From the Targa Tasmania Tribunal Investigatory Report and Findings: "On Friday, April 23 at 10.02am Shane Nevin age 68 was fatally injured while competing in the fifth day of the event at Targa stage 26 – a long, well-known stage named 'Mount Arrowsmith' east of Strahan. He was driving car number 602, a 1979 Mazda RX7, which left the wet road to the inside of a right-hand bend where the vehicle rolled over, coming to rest upside down into a running creek. His co-driver aged 60 survived the incident with only minor injuries."
The 60-page report into the three deaths in the 2021 Targa Tasmania is a devastating read about an event that is to tarmac rallying what the Bathurst 1000 is to motor racing. When most people think about rallying, which most people in Australia don't, they think of little cars going sideways on gravel roads. Tarmac rallying is on public roads that have been closed off to the public. Unlike track racing, there are lots of things to hit and not much to stop you hitting them.
The mixture of some very fast cars (over 300km/h), the opportunity to drive at over 200km/h in cold, wet and foggy conditions, long, tiring distances between stages, drivers with varying experience and skills means, as one international safety expert told the inquiry: "The consequence of loss of control in this event is more severe than other events around the world. If you combine this with a high probability of loss of control, the result is fatal or serious injury."
The tribunal, chaired by international safety guru and F1 steward and adviser Gary Connelly, included rally and Targa winner Neal Bates, and high-profile corporate lawyer and motorsport court member and rally driver Matthew Selley. The trio's report is now the gold standard not just for tarmac rallying but any form of competitive motoring.
Twenty-three recommendations come out of the report. All of them make absolute sense. None really detract from the privilege of driving fast on public roads. Lower the maximum speed, make drivers drive the route before the rally, make sure the cars are set up for the conditions of a tarmac rally, allow wet weather tyres, make the urgent help signal simpler and find a way to find missing cars.
None of this will bring back three well liked and respected members of our motorsport family. It does put on the record the heroic efforts of Evans. Hopefully it will make an important event in a wonderful sport much safer.