Targa trio rallies to keep it all in the family


In what’s believed to be an Australian first, three members of one Cairns family will this year compete in the TARGA Great Barrier Reef rally in three separate cars.

Team Dunkerton will be lead by veteran Ross Dunkerton, a multiple Australian and international champion driver and home town favourite, who’ll be racing a newly-purchased Mitsubishi Evo 8.


His sons Aaron and Flynn will each drive a Subaru.

“My Dad is a champion driver and my Mum was a champion co-driver, so I guess it was inevitable that my brother and me were going to race cars,” 19 year-old Flynn said.

“We’re all very passionate about motorsport in our family, like some families are about football.”   

Flynn has been competing in car club events since he was 12.

He and navigator Nina Della Pozza are making their TGBR debut in the speed limited TSD Trophy category.

Flynn's older brother, 27 year-old Aaron, secured seventh place in the same category last year.

This year, he'll compete in the Early Modern division with navigator Matt Davidson in the same Subaru WRX his father drove to second place last year.

Autobarn Cairns and Smithfield is sponsoring all three Dunkertons.

"As Cairns locals, it's very important for us to have support from our local business community, businesses that the Cairns public can in turn support,” Ross said.

“They understand our commitment to success and there is great synergy between their products and ethos and our racing."

Targa Great Barrier Reef has quickly earned a reputation among rally participants as the ultimate driving destination and is now the as the second largest tarmac rally in the world.

The inaugural event last year also attracted plenty of spectators and the stunning scenery from the course was broadcast to 142 countries, reaching approximately 600 million viewers.

The 2019 event begins on August 30.

For the spectator guide click here.