Jeff Morton wins Targa High Country 2022

Jeff Morton, driving a 2019 Porsche GT2 RS, claimed a dominant victory at the 2022 edition of the Targa High Country.  Morton, alongside co-driver Daymon Nicoli, cruised to victory in the Mt Buller GT Outright category, winning by 2 minutes 24 seconds over Angus Kennard and Steve Glenney in a 2015 Nissan GT-R.  Third position went to Tony Quinn and Kate Catford in a 2018 Nissan GT-R.

Morton’s story is certainly an interesting one.  In 2010, motorsport enthusiast Morton was diagnosed with a brain tumour, resulting in surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.  With the cancer in remission, in May 2011, Morton passed the necessary tests to obtain his road licence and began the process to reobtain his CAMS licence.  The process of getting the CAMS licence took five years and after this time had elapsed, Morton began competing in tarmac rally events.

He then purchased the Porsche GT2 RS, stating that “apart from just being a seriously cool car, the 911 GT2 RS appealed to me because I knew it would be reliable and easy to source parts.”  “One of the other attractions was the availability of a factory bolt-in roll cage, which made it easy to configure it for tarmac rally competition but also to be able to revert it to a road car down the track, he added.”

Morton engaged the services of GWR Australia to prepare the Porsche for tarmac rally events.  The car won on debut at the 2020 Mt Baw Baw Sprint and 2020 Lake Mountain Sprint.  COVID then hit and with future tarmac events in 2020 being cancelled, Morton turned his attention to setting the production car record at the 2020 Challenge Bathurst event.  With Goodyear SuperSport RS tyres at his disposal, Morton achieved a remarkable 2 minute 14.2 second lap time of the world-famous Bathurst circuit, more than two seconds faster than the previous record.

Morton’s focus is back on the returning Targa events held throughout Australia and he’ll be competing at the 30th anniversary edition of Targa Tasmania from April 26-May 1.  He and Nicoli will again be competing at this event in the Porsche GT2 RS and will no doubt be up the front of the field in GT Outright.

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