Century Yuasa's Girl Racers Victorious at Targa Tasmania

The Forklift Power Solutions all-female team of Samantha Stevens and Claire Ryan has claimed the Early Modern title in the Australian Tarmac Championship with an impressive result in the final round at Targa Tasmania last week.

One of the toughest road challenges in the world, the Targa Tasmania tarmac rally, covers 2000km of twisting tarmac with over a quarter of that distance as competitive kilometres. Of the 260 cars that started the six-day rally, many fell victim to mechanical and human error, and 56 cars did not make the official finish in that Tasmanian capital of Hobart.

The girls managed to bring their 1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI home without a scratch, despite a computer malfunction on Day Three slowing their progress and dealing them a substantial time penalty.

Perseverance paid off, and the team finished second in class, fourth outright in the Early Modern category, and an impressive 25th outright amongst stiff competition and cars ten times the Lancer's value.

"This has been the most challenging week in my relatively young driving career - the balance between bringing it home straight, versus the red mist that makes the brain switch off and the right foot turn to lead was agonising," said driver Samantha.

"Claire did an excellent job keeping me both on the notes and the leash. Our crew were integral in bringing the car home despite some potentially rally-ending electrical gremlins."

"And we would not have made it there in the first place without the support of our sponsors, particularly Century Yuasa Batteries, V-Sport Performance, Kumho Tyres and Nevco Ezy Approach Trailers. We were close to calling it a day before Century Yuasa came on board, and are pleased that the faith in our skills paid off: we are a national champion team thanks to their support."

The swift but conservative drive secured the team a double point score in the Australian Tarmac Championship to seal a top 10 position on the outright Modern leaderboard and the title of Early Modern Australian Champions.

The 2010 championship consisted of the Mt Buller Sprint, VIC (1991 Nissan Pulsar GTI-R, 2nd in class), Targa Wrest Point, Tas (Lancer Evo VI, 3rd in class), the Lake Mountain Sprint (Lancer Evo VI, 2nd in class) and Targa Tasmania.

"Being a part of an all-girl team gave me an extra sense of achievement," said navigator Claire, herself a South Australian Rally Champion Co-driver (2009).

"We have a lot of fun in the car, but take our motorsport seriously and our win reflects this."

The girls also raised over $1000 for their official charity, the McGrath Foundation, with a notable $350 donation from DriverDynamics.com.au, and wish to thank sponsors Century Yuasa, V-Sport performance Equipment, Kumho Tyres, Nevco Engineering, Racecam, JustJap, Insight Dyno, iAutosport, Shane's Signs, ABC Tyrepower, and the Octagon officials and volunteers.

See www.samanthastevens.com for full details and multimedia.