Motorsport: Webster family target Targa

Robert Webster will spearhead one of two Hawke's Bay crews in the Targa Rally. Photo / Duncan Brown

When Hawke's Bay's Robert Webster confiscated his wife Judy's shopping car for rally racing he got the message.

He had better do well in the BMW Mini. Webster, with his son Nick as his co-diver, complied.

"Judy had the car for four years but it only had 350km on the clock when we raced it for the first time. We've completed every Targa Rally, at least seven, we've done in it since 2005 apart from one. We've won our class once and finished third in the Rotorua Targa," Webster recalled.

A broken supercharger pulley was the reason for their sole DNF.

Next week they will aim to win the Two Wheel Drive up to Three Litre class when they tackle the two-day Targa NZ Regional Rally which is staged within the six-day Targa New Zealand tarmac motor rally which begins in Auckland on Monday and finishes in Palmerston North the following Saturday. While the Websters are the only crew in their class entered in the Regional Rally, which will take in the final 14 stages in Manawatu and Hawke's Bay, they will be up against at least five other crews who are doing the full rally.

Webster, 64, who did his first Hawke's Bay Rally in 1969, said there are several factors he believed would work in his and his 38-year-old son's favour. One was the amount of time the pair, who along with other members of their family run Websters Hydrated Lime Co Ltd, have spent in the sport and another is their familiarity with many of the stages.

"One of the stages is on Middle Road where we work so we know that road pretty well. Another is out on the road to Kairakau Beach, another road we know well," Webster explained.

Another is the fact that apart from replacing the supercharger pulley they have never taken their engine, which has a maximum speed of 200 km/h, apart since 2005.

"I love rallies because they are on the open road where so many variables come into play." Webster said.

That isn't a surprise when one takes into account his family's long association with the Hawke's Bay Car Club. His father, Bruce Webster, was a foundation member of the club.

Webster pointed out both he and his son will share the drives.

"I pick the best stages for myself. We are similar drivers with similar tastes. We don't have preferred type of roads ... we just take them as they come."

While they are given maps with cautions marked they don't know what the cautions are because they aren't allowed pace notes. .

"You can't beat the camaraderie of these events. Regardless of what happens next week we will keep coming back to have more fun."

Another Hawke's Bay Car Club member, Stewart Taylor, will also start in the Regional Rally. He will race an Audi S3 with Wellingtonian Nick Allen as his co-driver.

Sixty crews who start in the six-day event will aim to complete 35 closed special stages comprising a total of 1035.5km linked by 1431.7km of touring stages with overnight stops in Hamilton, New Plymouth, Palmerston North and Havelock North before the finish in Palmerston North. The October 31 Hawke's Bay stages will include 36.32km on Kahuranaki Rd, 27.96km on Te Aute Rd, a repeat of the Kahuranaki stage and a stint on the Ashley Clinton Rd before the final three stages at Weber, Pongaroa and Pahiatua.