Brendan prepares for Targa Tasmania

After a hectic month in Europe, Brendan and Rhianon flew back to Australia the day after their brilliant second place at Rally Portugal on March 31. Arriving in Sydney last Tuesday, Brendan then spent Wednesday at Lakeside Raceway testing the Mazda RX8 SP that he will drive in next week's Targa Tasmania.

From the wet and muddy conditions of Portugal in a left-hand drive 2WD Fiesta, Brendan then jumped behind the wheel of the right-hand drive Mazda to get some valuable testing time on the smooth tarmac of the race track ahead of Targa Tasmania.

The six day event gets underway on Tuesday of next week (April 17) but before then Brendan and Rhianon have a huge job ahead of them, writing new pace notes for 22 of the rally's stages. This year's route is very different from past years, with some stages to be run in reverse and others being used for the first time. The pair will spend the rest of this week covering the rally route and writing their pace notes for what is one of the toughest motor sport events on the calendar.

Brendan is looking forward to again driving the RX8 SP for Mazda Motorsport. His first outing in the car was in January this year in Targa Wrest Point where he and Rhianon finished third outright, and with a very different route this year, he is aiming for another podium finish in the Modern class.

"We've had some pretty good results in Tasmania over the last few years," Brendan said. "I really enjoy the roads here and the RX8 SP is an awesome car to drive."

"We showed what we are capable of at Targa Wrest Point, so, all being well, we'll be able to bring the car home in the top three again this time."

Before he and Rhianon can think too far ahead, though, they have four full days of writing pace notes ahead of them!

Targa Tasmania gets underway in Launceston on Tuesday, April 16 with two Prologue stages, and finishes about 600 competitive kilometres and six days later in Hobart.