Leigh is a regular competitor in Targa events. His first Targa was in 2007, driving a standard WRX STI and he progressively built modified versions over the years. Competing in the unrestricted 4WD category with six wins under the belt often leads to crashes and there have been many, including shaving some bark off one of the substantial pine trees here at the Leadfoot Festival.

Leigh Hopper - 2004 Subaru STI C Spec RA Targa

Leigh is a regular competitor in Targa events. His first Targa was in 2007, driving a standard WRX STI and he progressively built modified versions over the years. Competing in the unrestricted 4WD category with six wins under the belt often leads to crashes and there have been many, including shaving some bark off one of the substantial pine trees here at the Leadfoot Festival.

2004 Subaru STI C Spec RA Targa:

This Subaru has many of the mechanical components of Leigh’s previous Targa cars. The last car experienced an unceremonious encounter with a power pole during the prologue for the October 2015 Targa Rally. Built by Leigh’s nephew Ricky Gray of Mach1 Engineering, the car has a healthy 400kW output and is coupled to a 6-speed Modena sequential gearbox. Extracting reliability has been a progressive exercise over the years and Leigh has made incremental improvements and adjustments to keep up with and on occasions ahead of other competitors with far more modern, computer-assisted technology.