John Large has at various times been one of the most powerful and influential figures in world motorsport.

But his success was not only on the international scene, but also locally in Tasmania as the  chairman of committees for Targa Tasmania and the man who first thought of the concept of the event.

John Large was also president of the Confederation of Australian Motorsport for many years and also a vice-president of the world control­ling body, FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile), at the time of his induction – a position he had also held for many years with distinction.

Born in Burnie and raised in Launceston, John (60 at the time of his induction) moved to Western Australia in 1965 after gaining his pharmaceutical qualifications.

Soon after purchasing his first sports car, he joined a car club and competed with it in amateur navigational trials.

John met with success almost instantly and in 1968 be­came WA trials champion.

He joined the Renault team in 1969 to become WA rally navi­gating champion twice and fin­ishing second in 1972.

The following year he teamed up with the legendary Ross Dunkerton, with the pair going on to win three more WA titles and the Australian Rally Cham­pionship in 1974 and 1975.

Their successes included a run of 12 consecutive victories during that time.

In 1975 John retired from competition to concentrate on building up his business.

In the meantime, from in­itially representing his car club on the State controlling body, John had also become heavily involved in motorsport adminis­tration and became the WA rep­resentative on the CAMS Board of Management.

Alter extending his pharma­ceutical business to a seven-day franchise Australia-wide and also in New Zealand, John retired in 1990.

In 1979 he became CAMS vice-president and president in 1982, later becoming the body’s longest serving president.

John  was also chair­man of the Australian Grand Prix board for more than a decade.

After his retirement in 1990, John had time to develop his idea of an international motorsport event for Tasmania – an idea he had harboured for almost 25 years for Tasmania as an ideal place in which to hold a purpose-designed event to take 'in all of its best attributes, including wonderful scenery, great roads and low density population.

The end result was the spectacularly successful Targa Tasmania.

Written by Martin Agatyn