Mazda shines in Tasmanian torrent

As the heavens opened on day four of Targa Tasmania, Brendan Reeves and Jamie Vandenberg excelled to push their factory Mazdas into contention for the outright title.

At the start of the day both drivers had their sights set on moving closer to the outright leaders. Both made their intentions clear throughout the morning but when faced with wet tarmac in the afternoon Reeves and Vandenberg excelled in the trying conditions to make further inroads against the front runners.

With a significant lead in the 2WD Showroom class already under his belt, Reeves today went about reigning in the 4WD Showroom competitors. Reeves went on to outclass every Showroom car in the field, proving that the 2WD Mazda3 MPS is a force to reckon with in the wet or dry.

At today’s finishing line in Strahan, not only does Reeves lead the Showroom class but also now sits at an outstanding 5th outright against more expensive and highly modified machinery.

There now lies ahead the real possibility that Reeves and his Mazda3 MPS will record the best ever outright Targa finish for a Showroom car.

Also causing concern for the main contenders today was Jamie Vandenberg in his 2WD RX-8 SP. Vandenberg recorded a second place finish on the highly technical Riana stage along with consistent results across the day’s other stages. Jamie now sits in 7th place overall with a real chance to eclipse his fifth place finish earned at Targa Tasmania last year.

Mazda Motorsport boss Allan Horsley is rapt with the team’s effort today, but remains focused on the task at hand.

“To have two Mazdas sitting well inside the top ten overall is a fantastic achievement. It’s amazing to see just how far we have come this week, especially when you consider that the Mazda3 MPS is a standard showroom car and that Jamie hadn’t driven the RX-8 SP until three weeks ago. But we’re not in Hobart yet and there is still a lot of work needed to further consolidate our outstanding achievements so far,” he said.

Targa Tasmania heads into its final day tomorrow with the last stages of competition held on some of the most challenging roads in the world.

Source: Mazda Motorsport