# Targa Tasmania Is Back in November: What Lotus Owners Should Know

Targa Tasmania runs again this November from Launceston to Hobart, with a new three-day Targa Trofeo. Here is what has changed and how to take part.

Source: https://lotustrails.com/blog/2026-09-28-targa-tasmania-returns-november/

The world's best-known tarmac rally is about seven weeks away. Targa Tasmania returned last November after a two-year suspension, and this year's edition starts in Launceston and finishes in Hobart in the second half of November. The organisers have reported a full field months ahead of the start.

## What is new for 2026

The headline addition is Targa Trofeo, a sub-event run over the opening three days out of Launceston. It covers 24 closed-road stages in the north, north-west and east of the island and finishes back in Launceston, which gives crews a shorter, cheaper way to take part without committing to the whole week.

The full event then continues south to Hobart.

## Why it stopped, and what changed

Targa Tasmania was suspended after competitor deaths in 2021 and 2022. A review led to revised regulations before the event came back in 2025, covering speed limits on stages, vehicle eligibility and how the touring categories are run. If you last looked at the rules five years ago, read them again from the start.

## Why it suits a Lotus

Tasmanian stages are tight, cambered and constant. There are very few long straights, so power counts for less than it does almost anywhere else, and a light car that changes direction easily is hard to beat. Exiges have been at the front of the modern classes for years for exactly that reason.

You also do not need a rally car. The touring categories let you drive the same closed roads in a standard road car, at controlled speeds, behind a lead vehicle.

## If you cannot enter

The stages are public roads for the other 51 weeks of the year. Our guide to the [Lyell Highway and the 99 Bends](/trails/lyell-highway-tasmania/) covers the west coast run from Hobart to Queenstown, which takes in two of the event's signature stages.

Dates, entry details and the full route are on the [official Targa site](https://targa.com.au/). See also our [events page](/events/) for the other tarmac rallies around the world.