Geoff Taylor’s name is just as synonymous with Targa Tasmania as the rally itself.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Even an eight-time winner and motorsport legend Jim Richards takes a bow to the road warrior Taylor, the only driver to appear every year since its 1992 inaugural race.
“The first Targa was a learning curve for everyone involved,” Taylor recalls.
“No-one knew what to expect. We never had any tarmac rallies before that.”
When Targa was born to take advantage of Tasmanian driving conditions, Taylor thought the concept was his real first taste of motorsport.
So much so that after past hillclimbs and sprints, he was warned by his wife not to come home should he crash.
“There was a lot of crashes, at first – safety was not really even existent,” Taylor says.
“We didn’t have to wear helmets, no roll cages, no harness, really no nothing.
“It was just jump in your car, off you go and just do it.”
The veteran from Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula is still keen for his 27th Targa.
Talk of retirement is not only premature, but sheer blasphemy to Taylor’s ears. In his own words, he’ll strap in the seatbelt “until I can’t”.
“I’m coming up 73, so my competitive instincts have waned somewhat,” he says.
“I have been on the podium four or five times in the past, but now I don’t really care where we finish. I just like coming here to race it.
“My car, my navigator and I, have combined 72 Targas.”
That’s 27 drives for Taylor, 22 for Lee Harper in the passenger seat and 23 for his 1974 Porsche 911 Carrera.
The vehicle – one of only 16 in the country – is as “rare as rocking horse,” he adds. The mechanical fuel-injected Carrera is a whole lot of car.
Boasting a 2.8 litre drive, it has a 250 brake horsepower compared to a standard 210.
“The beast has been an absolute ripper,” Taylor says.
“I have known this car since new, as my next door neighbour first owned it and I bought it off him in 1995.
“He was nearly broke, had to sell it, didn’t want to, but was happy to do so to me.”
“Until I can – or until I can’t, I should say,”
“Health at my age becomes a problem, but I don’t take any pills or anything, so I am still pretty healthy.
“I’ll be like a bad penny and keep turning up.”
Andrew Mathieson
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
The day I realised I wasn't good enough to play for St Kilda or be the No.1 spinner for Australia was when I realised journalism was the closest I could come to follow my passion for sport. And it's not just about the scores for me. It's the back story behind the game.
