Murray Walker to race Toyota in Targa Tasmania.

Murray Walker, 'the voice' of Formula One for decades, will team up with Australian motorsport legend Colin Bond to campaign a Toyota on this year's Targa Tasmania tarmac rally.

Walker will act as navigator and co-driver for Bond in the production-spec Toyota Team Racing Camry Sportivo on the event, which takes place over 13-18 May. The car, powered by a three-litre V6 quad cam engine, is being entered under the newly-formed works TTR banner, and will be prepared and crewed during the event by the Canberra-based team fronted by triple Australian rally champion and 1995 Targa winner Neal Bates.

Walker, who retired from Formula One television commentating at the end of the 2001 season, indicated in his best-selling autobiography Unless I'm Very Much Mistaken, that competing in Targa Tasmania had been a long held ambition.

"I am most grateful to Toyota for this opportunity and I am looking forward with great anticipation to the event," said Walker, "I'm not absolutely certain that I'm up to reading pace notes to Colin, but I am relishing the prospect of sitting beside him."

The 61-year old Australian driver is the only man to have won the coveted motorsport hat-trick comprising the Bathurst 1000 (1969), the Australian Touring Car Championship (1975), and the Australian Rally Championship (1972-73-75), and is looking forward to competing alongside an equally legendary individual.

"Murray is very enthusiastic and I still enjoy driving, so it should be a lot of fun," Bond said, "I'm very much aware of the status of my co-driver, and my priority will be to bring him back, not only intact, but with a huge smile on his face.

"The Toyota Camry we are running will be close to production trim, so we won't be going for the outright win. Having said that, performance-wise, it's a good all-round car and we hope to be competitive in our class."

Bond added that he had first raised the possibility of Walker competing with him in Targa during a conversation at the Sydney Motor Show.

"I had read that Murray wanted to do Targa and, when we spoke at the Motor Show, he said he was keen," he said, "After that, I contacted Toyota and things came together pretty quickly."

Bond has competed in Targa once before, finishing tenth outright in 1993 in a Toyota MR2.

"Being on bitumen, the speeds are higher and there is more grip compared to rallying off-road," he revealed, "My plan is to do some laps in a Camry around Eastern Creek before the Targa, to get more familiar with the car. I'm also thinking of going down to Tasmania beforehand and have a drive over some of the roads, because it's been a long time since I last competed on the event."

Promoter Octagon's general manager for Tasmania, Rob McGuire, said that Walker's presence was a coup for the event and would generate huge interest.

"Murray Walker is one of the most popular figures in world motorsport, and I'm sure he will enjoy the special camaraderie that exists between all the Targa competitors, and the chance to take in some of the most breathtaking scenery you will see anywhere," he said.

Network Ten executives David White and Scott Young will add an extra 'television' element to the event, as they enter a Lexus IS200 on the event. TTR owner Bates and regular navigator Coral Taylor will also be team managers for the Lexus entry.

This year's rally will be the twelfth annual Targa event in Tasmania since 1992, and will be contested over a total distance of 2299km, with 464km in 44 competitive stages, plus the Temco Prologue. Entries have increased to 267, headed by six-times champion Jim Richards and Tasmanian navigator Barry Oliver in a Porsche 911.

The four competitions in Targa are Historic (for cars from 1900-46), Touring Classic (1947-65), Classic (1900-81), and Modern (1982-2003). There is also a new non-competition touring class for rare and exotic historic and classic cars.