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Launceston Principal Swaps Text Books For Rally Notes |
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Thursday, 19 April 2007 |
Don’t expect to see Launceston College principal Keith Wenn on campus this week – the Targa veteran has again exchanged textbooks for rally notes as co-driver of the Team VIP Petfoods entry for his tenth Targa Tasmania.
Strapping in alongside Team VIP Petfoods’ chief Tony Quinn and on the hunt for his first gold plate, the likeable headmaster may come across some of his own students around the course.
“When I started as principal five years ago, the kids in the motor program were restoring a 1956 Morris Oxford but not dong much else,” said Wenn.
“After discussions with teachers and industry, we managed to come up
with this Targa idea which they could start working on to experience
some real authentic learning.
“As for how I got into this, I was helping someone build a Targa car
one year a while back and it just crept up on me - one day I was a
normal person, and the next I was a navigator!
“With a decade of Targa Tasmania competition and last year’s
disappointment (a crash on the final day put a stop to their top five
hopes), I’m hoping we can stay on the black stuff and get my gold plate.
“Tony already has his gold plate you see (Class win 1999), but every
time we get close to getting one for me something goes wrong and so I
am always asking him – Tony, where is my gold plate?
“He is a great driver and as navigator you need to have total confidence and trust in your driver.
“I have that in Tony – we not only do Tasmania together but have also
competed in New Zealand and Western Australia, so we are a bit of a
team.”
That teamwork was enough for the Team VIP Petfoods #996 2006 Porsche
997 Turbo to shoot to outright seventh after today’s opening nine
stages.
During leg one of the event the duo traveled from Launceston through
Entally, Deloraine, Reedy Marsh, Paradise, Nookville, Devonport,
Harford, Holwell Reserve and Beaconsfield back to Launceston.
“We are still alive, so that is a good start,” joked Quinn when asked for his thoughts on day one.
“We are going ok and were thinking a top ten finish would be good, so to be seventh after the first day bodes well.
“There is still a long way to go and a lot of hard yards yet to come,
but we will just keep on plugging away, tomorrow will be interesting
and we are looking forward to it as always.
“The first stage will be a tough one for us as it is quite tight and
the car at the moment prefers sweeping stretches, however we will just
dig in and take it through to Hobart.”
Targa Tasmania is considered one of the toughest races of its kind
where vehicles are this year required to cover more than 2000
kilometers, including 450 competition kilometers over 42 stages.
This years’ Targa Tasmania is Quinn’s eighth and the first in a long
line of rally ventures to come for his team this year, with up to eight
rally ventures on the cards including June’s prestigious Nurburgring
24-hour where the team placed 9th on debut in 2006.
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