THE then event director of Targa Tasmania has told a coronial inquest that a drop in the road just before a driver's fatal crash was easily visible.
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The fourth day of the inquest into the April 2013 death of competitor John Ernest Mansell, 71, continued in Launceston on Thursday.
Stuart Benson answered questions from barrister Ken Stanton, for the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, about the section of the road where the crash occurred.
He told the inquest that part of the road was not considered to be high risk.
"The drop was easily visible from many hundreds of metres away... and it became very visible as you approached it," he said.
"It was a feature of the road but it was not considered a high risk feature of the road and was certainly within the character of the road in that it's quite undulating."
Mr Benson said a competition car could negotiate that area without complexity.
Mr Stanton asked the witness to compare that section with other crests, dips and drops in the 2013 event.
Mr Benson said there were numerous other crests or features in the road that could cause cars to drop away quite quickly which could also be easily identified.
Launceston-born Mr Mansell died early on the first day of the event on April 17, 2013, near Exton, when he encountered a crest at 200km/h.
His car became airborne, landed heavily, veered off the road and hit a tree about five kilometres into the first stage about 9.14am.
Navigator Tristan Catford was seriously injured.