TRD - Targa Rally

[Adrian]

Hi,

I have heard that the TRD has gone well in the Targa Rally this year. Let's ignore the debate between who won the FWD class (Mazda i think).

Can anyone find any good video clips ?

Below, is just a write up

http://www.rallysportmag.com.au/home/index...75&Itemid=2

Thanks

Edited April 21, 2008 by Adrian

[SecaBoy]

official results tables...

http://www.rallyresults.com.au/targa2008/

Bates came 21st in his class... (modern class, 104 competitors!)

Evans DNF... :(

so Bates did pretty damn well, imo...

Edited April 22, 2008 by SecaBoy

[TRD001]

TRD AURION WINS ON WORLD COMPETITION DEBUT

Toyota's two-time Australian rally champion Simon Evans has secured the TRD Aurion's maiden victory in the car's world competition debut, taking class victory in the George Town Prologue on the opening day of the Targa Tasmania tarmac rally.

Evans and his co-driver wife Sue won their class in the Showroom 2WD category of the tarmac classic, driving a clean lap of the 4.8 kilometre-long stage run in and around the northern Tasmanian seaside town.

"To win our class on the TRD Aurion's very first outing is a great achievement," Evans said. "I kept repeating the tarmac racing principles in my head - brake early and keep it clean, and it clearly paid off.

"For what is basically a standard road-going TRD Aurion it performed well. The car has a really good chassis, it turns well and the brakes are great. But it has a lot more potential on the open roads so we'll see how we go for the rest of the week."

Toyota Racing Development (TRD) team-mates Neal Bates and Coral Taylor also enjoyed a solid start to their Targa campaign, finishing second in their class of the Modern Competition category.

The George Town Prologue determines the starting order for Leg 1 of the event on Wednesday. Former Targa winner Bates was pleased with the TRD Aurion's competitive debut and to be less than three seconds from class leader Paul Freestone.

The 1995 Targa winner has enjoyed many successes on tarmac and although his race-spec TRD Aurion handled George Town's tight, twisty roads well, Bates feels the car will be more at home on the fast flowing roads the event will cover in the coming days.

"We did a lot better than I expected on the Prologue stage," Bates said. "I am really happy with how the car performed, it was clean and neat.

"I expect the car to perform a lot better once the roads open up in the coming days and the TRD Aurion can stretch its legs. We can't read too much into such a short section of road but we are well-placed heading into tomorrow's first real hit out."

Evans, driving a standard TRD Aurion, was overjoyed to secure the supercharged car's first win in its very first competitive outing - and cannot wait to test the car on the fast, flowing roads the event will cover over the next five days.

Although the reigning Australian rally champion was joined for the Prologue by his regular co-driver and wife, Sue, from Wednesday he will pair up with a number of celebrity co-drivers for the remainder of the event.

Wednesday's Leg 1 will see Greg Rust, host of Network 10's RPM motorsport program fill the co-driver seat for the day's nine stages that run between Launceston and Devonport.

"Sue and I have worked a lot with Greg (Rust) developing pace notes so we should have respectable pace," Evans said.

[TRD001]

TRD AURION SECURES HISTORIC CLASS VICTORY

Team TRD rally driver Neal Bates has scored an historic class victory in the 2008 Targa Tasmania tarmac rally, claiming the first major win for the TRD Aurion.

Three-time Australian rally champion Bates and co-driver Coral Taylor won a see-sawing battle over the V8-powered Monaro of Paul Freestone to claim victory in their class of the Modern Competition category.

The 1995 Targa-winning duo was victorious by just three seconds, winning an enduring event-long battle with Freestone on the final two stages of the event.

Bates was pleased to secure his fourth class victory in Targa and to give the supercharged, 3.5-litre V6-powered TRD Aurion a win against stiff competition.

He and Taylor finished 21st outright and secured their second victory in as many weeks following their win in the opening round of the 2008 Australian Rally Championship in Western Australia.

"I am absolutely over the moon to score a class victory for the TRD Aurion in its very first event," Bates said. "We had a really tough battle with Paul Freestone during the last couple of days and it is very satisfying to come out on top.

"Targa is such a special event. Tasmanians' really get behind it and the turnout in Hobart for today's last stage was amazing.

"Targa has allowed the TRD Aurion to show its performance credentials and I am sure this class win will be the first of many victories for the car."

Team-mate Simon Evans was joined by Today show sports reporter Cameron Williams who acted as co-driver for the reigning Australian rally champion.

The duo held the lead in their class until an engine failure caused their retirement just four stages from the end of the rally.

Up until that point, Evans' showroom-spec TRD Aurion had been leading its class and was running third in the Showroom 2WD category.

"Everything was going really well until we unfortunately had a problem with the engine on the Mount Arrowsmith stage," Evans said.

"Although we had a problem with the engine, the engineers at TRD will review it and I am sure they will be able to take a lot from it and use the information to help future development.

"For a showroom-standard car the TRD Aurion performed exceptionally well throughout Targa and surprised many people with its pace. Targa is a unique event and it was great to see the Tasmanian people turn out in such strong numbers."

Williams was impressed with Evans' ability and the TRD Aurion's performance.

"Today was such a fantastic experience," Williams said. "Although the result was not what we wanted, I got the chance to experience rallying at its best with the best so I certainly have a renewed appreciation for Simon's ability.

"I am astounded by the speed Simon got from a standard road car - the TRD Aurion was such a great car. Motorsport has its highs and lows and today I experienced both."

[Adrian]

The Aurion TRD came about 5th in its class as per the link shown in post

Post # 2

Edited April 28, 2008 by Adrian

[Aurion]

The Aurion TRD came about 5th in its class as per the link shown in post

Post # 2

Thats reffering to a leg of the race. 1st on the 1st leg. Overall he DNF (Evans).

The one that finished was Bates car.

[bozurolla]

Not Bad for stock standard blown aurion