Debden Targa

Event Report

So near, but yet so far.

The Debden Targa. The first time the Mr Tyre Motorsport BTRDA Targa Road Rally Championship has visited the event. Organised under the umbrella Club of Anglian Motor Sport Club (AMSC), including Wickford Automobile Club, and Chelmsford.

The MoD venue appears to have been secured until 2030 and offers a number of Targas organized by AMSC. A mix of surfaces and relatively short Tests makes the event very demanding but enjoyable. Small mistakes can make all the difference. Events at Debden give good geographic coverage to the BTRDA Championship, with a pool of very competitive local drivers who could progress to a larger stage.

The Targa reiterated that Targas are a subset of Road Rallies, so had Secret Checks, code boards and a manned Passage Control. Some fell foul of the code boards, including myself when navigating (it was possible to drive and navigate with two entries).

Ethan Davies and Matt Smalley missed out on a win on the Debden Targa by 2 seconds. They picked up a 30 second penalty for missing a code board!

Their main competition, Mark Peterson and Jim Bowie also picked up a 10 second penalty for a cone, but the win could have been Ethan and Matt’s. However Ethan does take maximum BTRDA Targa points.

Second in the BTRDA points was me, Alan Wakeman, ably navigated by Ian Hazleton.

The Micra is now progressing well, with the move to a more standard car increasing pace, reliability and performance. A slow start meant a great deal to come back from, but it was happening, taking time from others in class. Pace increased as experience with the car grew. Second in class could have been secured, but a big overshoot on the last Test saw that opportunity missed.

Not far behind were Simon Hawken and Sarah Hawken. All seemed to be going well and their day away from the kids returned a great result. Sarah/Simon, tell us more about your day.

Elliott Sharp and Michael Spicer were the next of the Championship contenders. Another crew falling foul of a missed code board and cone penalty. They could have finished higher, but they didn’t! Still a good haul of Championship points.

David Ginn, ably navigated by his son Robert, was next of the Championship contenders. I missed David as I had him on the entry list as a different number. How was your day David?

Giant killer Bob Milligan down in 20^th place? What’s happening? After a torrid time rebuilding the Mini after the Twyford Targa, Bob wasn’t at his usual competitive self. I’m sure the pace will return and still some valuable points in the bag (plus BTRDA Allrounders points). Bob even removed his sump guard to save a little weight, a good sign for others looking to do the event in the future in more standard cars.

Newcomers to the BTRDA Championship, Chris and Mike Phillips had a credible run to 37^th with Mike driving and Chris Navigating, with 39^th being achieved with the seats being reversed. Sorry I missed you, how was your day?

Martin Freeman and Kathy Woodward had a smile on their faces all the time. The Skoda is proving reliable and capable, taking everything that the event and crew can throw at it! A great example of what can be achieved in a “different” car, keep it going.

Great thanks to AMSC and Wickford Automobile Club for welcoming us to their event.

So where does this leave the BTRDA Championship?

A change at the top in the Drivers’ Championship, with Elliott Sharp now in the lead. David Ginn lies in second place overall with Robert Milligan in third.

With few navigators competing at Debden, the table stays the same with three Under 25 Navigators leading the way – Sam Weller, Llinos Davies and Aidan Thompson.

There’s still a long way to go with 6 from 12 events to count, including a Marshal score if you see fit. 5 rounds have run, 7 to go, anybody could start now and still win the Championship!

The next Championship event is the Grafton Ystra Targa organized by Dukeries Motor Club on 31^st July. The organisers attended the Twyford Targa to ensure that they would be at the right level for their event. The Grafton Ystra will be at Grafton Underwood, using a slightly different part of the venue to the Flying Fortress Stage Rallies of the past.

All pictures courtesy of Andy Manston at M&H Photography.

Full results for the Debden Targa can be found at: https://mtc1.uk/results/2022/debdentarga/OverallResults.php

See you out there.