Andy Belcher and the Dunlop Targa 2003

Award winning photographer and rally driver Andy Belcher of Maketu is sporting the biggest grin since finishing the "ultimate road race'' - the 2003 Dunlop Targa Rally.

Belcher and his co-driver Stephanie Muggeridge of Te Puke were finishers in the prestigious rally bringing home a commemorative plate and official ``finishers'' medal, awarded for completing all stages within the maximum time limit.

This was the third year Belcher had entered his Toyota MR2 in the 1900km six-day event and the Te Puke team, including service crew Angus Cook and Brent Ingram, notched up a 52nd placing out of 200 entrants and were placed fifth in their class. It was the first time the team completed all of the 65 special stages without a penalty.

Belcher was extremely pleased with the performance of his red MR2 overall.

"The Toyota handled well, the brakes were awesome, and I felt I drove really well this year.''

The car used about 80 litres of fuel a day and didn't use any spare tyres. The rally provided some extreme challenges and some highlights.

Day one at Pukekohe saw Belcher overtake a Porsche, BMW, about five cars in all, reaching speeds of up to 220km/h.

"We were moving. It was the first time Stephanie shut her eyes.''

Seeded at 73, (200 being the fastest car) Belcher noticed then how well the MR2 was out-braking other cars. However a miscalculation by Muggeridge cost them and they were seeded at 45 for the next stage - Auckland to Taupo.

The next morning the team moved up 60 places to 105 and were 4th in class at that stage. They finished the Taupo circuit seeded at over 100 and the MR2 was running perfectly.

On day two there was a problem with the car that had the mechanic and service crew puzzled. It started loosing power from the turbo charger, which was not repairable during the event.

But the team battled on.

"We had to keep the revs up. The MR2 is a great little rally car 'cos we thrashed it.''

The rally drivers experienced a lot of rain during the first three days which made for a huge variation in conditions.

"It's the most challenging driving I've ever done - tight, windy roads, road works, loose gravel, bumpy, every extreme - all those together made it very challenging.''

Driving on all three race circuits in the North Island - Pukekohe, Taupo and Manfield were a highlight.

"At Manfield there was a downpour and cars were aqua-planing - it was very challenging.''

Making consistently good times and getting to the finish was the aim of Belcher and his team and they did it. Belcher added that hs co-driver was superb and had come up another notch and could be world class.

"I and many other Dunlop Targa Rally drivers regard it as a great privilege to drive as fast as you can on public roads that are totally closed off.''

The rally has seen each team member reach a higher skill level because of the experience.

Of the 200 entries, 187 made it out of Auckland, 154 reached Wellington where the event finished with a street party on the waterfront. Australia's Tony Quinn/Keith Wenn won the rally in a Porsche turbo 4-wheel drive.

Next year is the 10th anniversary of the Dunlop Targa Rally and Belcher is planning to enter provided he has a sponsor.

Chris Steel
Reporter for Te Puke Times newspaper.

 Thanks to Chris for allowing us to reprint the article in MR2NewZ�Ed