Targa Tasmania Rally

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Targa Tasmania is a tarmac-based rally racing event held on the island state of Tasmania, Australia, annually since 1991. The event takes its name from the Targa Florio, a former motoring event held on the island of Sicily. Rally racing is a form of automobile racing that takes place on normal roads with modified production or specially built road cars.

The Targa is not part of the Australian rally championship, and as well as attracting elite drivers going all-out to win has a large field of cars of all speeds and drivers of varying seriousness. The rally prides itself on having a large range of rally cars from all ages of motoring.

Leg 0: (prologue) - George Town to Launceston
Leg 1: The Northern Loop: Launceston - Devonport - Launceston
Leg 2: The North East Loop: Launceston - Bicheno - Launceston
Leg 3: The Southern Loop: Launceston - Cygnet - Hobart
Leg 4: Hobart to Mole Creek to Burnie
Leg 5: The West Coast Enduro: Burnie - Queenstown - Hobart

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Eric's Ford Falcon 351 XB Coupe Targa 1996	Eric's Ford Falcon 351 XB Coupe Targa 1996	Eric's Ford Falcon 351 XB Coupe Targa 1996


Eric at the Tasmanian Airport

1996 Targa Tasmania Rally

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Eric Bana Bloody Brilliant to the Targa in a 351 XB coupe
Source: 'Street Machine'
Australia June 1996

No Road Rules or Speed Limits Driving by the Raw Laws of Physics. Eric Bana Bloody Brilliant to the Targa in a 351 XB coupe.

Eric Bana is the sort of bloke who’d be funny in his sleep.

You know the guy: The bloke who turns up on telly in Full Frontal taking the piss out of everything from politicians to beer commercials. Just talking to Eric and swapping yarns about bikie heroics (he often throws a leg over a 900 Ducati) is enough to break him out in a big grin. But nothing makes his eyes twinkle more than when the subject turns to his XB Hardtop – a car he’s owned for nearly half his life.

As a teenager living in Melbourne’s petrol-scented northern suburbs, his first car had to be a fat Ford Hardtop. Unfortunately, the car Eric bought was, to hear him tell it, “The worst coupe in Australia. But what did I know at the time?” It’s a story most of us can relate to, right?

Aside from being a six cylinder, the coupe body was full of rust and hits. “Just about everything has been replaced now, doors, guards, you name it. But I’ll be chasing my tail with rust while ever I own this shell,” says Eric.

By the time Eric had left school in the mid 80s, the coupe had been straightened, painted and was sporting a mild 351 and the original single rail four-speed. But by early this year, the lure of doing something along the lines of organized motorsport had hold of Eric. And that explains the latest transformation of the coupe. Basically, it’s been specially built to take on Targa Tasmania – a week-long thrash around the Apple Isle with winner take all.

Sure, there’ll be plenty of exotic machines dragging wheels across apexes all over the Island, but there’s a spiritual entrant for all us street machiners, it’ll be Eric Bana, his trusty navigator and long-time mate Andrew Templeton, and a snarling XB coupe.

To take on what is one of the toughest races around these days, the coupe has undergone a major rebuild starting with new panels and a tidy up of the shell. The work was done by good buddy Ron Goodman at Bradley’s Smash Repairs in Sydney and apart from smoothing everything and adding a set of GT bonnet latches, the bod is stock.

The interior reflects the car’s new role in life with little more than an eight-point alloy roll cage, a pair of Velo race seats, Willans harnesses and a full range of white-faced AutoMeter gauges in a custom-fabbed dash panel.

A Sport Line steering wheel gives Eric something to hang on to and a small navigation computer gives Andrew something to look at, besides the trees rushing past. There’s no back seat – just carpeted shelf, and the pedals are sexy alloy jobs.

The battery has been moved to the boot and lives inside a marine-spec box. The huge washer bottle necessary for the windscreen washers also hangs out in the boot with the standard 80-litre petrol tank.

An event like Targa requires as much stopping and turning as it does actually going, so the coupe’s had plenty of attention paid to suspension tuning and brakes. At the rear, the leaves have been re-set lower and firmer, and lower coils do the same thing at the front. Shocks are Konis at every corner but Eric’s not entirely happy with the setup. Yet.

“We did the suspension a while back thinking we might have a go at the Targa. If we’d been more fair dinkum at the time, we’d have gone for something a bit different.”

Brakes are a different story. The rears are GT discs while the real hardware is bolted to the front. Big, cross-drilled 12-inch discs owe more to Bathurst than Broadmeadows. The calipers are Volvo four-pots.

Mechanically, Eric has stuck with good reliable horsepower rather than go for outright grunt. It’s a long walk around Tasmania, after all.

The 351 is the one he bought second hand all those years ago. It runs a 4MA crank in a fairly standard environment. Bored 30 thou, it’s stuffed full of carefully assembled stock rods and pistons. The cam is roughly GTHO spec and works on Crane roller rockers.

The real power comes from a set of 2V closed chamber heads that have been relieved and flowed, and result in a compression ratio of around 10:1. Pacemaker headers and a 2 3/4–inch single sewer drain the donk. Eric recons there’s some horsepower still lurking in the drain pipes somewhere.

A Holley 650 double pumper replaces the 850 Holley Eric persisted with for years and the fire is lit by an Ignition Developments breakerless dizzy. Keeping the lid on the whole shebang is a formidable looking four-core radiator that looks like it could keep a road train cool.

A Tremec five-speed gearbox replaced the old four slot “after 10 years of thrashing.” The Tremec’s top cog drops revs by a full 1000rpm at freeway speeds without compromising the lower ratios when Eric’s getting stuck into it. A Center Force 11-inch clutch is the friction link.

A Ford nine-inch diff carries stock 28-spline axles and a 3.5:1 limited slip centre. It completes a driveline that Eric reckons makes about 350 neddies and gets it to the ground pretty damn well.

Wheels are 16x8 and 16x9 Simmons (the rears just have to be fat to fill those big guards) shod with 50-series Sumitomo rubber.

Eric reckons the whole car has come together much to his relief and that, like any project this involved with a rigid timetable, there have been problems. None of it would have happened at all without the help and guidance of Tony Rummana who was the brains behind the build and crew chief for the Tassie event.

Sure, a 20-year old Australian muscle car may not cut it against the modern techno-tangle turbo-terrors. But it was a thrill for everyone watching the event when Eric and the coupe surged into view over a greasy crest on full opposite lock, tyres smoking and the Clevo bellowing like a pissed-off bull.

And your money would have been safe if you bet Eric was laughing like a drain the whole time.


	Eric at the Targa 1996		Eric at the Targa 1996		Eric at the Targa 1996

2004 Targa Tasmania Rally

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Rally Chance for Bana to Indulge Passion
Written By: Debrorah Cole
Source: HarrisGroup.com.au
Febuary 20, 2004

Hollywood 'Hulk' Eric Bana is revved up and raring to go for the 2004 Rally Tasmania which starts later today.

Bana arrived at the Burnie Airport yesterday, met by a handful of fans and trailed by a 60 Minutes crew. Together with his navigator, good friend Tony Ramenno, of Melbourne, Bana is a former Targa Tasmania participant and both men are looking forward to this year's rally.

Bana recently finished filming Troy, with heart-throb Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, and has been enjoying some time with his family in Melbourne. But the former stand-up comedian has a love for fast cars and rallies, and was only too pleased to come back to Tasmania.

"The last time I was here was Targa, which is back in 1996, so it's been a while. I've been trying to get back for a while so it's good to be here," he said after stepping off the plane yesterday. "(Rally driving) has been a hobby of mine for quite some time and it's what I like to do when I'm not working. There's no better place in the world to do it but here."

Bana and Ramenno will be in a Porsche 993 Carrera RS CS, with the vehicle owned by Bana's motor-racing friend, Peter Hill.

"It's not my car so I'll be driving it a little bit less hard than my own Falcon, so we'll get through in one piece."

The love affair with his Ford Falcon is well-known and Bana said he would have raced it this weekend but he was in the process of rebuilding it.

"Peter Hill was kind enough to lend me his Porsche. I actually owned a similar model for a couple of years, so I've driven that car before but not an RS CS. We've just had a couple of days out at Calder (Park Raceway) to get used to it and here we are."

If the Ford Falcon wasn't a giveaway, Bana is still a larrikin at heart, despite his international success.

"(Rally driving) is the best form of relaxation there is. Getting to let loose around the roads of Tasmania in a black Porsche, I think I might be dead and gone to heaven," he said yesterday.

Stage one starts at 5p.m. today from outside the Burnie Civic Centre.

Eric at the Tasmanian Airport

Photo Source: Tony Cross
Admirers: Eric Bana signs autographs for Laura Sullivan (left) and Rebekah Talyor (middle) both of Wynyard on his arrival at the Burnie airport yesterday. Bana is here to take part in Rally Tasmania, which begins this afternoon.

2007 Targa Tasmania Rally

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April 14, 2007
Source: News.com.au
Written By: Nick Higginbottom
Provided By: Mona

Eric Bana Guns it to the Max
MAD Max returned to Melbourne yesterday, in the form of Eric Bana.

The local actor turned global star has been gearing up for next Tuesday's Targa Tasmania rally in his fully restored, red 1974 XB Ford coupe.

A similar car stormed to fame when it appeared in George Miller's cult film Mad Max in 1979. Since then petrolheads worldwide have dreamed of owning one of the classic Australian cars.

And while the Hollywood star loves the car he bought 24 years ago, getting it ready for the rally has been something of a trial for the 38-year-old.

"Preparing an old car for the race can be akin to renovating a house, getting married and having a child all rolled into one," Bana said. "And perhaps a divorce as well.

"I've had the car for 24 years: it's my baby. I've rebuilt it probably three times and this most recent restoration is its most dramatic and the final one."

Bana is no stranger to the world of burning rubber and has competed in several rallies in the past decade.

"I did it (Targa) back in 1996 in the same car and I've done the Classic Adelaide a couple of times," Bana said.

"I did Rally Tasmania a few years ago as well and I race in the Victorian state circuit championship. But this is tarmac rallying, it's quite a bit different and somewhat more dangerous, as is the level of thrill, which is, I guess, commensurate to that."

So how did the man who played Chopper in the 2000 film of the same name fare in the 1996 Targa?

"We actually did really well, we finished third in our class that year, which we weren't expecting," he said.

"If we were to do the same next week I'd be thrilled, but the competition's moved on a bit since then."

Feeling both "excited and nervous" about the rally, Bana said if it wasn't for acting he would have competed every year.

"I basically did it back in '96 and vowed I'd do it every year and then my bloody career has gotten in the way," he said. "But this year I took the first six months off and Targa was a big reason for that. The car's pretty spectacular and I just can't wait to get down there and have a great time."

The Melbourne-born actor is focused on cars right now, but he's also passionate about his up-coming films.

Next month the locally made 'Romulus My Father' will hit Australian screens as will the US-produced 'Lucky You'. But the actor is particularly fond of the local film, on which he was also an associate producer.

"It was just fantastic and I'm really proud of the film," Bana said. "I'm hoping it coincides with lots of Australians actually going to see it and not waiting to buy it on DVD."

Eric Bana Leads All-Star Cast in Targa Tasmania

March 2, 2007
Source: Targa.org.au

Eric Bana will head a star-filled entry list for 2007 Targa Tasmania, when Australia’s ultimate tarmac rally takes place from April 17-22. It will be Bana’s second outing in Targa Tasmania, but 2007 holds particular appeal for the star of 'Chopper', 'Troy' and 'Munich', as he will debut his newly-prepared Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe.

The car, which has been a treasured possession for 23 years, has just completed a major two year restoration, and Bana was keen to slot the Targa into a busy schedule to give it a first outing. His Targa Tasmania debut was back in 1996, and the international star has taken time this week to familiarise himself with the roads to be used in the 2007 tour around the Island State. Whilst Bill Pye’s Porsche Carrera will start favourite in Classic Outright, good judges believe that Bana, with his co-driver, long-time friend and fellow motoring enthusiast, Tony Ramunno, is certainly top-ten material. Event Director, Mark Perry, says Bana has shown good form in a range of motorsport events.

“Eric is a good steerer and the car he has prepared is an absolutely beautiful piece of machinery,” Perry said.

“If Eric has a good run I reckon he could sneak into the top ten outright, and when you consider some Porsches and other V8’s he’s up against, including Cattlin in his `Mean Green’ Mustang, that would be a pretty exceptional performance.”

“No doubt it’s good for the event to have someone of Eric’s calibre taking part. Motorsport is in his blood, so he’s jumped at the opportunity to spend six days driving his new toy around some of the best touring roads in the world.”


Eric Bana and Co-Driver Tony Ramunno

While the roads have huge appeal, it’s the chance to get away from in front of the camera and behind the steering wheel of his recently rebuilt Falcon that has Bana particularly excited.

“The car has been a labour of love, really,” Bana said. “Targa Tasmania is a fantastic showcase of classic cars, and I reckon our XB GT Coupe should bring back a lot of good memories for many of the fans watching the rally as it makes its way around Tasmania.”

Classic Outright contender, Peter O’Keefe and Julie Winton-Monet, who will return in their Torana SLR/5000, agree it will be good to have an XB GT Coupe out on the roads this year.

“The spirit of the event is really about classic cars, so while the modern cars go about the event

efficiently, it is the Classic cars that hold so much appeal to drivers and fans alike,” O’Keefe said.

The Modern category has again attracted some of the biggest names in Australian motorsport, with previous winners Jason & John White, Tony Longhurst and recent Rally Tasmania and Mt. Buller winner, Alan Simonsen joining event-legends and eight-time winners, Jim Richards & Barry Oliver in the chase for Modern Outright honours. Jason White, who teamed with John in winning Targa Tasmania in 2005, is hopeful of producing another win in his home-state event.

“We’d love to win again, but the quality of the event means the quality of the field is always increasing, and getting to Hobart in first place is certainly tougher than it’s ever been.”

Eric Bana Speaks at Targa Tasmania Launch

March 2, 2007
Source: Targa.org.au

"We've had the car for a long, long time and just completed a two year restoration and much to the shock of my dear friend Steve who built the car I decided to enter it in Targa this year so he's beside himself. If we put it back on the boat in as good a nick as it is at the moment then we'll be happy. But this car is really stunning and hopefully we'll put a few chips on it and take it home.

I don't think anything in life compares remotely to a tarmac rally, I've been very priviledged to experience a lot of high adrenalin stuff through work and through different forms of motor racing and I don't ahve any other experience in life that compares to how much your heart pumps out of your chest during a tarmac rally stage. I don't think there is anything that compares to it - circuit racing performing live, doing stand-up comedy, being on the Tonight Show - nothing compares to it so I'm quite addicted to them and unfortunately my career gets in the way a little bit, but I was able to put some time aside for this year.

We won't be that competitive in the car really. We'll be driving aggressively, but look, it's a car that I've owned for 24 years and it's in pretty immaculate condition so we'll be having a good time, but I have no intentions of challenging the front of the category. We've had good results in the car in the past and been in the top three in our class and if we were to do that I'd be thrilled. But the category we are in has a lot of far more experienced competitors and a lot of locals, and having driven the roads, 70 per cent of them once only, you just look at it and say you can't come close to competing with the locals if you just turn up out of the blue. But we certainly won't be pudding around - we'll be pushing the car and having a good time.

It's been completely impossible (to fit Targa in) for the past ten years, it occurred at the time of the month when I've come off a bit of a bludge period and I have to go back to work or I'm overseas because it's coming into summer overseas, so honestly since 1996 it's been my intention to come back every single year and it's taken eleven years for the moons to come into alignment to get down here this year. So I'm really excited about it and thrilled to be coming down.

The car that I'm running in I've owned since I was 15 and me and my mates like Tony (Ramunno, his navigator) have been tinkering with it, and playing with it and doing things we shouldn't for a long, long time and I didn't really have the time and the budget to go racing until literally around '96, late nineties, so I'm just a frustrated kid who didn't get to go go-karting who's living out his fantasies really."

Bana Guns it to the Max

April 15, 2007
Source: HeraldSun
Provided By: Stardust


	Herald Sun (Australia: April 2007) Provided By: Stardust		Herald Sun (Australia: April 2007) Provided By: Stardust

Bana Crashes Out

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April 20, 2007: 11:30pm
Source: News.com.au

AUSTRALIAN actor Eric Bana and his co-driver were uninjured yesterday after they crashed their car during an around-the-state rally in Tasmania.

Bana, who is competing in the Targa Tasmania rally with co-driver Tony Ramunno, crashed his 1974 Ford XB Coupe into a bank, but both walked away from the crash, officials said.

"Bana and co-driver Tony Ramunno have put out their OK boards, indicating that neither of them required medical attention," a statement said. "Bana was in 53rd place, from a field of 115 cars in the Outright Classic competition, before the crash."

Initially, Bana hoped that the car, which he has owned since he was 15, could be repaired to continue the final day of racing on Sunday. But a closer inspection by his support crew showed that the front right-hand steering and suspension were too badly damaged.

"We had been having a great day until then," Bana said. "We were still being cautious but we had found a fairly comfortable rhythm and were really starting to enjoy ourselves as we got used to the car."

"But I misjudged a tight left-hander and we went in a little too fast - the car understeered off the road and got onto the gravel and we went into a couple of trees at a fairly low speed.

"The car is a little battered on the drivers side which is a real shame, as many hours had been spent reshaping its original panels to get it just right. It's a real shame, but thats motor racing."

The 38-year-old Bana has starred in movies such as The Hulk and Munich. His most recent film is "Lucky You," which also stars Robert Duvall and Drew Barrymore.

Updates on the Targa Tasmania

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Eric Bana: "It's going great."

April 20, 2007
Source: Targa.org.au

Hollywood star Eric Bana has settled into Targa this year, despite all the media attention and hype that some say could have affected his results.

Eric and his Ford XB Coupe, co-driven by Tony Ramunno, is sitting comfortably in the middle of the field in the Shannons Classic.

"Today was good, we are starting to get into a comfortable rhythm, we have had no problems with the car, so it's going great," Eric said of his Leg Two performance.

Not only has he enjoyed the experience and the feel of the Tasmanian roads, he also believes the event is a huge success.

The event to me, is very successful, it's been great!"

Eric finished Let Three in 55th place, 14 minutes 30 behind the Shannons Classic leader.

Aussies Flex Muscles in Targa Classic

April 20, 2007
Source: ClassicRallies.com

Moving steadily forward near the middle of the 115-car Shannons Classic field are actor Eric Bana and Tony Ramunno in their 1974 Ford XB coupe, rising from 58th to 56th Outright and from 84th to 76th on handicap by the end of Leg 3.

TARMAC: Targa Tasmania - Day Two Classic Summary

April 19, 2007
Source: Motorsport.com

Back in the field Eric Bana in his potent 1974 XB Falcon is currently in 58th position outright out of the 115 starters in the Shannons Classic Competition and 84th in the Classic Handicap Competition.

TARMAC: Targa Tasmania - Day One Classic Summary

April 18, 2007
Source: Motorsport.com

Back in 54th place and still coming to grips with the power of his V8 Supercar spec-1974 Ford XB Coupe is Eric Bana with navigator Tony Ramunno.

The high-profile Lamborghinis of Adelaide's Kevin Weeks and Tasmanian Jason White were fifth and ninth respectively, and movie star Eric Bana was 57th out of 274 in his 1974 Ford XB muscle car.

Targa Tasmania Off to Flying Start

April 17, 2007
Source: ClassicRallies.com

Hollywood star, Eric Bana, was a huge hit with the crowd, but was well back, posting the 57th fastest time among the Classic entries in his Falcon XB Coupe.

Racing News

April 4, 2007
Source: Italiaspeed.com

However it was the 57th fastest crew of actor Eric Bana/Tony Ramunno in Bana’s spectacular bright red, 420kW 1974 Ford XB Coupe that drew the most attention, although they were caught and passed near the end of the stage by the Coads, who started 30 seconds behind them.

"Just dialing ourselves and the car in," said Bana, who was kept busy before and after his run being photographed with babies and signing programmes and even prams. "The rally starts tomorrow doesn't it?"

Bana Signs Babies

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April 17, 2007
Source: Targa.org.au

The Hollywood gossip mill will go on full boost should any of the home snaps of Eric Bana in the Prologue paddock ever get setn stateside.

Not content with asking obliging Eric to sign programmes and posters, an eager George Town resident thrust a baby into the actor's arms, then asked him to sign its bib and finally the bonnet of the child's pram!

Following in Peter Brock's footsteps as a Targa public hero was never going to be easy, but even Eric was surprised at the clamour for his attention.

Eric

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