Skelta Sports Cars has gained a major coup for Queensland motoring today, following confirmation the Darling Downs designed and manufactured Skelta G-Force sports car will start in this year’s 15 th anniversary Targa Tasmania event, which runs from April 25 - 30.

In the most pivotal news in the short history of the sports car hybrid, designer Ray Vandersee received word this morning of his official invitation.

Vandersee’s small Toowoomba workshop team was abuzz with the news and there was an obvious sense of relief combined with excitement regarding competition in this prestigious International tarmac rally event.

“We’ve been eagerly anticipating this news for quite some time, and it’s really been a race against the clock to have our five production models ready to fulfill the requirements of the competition,” said an ecstatic Vandersee.


“The long hours spent in the workshop have all been worth it and we’ve now set our sights on a possible podium in Tasmania.

“The hard work is by no means over as we’ve still got quite a bit of preparation to do, but at least we now have direction and can pinpoint clear objectives towards the Tasmanian campaign.

“From a retail perspective we’re counting on solid results in Targa to drive potential sales of the Skelta G-Force, based on its ability to deliver ‘Pure Performance, No Compromise’ during the acid test of Targa Tasmania.”

General Manager Tasmania for Octagon, owner and promoter of Targa Tasmania Rob McGuire, agrees that Vandersee’s hard work has certainly paid off.

“Ray’s deliverance of five completed and complied cars in such a short amount of time is just great,” he said.

“We are delighted that Ray has put in the hard yards to achieve what truly is a great achievement for an Australian, independent manufacturer.”

“Such is the support from Targa Tasmania for independent car manufacturers to contest tarmac rallies Australian wide, Octagon petitioned the Tarmac Rally Working Group for the new centralised set of technical regulations to include boutique manufactures such as Skelta Sports Cars in its list of eligible cars.

“We will all be watching closely to see how the Skelta travels at this year’s Targa Tasmania.”

There’s no doubt, the Queensland creation can triumph over the elements during the five day event, traveling a total of 2100 kilometres, which includes 450 kilometres over 45 competitive stages. This was proven through Vandersee’s gutsy effort during the Targa New Zealand event late last year.

The NZ outing served as the perfect proving ground to iron out any potential problems. A few minor pre-production shortcomings were sorted, making the Skelta an even stronger competitor for Tasmania.

Rest assured the Targa Tasmania assignment is also very much a personal quest for Vandersee after finishing a career high ninth in 2003 driving his Westfield Clubman.

“Since then it’s been all about getting the Skelta G-Force tip-top and ready to race in Tasmania,” added Vandersee.

“This is the big one we’ve been targeting and has served as the inspiration for a lot of the structural design components of the Skelta.

“I see Targa Tasmania as the pinnacle event for proving production car handling, performance and reliability. Targa roads are the type I kept in mind while designing the Skelta.

“Success in what we set out to achieve during the Skelta’s Targa debut will prove the greatest advertisement for the car.”

The Skelta G-Force has a strong rural pedigree derived from Australia’s leading farm machinery and truck dealership company, Vanderfield Pty Ltd.; and takes inspiration from many proven European models including the modern-day Formula One car, Panoz Le Mans sports car and the English TVR Tuscan sportster.

SKELTA G-FORCE S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

Chassis:

Chrome Molybdenum steel spaceframe reinforced with carbon fibre and Kevlar centre tunnel and side pods

Body: Carbon fibre/Kevlar

Weight: 650kg dry. 50/50 distribution.

Engine: 2-litre high performance

Output: 180kw (241hp @ 8500RPM)

Power/Weight: 3.61 Kg/Kw

Transmission: 6-speed

Suspension: Double unequal length wishbones with inboard Proflex type shock/ spring units.

Brakes: Ventilated, cross-drilled 298mm discs with 4 piston callipers (f&r)

Performance (calc): 0 - 100km/h: 4.1 sec

0 - 400m: 12.1 secs

Top speed: 254kmh

Websites: http://www.targa.org.au; http://www.skelta.com.au