Motorsport: Defending champ leads Targa Bambina

Glenn Inkster and co-driver Spencer Winn lead Targa Bambina after the first day. Photo / GroundSky Photography

Last year's Targa Bambina Glenn Inkster and co-driver Spencer Winn winners have claimed an early overall lead in this year's event.

Other class leaders are Paeroa pair Mark White and Tracy Lance fastest in the new two-wheel-drive Modern class and Neil Tolich and Cully Paterson - again the fastest classic two-wheel-drive pairing.

Just under 80 starters headed from Auckland to Waiuku and Pukekohe yesterday morning then the northern Waikato, Hauraki Plains and Coromandel Peninsula in the afternoon.

At day's end in Whitianga Inkster and Winn had an overall and Instra.com Allcomers four-wheel-drive class lead of 1.12 minutes over fellow Mitsubishi Evo pairing Todd and Rhys Bawden.

Leigh Hopper and Simon Kirkpatrick were less than a minute behind them in a Subaru WRX Impreza, and David Rogers and Aiden Kelly fourth in a Mitsubishi Evo 10 fourth.

Unfortunately, an early casualty was last year's Targa New Zealand winner Tony Quinn and his co-driver Naomi Tillett in their Nissan GTR-35. In a repeat of what happened to Quinn and Tillett at last year's Targa Bambina and Rotorua events their GT-R35 broke a front driveshaft early in the event, forcing the Queensland-based Scott and his co-driver out on the spot.

The other GTR-35 in the event, the car of Auckland pair Harry Dodson and Glen Cupit, also struck trouble, the pair losing the car's sump plug when they landed heavily after getting airborne over a high-speed crest. Fortunately they were able to stop before causing any engine damage and were back on track within an hour.

Having won last year's Bambina event in similar circumstances - after Quinn and Tillett were forced out by a mechanical problem, former rally ace Glenn Inkster said that while he was happy with his lead he would have preferred to have fought Quinn and Tillett for it.

"We've got a decent lead and we have had fun out there today," he said yesterday, "so from that point of view it's been a really good day, but - you know - it's disappointing not to be able to battle Tony for it.

"We had a massive battle in Targa NZ last year but so far I've yet to beat him fair and square and I was hoping to have that opportunity this weekend."

A highlight, meanwhile, for the many spectators who lined stages today were the demonstration runs by top new Zealand Drifter Cam Vernon from Pukekohe. As part of a joint T4T (Targa 4 Touge) promotion aimed at building links between the two motorsport disciplines Vernon completed two stages before the main field ran through them.

For more details - and live timing - go to Targa.co.nz. See the attached spectator's guide for top spots to watch today's action.