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27 May 2011 - 08:00

On board with Chesto

I never even saw the pole coming. One minute we were screaming along the third stage of the Targa Tasmania course, driver Mick Gillett heavy on the gas and me trying not to vomit while stuttering out the worst reading of pace notes in the history of rallying, and the next a one metre-high road marker was clanging against the side of our modified Hyundai i30 diesel, leaving a long, ugly scar above the wheel arches.

And the worst part is that, in all probability, the collision was entirely my fault. It's just that Mick is too nice to blame me.

"Oops, I think we might have collected something back there," he says breezily, as he changes gears and the greenery of Tasmania continues to blur past.

I'm in Australia's forgotten state to try my hand at navigating for Hyundai's rally team in the 2011 Targa Tasmania. It's a five-day. 2000km tarmac battle contested by some of the biggest names, and cars, in racing. There's Jim Richards in his Porsche 911 GT2, local hero Jason White in his Lambo Gallardo and two-time WRC champ and all-round motoring legend Walter Rohrl in his classic 911 SC. And me, in a Hyundai i30.

See a huge gallery of Chesto's exploits here