Mixed fortunes for local drivers in Targa rally

By JARED DENNIS jared.dennis@wanganuichronicle.co.nz
One local car is loving the Dunlop Targa of New Zealand while the other has not been faring so well.
Yesterday the Chronicle ran a story about Wanganui's Quentin Handley and Rob Goldsbury, who had to stop in Pirongia to get an electrical issue with their 1985 Porsche Carrera fixed.
This particular complaint was dealt with and the pair were getting stuck into the morning stages through South Taranaki yesterday when they realised their car was only running on five of its six cylinders and a "heap of smoke" was coming out the back of it.
Goldsbury said this meant the decision was made to end the Porsche's rally, as any more serious damage would have surely meant a very serious repair bill.
The pair plan to switch to the Narva Rally, where they will just drive with the tour in a different support vehicle.
For Fordell racer Peter Cullen this year's Targa is proving to be one of his best ever.
Competing in his 1973 De Tomaso Pantera with co-driver Paul Tulloch, Cullen said as the roads have become drier his car has just got quicker.
"I can pleasantly say the car is going very well," he said when stopped for a pit-stop in Waverley. "Last year we had a number of gear box issues and ended up crashing it.
"Touch wood, everything is going much smoother this time around."
The Rally entrants started it's second official day yesterday in New Plymouth and worked it's way south, competing in special stages around Inglewood, Eltham, Stratford and Waverley, before stopping at the latter for a pit-stop.
For a while yesterday afternoon the streets of Waverley were humming with activity as the support crews rolled into town and awaited their particular entrant, before a five minute break and on towards Wanganui.
The Waitotara stage had to be cancelled due to the recent inclement weather, so competitors headed straight on to the Mangahoe stage near Fordell. This was one Cullen was looking forward to as he lives part way down the road they are racing on.
"I know the first four corners especially well," he joked.
Cullen and Tulloch were 24th overall after day two. Former national champion Joe McAndrew overtook Emma Gilmour to lead the rally.
Today the rally will start off from Palmerston North, where it finished last night, and will take in special stages in the Turakina Valley, Hunterville, Taihape and Kimbolton before finishing for the night in Feilding.