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Team VIP Petfoods’ Tony Quinn and Keith Wenn have again demonstrated their skill and Targa Tasmania savvy today, fortifying their outright fifth position ahead of the weekend’s impending gauntlet.

With almost half of the competitive kilometers run and won, Quinn and Wenn remain in the mix for the lead ahead of the final 16 stages and a demanding chase up and back down the island.

On a day predicted to see most determined to bolster their positions ahead of the final two legs, the Team VIP Petfoods’ entry was able to persevere over potentially problematic stages and extra car weight to stay in the running for overall honours.

“We expected a lot of today’s stages to be tricky for us and the car, however it ended up quite well and we had our best stage result to date in the Longley stage (the second-last stage for the day, second quickest).

“We are pleased with how the event has gone so far, today especially we have been able to come more to grips with the car and in doing so it has proved some of our early judgments wrong.

“For example the suspension is just miles ahead of how I judged it in the beginning, and is really able to pull us back in if we get a bit out of shape - even better than last year’s car.

“The car has also been a second slower than last years’ and this was the case again this morning - however as the day wore on it came to be as fast, and then with the second last stage actually a second faster - giving us our best stage result so far.”

Following today’s strong efforts, Quinn and Wenn will depart from Hobart tomorrow for Burnie focused on defending their well-deserved top five placing.

“Overall the last three days have gone well and now we just have to keep on going through the weekend,” said Quinn.

“Tomorrow is where it will really begin - the car is responding well and going from strength to strength, so we just have to keep on going and hope it all goes to plan.”

Tomorrow’s North West Challenge will see the field travel from Hobart through Colebrook, Ross, Longford, Mole Creek, Cethana, Gunns Plains, South Riana, Natone and Fern Glade on their journey to Burnie.

This years’ Targa Tasmania is Quinn’s eighth and the first in a long line of rally exploits to come for his team this year, with up to eight rally ventures on the cards including the prestigious Nurburgring 24 hour in which the team placed 9th on debut in 2006.

Targa Tasmania Results to date:

Tuesday 17th April, 2007 – Day One – Temco George Town Prologue – Top Ten
1. #913 – Close/Close – 2001 Porsche 911 Turbo - 03:15.34
2. #902 – Simonsen/Searcy – 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer IX - 03:15.95
3. #919 – Richards/Oliver – 2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS - 03:17.76
4. #953 – Heskin/Deniese – 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer IX RS - 03:18.39
5. #991 – Weeks/Allen – 2006 Lamborghini Super Leggera - 03:18.47
6. #940 – Higgins/Hansen – 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer IX RS - 03:18.55
7. #939 – Warwick/Murphy – 2003 Porsche 991 GT3 - 03:18.95
8. #996 – Quinn/Wenn – 2006 Porsche 997 Turbo (Team VIP Petfoods) - 03:19.19
9. #934 - White/White - Lamborghini Super Leggera - 03:19.42
10. #972 - Vandersee/Taylor - Skelta G-Force - 03:20.28

Wednesday 18th April, 2007 – Day Two – The Northern Loop (Launceston to Launceston) – Top Ten
1. #902 – Simonsen/Searcy – Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer IX – 8 sec
2. #934 – White/White – Lamborghini Super Leggera – 18 sec
3. #918 – Sullens/Barkley – Subaru Impreza WRX RA – 32 sec
4. #919 – Richards/Oliver – Porsche 911 GT3 RS – 38 sec
5. #991 – Weeks/Allen – Lamborghini Super Leggera – 1 min 9 sec
6. #922 – Longhurst/De Vere – Subaru Impreza WRX STi C Spec – 1 min 12 sec
7. #996 – Quinn/Wenn – Porsche 997 Turbo – 1 min 19 sec (Team VIP Petfoods)
8. #939 – Warwick/Murphy – Porsche 911 GT3 – 1 min 23 sec
9. #903 – Rattray/Jackson – Subaru Impreza WRX STi – 1 min 31 sec
10. #913 – Close/Close – Porsche 911 Turbo - 1 min 42 sec

Thursday 19th April 2007 – Day Three – The Eastern Trundle (Launceston to Hobart)
1. #918 – Sullens/Barkley – Subaru Impreza WRX RA
2. #919 – Richards/Oliver – Porsche 911 GT3 RS - + 6 seconds
3. #922 – Longhurst/De Vere – Subaru Impreza WRX STi C Spec - + 27 seconds
4. #991 – Weeks/Allen – Lamborghini Super Leggera - + 47 seconds
5. #996 – Quinn/Wenn – Porsche 997 Turbo (Team VIP Petfoods) - + 1 min 5 seconds
6. #939 – Warwick/Murphy – Porsche 911 GT3
7. #913 – Close/Close – Porsche 911 Turbo
8. #953 – Heskin/Deniese – 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer IX RS
9. #940 – Higgins/Hansen – 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer IX RS
10. #954 - Froude/Logan - Porsche 911 GT3 CS

Friday 20th April, 2007 – Day Five – The Southern Loop (Hobart to Hobart)
1. #918 – Sullens/Barkley – Subaru Impreza WRX RA
2. #922 – Longhurst/De Vere – Subaru Impreza WRX STi C Spec – + 13 seconds
3. #919 – Richards/Oliver – Porsche 911 GT3 RS - + 22 seconds
4. #991 – Weeks/Allen – Lamborghini Super Leggera – + 30 seconds
5. #996 – Quinn/Wenn – Porsche 997 Turbo (Team VIP Petfoods) - + 52 seconds
6. #939 – Warwick/Murphy – Porsche 911 GT3 - + 1 min 20 seconds
7. #913 – Close/Close – Porsche 911 Turbo – + 1 min 46 seconds
8. #940 – Higgins/Hansen – 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution Lancer IX RS - + 2 min 49 seconds
9. #903 – Rattray/Jackson – Subaru Impreza WRX STi – + 3 min 20 seconds
10. #866 – Shaw/Parish – Mazda RX7 – + 3 min 23 seconds

Stages to come:
Saturday 21st April 2007 – Day Five – The North West Challenge (Hobart to Burnie)
Stage 27 – Colebrook – 5.34km
Stage 28 – Ross – 2.78km
Stage 29 – Longford – 2.86km
Stage 30 – Mole Creek Long – 4.40km
Lunchbreak – Mole Creek
Stage 31 – Cethana – 37.48km
Stage 32 – Gunns Plains – 14.68km
Stage 33 – South Riana – 24.48km
Stage 34 – Natone – 9.77km
Stage 35 – Fern Glade – 3.98km

Leg four total distance – 470.86km
Competitive kilometers – 105.77km

Sunday 22nd April 2007 – Day Six – The West Coast Enduro (Burnie to Hobart)
Stage 36 – Hellyer Gorge – 15.42km
Stage 37 – Mount Black – 8.62km
Stage 38 – Roseberry – 17.42km
Stage 39 – Strahan – 33.24km
Lunchbreak – Queenstown
Stage 40 – Queenstown – 6.39km
Stage 41 – Mt Arrowsmith – 47.24km
Stage 42 – Tarraleah – 6.60km

Leg five total distance – 513.39km
Competitive kilometers – 134.93km

Total Event Distance Covered – 2100.71km
Total Event Competitive Distance – 444.84km