1.

Day 1 of Targa Tas 09 starts in Launceston and travels in an anti-clockwise circuit first to the NE and the to the NW of the Tamar valley. The first stages, Lillydale, Windermere and Hillwood give the event a gentle start with easily cleanable base times for all competitors to get them warmed up and into the groove.
Targa is timed in a penalty second format with each stage given a set time to be completed in. If a crew finishes the stage under the set time then the penalty for the stage is zero (or "cleaned"), however if the crew finishes over the time, then a penalty is awarded on a second per second basis. Eg. Stage base time = 1:25 crew finishes in 1:35 then penalty = 0:10.
Stage 4 for the event, Kayena, was the first of the non-cleanable stages for the majority of the field and consisted of a nice short blast before the Beaconsfield lunch break. With the car running well there was time to catch up with the whole team for a quick refuel and check over before a bite to eat for all before heading out for the afternoons stages.
5 stages remained for the day and it was now time to get serious. Stage 5, Howell, consisted of a short blast west towards Latrobe then onto Stage 6, Moriarty, another short one through farm land before turning South West to Stage 7, Merseylea, a fast a flowing stage different in character to the previous stages and the chance to really have a go and see how the car and crew were performing. This left two to go for the day Stage 8, Sheffield, and then Stage 9, Quamby Brook.
Stage 8 was the cause of some minor concern for the team with the car showing some signs of overheating after catching and passing a Z32 300zx Nissan in the stage with about 3km to go. After the stage the temp gauge was still high so the decision was made to pull over and check the coolant levels. The overflow catch tank was full and the engine header tank was unable to redraw the coolant back from overflow resulting in a low coolant condition in the engine. Caps were removed and the engine topped up with water, then onto stage 9 with fingers crossed.
Stage 9 was completed with no problems, phew!!, onto service at the Silverdome in Launceston.
Time for the boy's to work, and work they did. In the space of about and hour the entire car was given a full check over while in the engine bay the coolant was drained and flushed before being replaced and the caps replace with some higher pressure units. Time for a good rest for all before tomorrow's stage to the North East and East coast of Tassie. The plan is to try and nurse the car through and test the overheating issue and see if it can be managed before making the decision to effect major repairs during Thursday night.
The day's results were within the teams expectations with car 981 sitting in 23 in Modern and amongst some very seasoned Targa competitors.