Targa Tasmania: Mazda RX-8 Turbo

Motoring Channel Staff - 10/March/2009

Hobart, Australia – One of Australia's most famous road rallies is undoubtedly Targa Tasmania. 

Running since the early 1990s, the event is a highly anticipated rally, and is in fact Australia's longest tarmac rally with almost no repeated stages.

Some of the names to have graced the event in the past include Sir Jack Brabham, Sir Stirling Moss, Barry Sheene, Dick Johnson, Mick Doohan, Murray Walker, Peter Brock, and Eric Bana. 

Traditionally, the event has been won by upper echelon sports cars, with Porsches dominating. Jim Richards has won the event eight times, all of them behind the wheel of a Porsche.

But in the last two years the balance of power has dipped away from European performance cars, and in favour of high performance Japanese 4WDs. In 2007 the event was won by a '99 Subaru Impreza WRX, and in 2008 an '03 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX driven by Steve Glenney took the honours.

It's been more than five years since a driver has won back-to-back (to-back-to-back!) Targa Tasmania's, but Glenney hopes that he can attain greatness in 2009 but defending his crown.

But his bullet-proof Mitsubishi Evo IX will not be Glenney's drive this year. 

When the Targa Tasmania kicks off on April 28th, 2009, Glenney will be partnered with his co-driver of four years, Bernie Webb, driving one of the most sought-after cars in the world - the Mazda RX-8 SP.

It's one of the extremely rare factory-sanctioned turbocharged RX-8s in the world, and the horse trainer from South Australia is relishing his chance to put the light-weight, high performance sports car to the test.

"I'm excited to be chosen by Mazda Motorsport to play a role in the development of the Mazda RX-8, and to be driving it in its Australian rally debut," said Glenney who added that nothing short of a podium finish will do.

However this may be harder than in previous years. Targa Tasmania is renowned for its wet autumn weather and the last few wins have gone to all-wheel drive vehicles. The RX-8 is a rear-wheel drive vehicle.

Steve Glenney is still confident of his prospects: "The RX-8's a great-looking car, the rotary engine is synonymous with Mazda's Motorsport history in Australia, and I'm confident of getting a top result for Mazda."

Powered by a turbo version of the Mazda RX-8 GT model, it has a 1.3-litre twin rotor engine coupled to a 6-speed manual transmission. The MazdaRX-8 SP outputs the following power and torque levels:

Power: 205kW (275hp)
Torque: 300Nm

As well as the engine upgrade, the Mazda RX-8 SP gets a roll cage and rides on 18-inch alloy wheels. It weighs 1280kg, and it's this light weight that could give it an edge over the Porsches, Ferraris and more importantly the all-paw Subarus and Mitsubishis.

"The RX-8's perfect 50/50 weight balance will give it a huge dynamic advantage on Tasmania's twisting roads. That, combined with its torquey turbocharged engine, will make the RX-8 SP a standout at this year's Targa," opined Glenney.

The car was put together under the watchful eye of Mazda's Motorsport manager Allan Horsley, who doesn't share Glenney's infinite confidence. 

"Targa Tasmania is not a race to be taken lightly," says Horsley. "It's a flat-out sprint over 2,000km in five tough days, and that's a real test of man and machine. 

"The RX-8 SP has plenty of potential, but it is an unknown package in a rally environment. So it's difficult to know how it will perform at its first competitive outing," added a cautious Horsley.

The Mazda RX-8 SP follows in the tyre tracks of Mazda's four back-to-back 12-hour Endurance race wins between 1992-1995 with the Mazda RX-7 SP. Mazda's last competitive outing with the RX-7 SP was at the 2002 Targa Tasmania with Rick Bates at the wheel.

Targa Tasmania Specs:

When: The Targa Tasmania tarmac rally begins on Tuesday April 28 and runs until Sunday May 3.
Where: Tasmania. 1890km in total, with 465km across 40 competitive closed-road stages.
Why: The challenge!

Related Links:
- Targa Tasmania (official site)
- Mazda RX-8 (2008)
- Mazda6 MPS (Road Test)
- Mazda6 Sport (Road Test)
- Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe (Road Test)
- Mazda3 Extreme Concept (2007)