Once Christian and Aaron Parker edged their Subaru Impreza into the lead at the end of Test 4 there was simply no stopping the Morecambe Car Club crew from claiming victory.
It was Neil and Aled Jones who set the early pace in their Mazda MX5 and they remained closest challengers to the eventual winners for the rest of the morning’s tests. Sadly for the Bala & District Motor Club crew their challenge was brought to an end early in the afternoon when their car developed a differential problem.
That allowed top seeds Owen Turner and Gary Evans to move their MG ZR up the order and retain second place through to the finish. Completing the podium places were James Griffiths and Matt Venables in their Vauxhall Astra.
Two crews who had earlier been in contention for a podium finish completed the top five Interclub places. John and Martin Gornall brought their Peugeot 206 GTi home in fourth position finishing just three seconds ahead of the Austin Mini of Robert Milligan and Jo Lisa Hayes.
For rally debutant Hayes it was a real baptism of fire as the Mini crew were amongst the first on the scene when the Proton Satria of Keaton Williams and Jamie Mills developed an under-bonnet fire during Test 2. Quickly exiting their car Milligan and Hayes played their part in helping extinguish the flames using their bottled water and activating a fire stick but the damage was done and the Proton wouldn’t go any further.
To add to that drama the Mini was already running with bent steering following an off-road excursion and altercation with a kerb on Test 1. They then collected a 10 second cone penalty on Test 3 that would ultimately deny them a fourth place finish. Despite all that they were happy with their BTRDA points haul and left with the navigator’s ears ringing with praise from her driver in recognition of her faultless performance.
When it came to praise though no one could match that showered on Shaun Bee, the top entertainer for his flamboyant driving style in the BMW 120D. His ‘sideways everywhere’ style didn’t earn him any rally prizes but did earn much deserved plaudits from those watching!
While Bee and co-driver James Robertson were clearly enjoying themselves it wasn’t such a pleasurable experience for those who retired. Jord Duxbury and Danny Hacking failed to complete the first test when a differential issue blighted their Citroen C2 while gearbox failure brought about the retirement of the Proton Satria of Matt Hewlett and Adam Griffin on Test 2.
Jon Paul Challinor and Freddy Harris were another crew who’s car was plagued with mechanical maladies. Their Fiat Panda suffered handbrake failure almost from the off and then developed a misfire, that couldn’t be cured, on Test 2. If that wasn’t enough extinguishers had to be deployed at the Test 4 finish when a cv boot caught fire and so they decided to call it a day.
Amongst those to benefit most from a trouble free run were George Newman and Jamie Wilson who won the Clubman Rally in their BMW 318Ti. Edward and Richard Cartledge had set the early pace but the Citroen C2 crew had to settle for second place at the finish.
View a gallery of photos from the 2024 061 Targa Rally, here.
Interclub Results (Top 10)
- Christian Parker/Aaron Parker (Subaru Impreza) 1hr28m48s;
- Owen Turner/Gary Evans (MG ZR) 1hr32m13s;
- James Griffiths/Matt Venables (Vauxhall Astra) 1hr34m43s;
- John Gornall/Martin Gornall (Peugeot 206 GTi) 1hr35m47s;
- Robert Milligan/Jo Lisa Hayes (Austin Mini) 1hr35m50s;
- Jage Millichap/Joe Davies (Peugeot 106 Rallye) 1hr38m01s;
- Jamie White/Bradley White (BMW 318Ti) 1hr38m09s;
- Gareth Price/Gemma Woolley (BMW 318Ti) 1hr38m14s;
- Jake Simms/Jack Slatcher (Proton Compact) 1hr38m42s;
- Jonathan Bennett/Mark Bennett (Mini Cooper) 1hr38m51s.
Clubman Results (Top 5)
- George Newman/Jamie Wilson (BMW 318Ti) 1hr34m12s;
- Edward Cartledge/Richard Cartledge (Citroen C2) 1hr37m43s;
- Adam Forrester/Ben Forrester (Nissan Micra) 1hr41m54s;
- Jonathan Bowker/James Bowker (Ford Fiesta ST170) 1hr47m07;
- Tim Millington/Richard Duddell (Citroen C2) 1hr47m22.
