Lease Options Easy Way to Turn Targa Dream into Reality

05-08-15

Lease Options Easy Way to Turn Targa Dream into Reality

Want to tick the Targa New Zealand tarmac motor rally off your bucket list but don’t have a car? Targa Event Director Peter Martin can help.

From small beginnings four years ago his 'hire' fleet of event and tour-ready lease cars now numbers four, ranging from a 1.3 litre Ford Ka, BMW 328i coupe and classic Ford Escort suitable for the main competition event to a late model BMW 1 Series M coupe perfect for the Targa tour.

Last year Martin took the annual six-day tarmac road rally event to the South Island to celebrate its 20th anniversary. This year it is back in the North Island and - for the first time in the event's 21 years, includes over 1000 kms of closed special stages.

If that isn’t added incentive to turn the dream of doing the event into reality Martin says he doesn’t know what is, hence the time and effort he and his team have put this year into expanding the line of lease cars.

"It's about taking the 'buts' out of the equation," says Martin, whose own introducton to the event was as a competitor. "One, obviosuly, we hear a lot is 'I’d love to do Targa but I don't have a suitable car.' The other, and this is one we're hearing more and more, and not just from first-timers, is 'I'd love do Targa this year 'but' I don’t have the time."

For this season Martin has put together a range of lease options from 'take-the-car-away-and-run-it-yourself' to 'turn-up-on-the-day-and-drive-and-we'll-do-the-rest.'

Cost varies from car to car and package to package and from event to event and feedback from those who have leased a car before is positive.

"For some, " says Martin, "it's a chance to 'dip a toe in the water,' for others it's the 'bucket list' thing. What we have seen from the Targa Tour though is that once you get the Targa bug it is hard to shake off.

"Before actually doing an event it's easy to say 'I'll just do the one to get it out of my system.' Once you've done one though you can't wait to do another. Which is why so many of our competitors keep coming back."

This year's six-day event starts in Auckland on (Labour Day) Monday October 26 and finishes in Palmerston North on Saturday October 31.

In-between are 35 closed special stages comprising a total of 1067kms linked by 1431.7kms of touring stages with overnight stops in Hamilton, New Plymouth (two nights), Palmerston North and Havelock North.

Included are some classic stages from previous main Targa events like Glen Murray, Kawhia, Inglewood, Whangamomona, Gentle Annie and Mangatainoka.

Response from the event's many regulars has been immediate and enthusiastic with defending Targa South Island winner Glenn Inkster and co-driver Spencer Winn one of the first pairings to confirm their entry.

Others like former Targa Rotorua winner Leigh Hopper and co-driver Simon Kirkpatrick, and high-profile motorsport personality Clark Proctor and co-driver Sue O'Neill, have also been quick to sign up.

Interest in the concurrent but non-competitive Targa Tour is also again high.

Entry information is available on the event website www.targa.co.nz with the standard pricing structure in place until the end of the month (July) before late entry fees kick in from August 1.

TARGA HISTORY

Dubbed 'The Ultimate Road Race,' the annual New Zealand Targa event can trace its links back to the classic open road races - the Targa Floria and the Mille Miglia - popular in Italy from the early years of the 20th century until the 1970s.

'Targa' is Italian for 'plate,' a reference either to a car's licence plate or to the rectangular bronze plate awarded to the winner of the Targa Floria.

The first Targa New Zealand event, inspired by the success of Australia's Targa Tasmania event, was held in 1995, and since then the annual multi-day New Zealand event has been joined by other shorter, regional events under the direction of current owner and event director Peter Martin.

Key to the on-going success of the main and subsidiary events is the unique New Zealand landscape with its unsurpassed network of sinuous sealed roads perfect for closed Targa stages.

Targa New Zealand events are organised with the support of sponsors Chicane, Ecolight, Federal tyres, Global Security, Kids In Cars, Metalman, NZ Classic Car magazine, Race Brakes, Racetech, TeamTalk, TrackIt and VTNZ.

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