Herridge second at Targa Wrest Point
A brave drive by Dean Herridge has seen the West Australian finish in second place at Targa Wrest Point in Hobart this weekend.
Herridge took a nine second buffer into the final day after a brilliant drive in his Impreza WRX STI across the opening seven stages, but could not match the outright speed of the Lamborghini of Jason White on the closing five stages.
Under fine and sunny skies, the second running of Targa Wrest Point attracted over 150 cars, which wound their way through the region south of the state capital.
Herridge, who has made his name winning at international level on gravel, was happy with his second place on tarmac.
“The weekend went as well as we could have hoped,” Herridge said.
“We pushed really hard, driving at Australian Rally Championship, World Rally Championship pace. We were totally committed to our notes and pushed flat out all the way.
“In the end we just couldn’t match the speed of the Lamborghini. Jason (White) drove it really well and they just had the edge.
“But we’ve come a long way since debuting this car last year and finishing fifth, so now we’ll just try and fine tune things for Targa Tasmania.”
Another West Australian, Steve Jones, was third in Modern in his Nissan GT-R on his Targa Wrest Point debut, 11 seconds clear of 2009 Targa Tasmania winner Tony Quinn.
Perennial favourite and eight-time Targa Tasmania winner, Jim Richards, driving a Porsche 911 GT2, was off the pace for much of the event and could only manage fifth place.
Modern – final results (Provisional)1. Jason White / John White, 2009 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera Type R
2. Dean Herridge / Chris Murphy, 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX, +24s
3. Steve Jones / Ben Searcy, 2008 Nissan GT-R, +1m12s
4. Tony Quinn / Naomi Tillett, 2008 Nissan GT-R, +1m23s
5. Jim Richards / Barry Oliver, 2008 Porsche 911 GT2 C2, +2m49s