Queenslander Ray Vandersee created the, er, unique-looking Skelta G-Force to achieve his dream of winning the legendary Targa Tasmania road race and, over the past few days (27 April - 2 May), oh-so nearly managed it.
Vandersee and the rear-drive Skelta, which uses a Honda 340bhp supercharged Honda S2000 motor, eventually came home second to a Lamborghini Gallardo Super Trofeo Strada - a car with the undoubted advantages of vastly more power than the Skelta can muster and four-wheel drive.
Along the way to a podium, the Skelta - a product of a company that has only produced 12 cars to date - despatched a paddock-full of Nissan GT-Rs, Mitsubishi Evos, Subaru Imprezas and Porsche 911s.
"It is hard to see what more co-driver Cameron Reeves and I could have done in the unusually tricky conditions, which inevitably favoured a four-wheel-drive set up," says Vandersee. "However, yet again we have proved just how competitive the car can be, especially on the faster, more open stages where its ground-effect aerodynamics really come into play."
The Skelta G-Force and its V8 Spyder siblling are now available in the UK, and a G-Force identical to the one last week's Targa Tasmania is currently being prepared for UK competition by Stratton Motor Company of Norfolk.