Glenn Inkster has made the perfect start to his 2011 rally campaign, taking victory in the two-day Targa Bambina, held in the upper North Island over the weekend.
Inkster, along with co-driver Spencer Winn, were on the pace from the start, piloting the TransNet Evo 6.5 to a time only three seconds behind stage winner Neil Allport, despite a spin at a junction.
When Allport left the road in stage two, Inkster sat one second behind Tony Quinn after the pair set equal times on the second stage, then the Kiwi pulled a second back on Australian-based Scotsman Quinn to be dead even after three stages.
The intense battle continued all the way into Whitianga, with Inkster taking the lead after lunch, only to relinquish it again on the day’s final stage, the margin a mere seven seconds.
Day two started with wet weather, conditions that favoured Inkster and his gravel rallying experience. Within one stage, the gap had been reduced to two seconds, but disaster struck on the days second stage when the transfer case broke off the start line, costing Inkster and Winn 24 seconds.
The team TransNet Extreme crew worked their magic to replace the damaged component in a mere 10 minutes, restoring the Evo 6.5 to full health with no penalties accrued. Inkster immediately clawed back eight seconds, reducing the total to 18, however as the crews headed towards the lunch break, the advantage swung towards Inkster when Quinn retired with gearbox failure.
With a gap of over two minutes, Inkster immediately took a one minute penalty to take a sixth tyre with the drying conditions making tyre wear a problem. Some restrained driving across the afternoon gave Inkster his debut Targa victory to go with his second in last years week long event.
“It was such a cool weekend, these Targa events are really growing on me,” said Inkster. “The crew did an awesome job to keep us going and it is such a shame Tony retired as we were set for a ding-dong battle, but I am sure the battle will resume in Rotorua.”
– Credit: BB Media.