Copyright 2003 - Craig Seko, #701, Baldhead Racing Porsche 944 S2. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Last updated September 30, 2003
Last year, at the 2002 Targa Newfoundland, we won a silver Targa plate, our Class and Category, finished second in the Modern Division, and were seventh overall. This year one car won our class and category, finished second in the Modern Division, and was seventh overall (and won a silver Targa plate).
However, that car wasn’t ours.
After last year's Targa Newfoundland (see elsewhere on this site for many photos, etc.), it was a foregone conclusion that we would return in 2003. Why? To try to work towards a gold Targa plate.
The idea of Targa is quite simple: complete each and every special (closed-road) stage at a decent speed determined by the organizers, and you win a silver Targa Plate. The speeds are easily achievable (I think) by someone who has done some Solo2/Autocross and a few Porsche or BMW club driver's education events or lapping days, etc. Qualify for a silver Targa plate in three consecutive years, and in the third year, instead of a silver plate, you get a gold plate. There are also diamond and platinum, and, for all I know, unobtanium plates, for those who can be consistent for many more years. It all sounds very simple, but it isn't. Consistency and reliability are hard to achieve - ask any endurance racer.
We also wanted to repeat our class and category wins, and push for the Modern Division win. It was, however, expected that it would be very hard for Baldhead Racing to repeat last year's performance. First, for some weird reason, Jim Morrow, TN02 co-driver, thought he might enjoy the event more if he drove his own car. Second, for some other weird reason, his wife, Jeannie MacGillivray, thought she might enjoy the event more if she did the co-driving (and some driving) with Jim, instead of being service crew. Third, the Porsche 944 S2 was one year older, and had run a RallySprint, the Rallye Sanair (a tarmac performance rally), as well as autocross and track days. Maintenance over the year had consisted of a couple oil changes, a flush'n'fill of the cooling system, an alignment, and new brake pads and tires. Finally, the Baldhead Racing "It's-not-miles-per-gallon, it's-gallons-per-mile" motorhome had spent the winter rotting away, infested by various woodland insects and critters.
The first task was to find a new co-driver. In 2002, Steve Carrick came to Targa with us in the motorhome. Originally, he was to work TN02, but was drafted to be the navigator of the Last Ditch Racing P3 Subaru Impreza of John Cassidy. They finished first in Category 8 - with the stock 1.8l four-cylinder motor. As John was delving deeper into SCCA ProRally and would not be making it to TN03, Steve was gently coerced into co-driving in the 944. Steve and his wife, Dawn, rallied together in the 1970's, and Dawn joined us as Team Manager.
That was the team for quite a while. Jim and Jeannie were busy building their Subaru Impreza RS 2.5 into a CARS-logbooked rally car, and they were having difficulties finding crew as well. Targa requires a week off work as a minimum - a lot to ask of anyone.
Eventually, besides Steve and Dawn, three more people joined Baldhead Racing for TN03 (i.e., they had no idea what they were in for). I had read posts from Markus Blaszak on Rennlist, the premier Porsche community on the Internet, for many years. Blaszak Precision Motorsports is in Inverary, a couple hours from Ottawa. Markus was working on customer's cars until 2:00am Saturday - the day he flew in to be Baldhead Racing's Crew Chief. His wife, Rose, detailed the car for each evening's car show during Targa, and remembered everything. "Rose, do you remember where/when/ ..." was a common refrain in the motorhome, and not just from Markus. Markus also enlisted his friend Scott Wilkens to help. The two worked well together - it was unusual for me to watch others work on my car during the event, especially after last year.
Now there were six team members. This meant renting a chase vehicle. The motorhome was not ideal for following Targa around Newfoundland, so it generally cruised (slowly) between overnight stops. Long-suffering Christina Shortall at Maxxim vacations (I think we hold the record for the most changes to our itinerary) booked us a rental car with unlimited mileage - not the usual policy in NL. However, we made another change, and cancelled the booking a week before Targa - a kind soul was going to lend us his 944 to serve as a support vehicle!
One sure sign of the times is I "met" Stephen Beatty, the owner of a 1986 944, a few months earlier via the Targa Newfoundland website bulletin board. He had agreed to lend us his car before we had even talked on the telephone! I finally met Stephen in person (and washed the Baldhead Racing 944 in his driveway) on the day I flew into St. John's - Friday. (I don't recommend flying in to Newfoundland for Targa. It is too much of a jolt on the system. The gradual transition of a three-or-four day road trip is very relaxing - in each direction, and the ferry experience, full of the camaraderie of fellow competitors, can be very special.]
The ferry left North Sydney, Nova Scotia, Friday afternoon, carrying the Baldhead Racing Motorhome. Co-driver Steve drove my ageing Class C Glendale motorhome to Newfoundland with Jodie Shay, who would be co-driving Ralph Grant's Volvo 142 GT at Targa. While the trip down was uneventful, Baldhead Racing again experienced a breakdown at the ferry dock.
Last year, the electric hatch release on the 944 broke at the ferry dock. This is not a problem on early 944's, as the key works the hatch release manually. In later 944's, the key works a micro-switch, triggering the electric hatch release. Thus, if the electric hatch release brakes, the owner's manual advises crawling into the back, removing the carpet and exposing the hatch release mechanism, and opening the hatch by fiddling with rods.
The problem is, this 944 has a roll-cage. You can't get into the back unless you're a very small child. We got the hatch open - once. A clothesline was clamped around the rods, and strung up to the passenger's doorbars. It worked fine for the rest of Targa 2002, and the electric release was fixed after the event. (During TN03, the electric hatch release broke again.)
This year, the 944 was already in St. John's, brought over by a commercial hauler. Thus, it was the motorhome's turn to fail at the ferry dock - just as the cars were being loaded onto the ferry.
The starter on the motorhome stopped starting. Imagine 150 trucks and cars behind you, and the damn vehicle won't turn over. Eventually Targa-everything veteran Doug Mepham advised whacking the starter with a hammer. Thus, until the motorhome got to Mile One Stadium in St. John's on Saturday, the motorhome was started by someone in the driver's seat turning the key, while another person crawled underneath the motorhome and whacked the starter.
I didn't know any of this at the time. Besides meeting Stephen and washing the car, I was visiting the Targa Newfoundland office and being a general pest. I also picked up rental telephones and radios for the team from Downeast Communications (also an event sponsor).
This day was mostly cleaning and putting decals on the car - and fixing the motorhome. Steve changed the starter with the motorhome parked on the sidewalk outside Mile One Stadium. The technical inspection was a simple formality for us, as the car has a CASC-OR logbook.
One difference between Targa and racing is, in Targa, protests about the legality of a competitor’s car or classification can only be made before the event starts. (In racing, protests are usually made after the event is over, when preliminary results are posted.) While the modified class cars were fine (and hard not to be), it was evident a number of the standard specification entrants had either not read the rules, or were ignoring them. In the final moments of the time allowed, I decided to protest only the factory-sponsored entries in my class. One was just to correct an error in the entry list - the version of the entry list posted while scrutineering was open had the entry listed in standard specification, but the Subaru team had, in fact, changed their entry to the modified class weeks beforehand. As for the other, BMW Canada claimed the John Cooper Works Cooper S was the base model of the line. I claimed the "John Cooper Works" bits were an option package for the Cooper S as the JCW Cooper S is not listed (homologated) as a separate model with Transport Canada (the country of entry), and thus, could not be considered a separate model from the Cooper S. In any case, the JCW supercharger and other performance and appearance items were not installed by MINI, and therefore, according to rally rules, could not be standard specification. That protest was rendered moot when I wrote the wrong car number on the inquiry. Doh! Thus, the JCW Cooper S ran in standard specification class. Unfortunately for BMW, whoever prepared the car did beautiful work, but wasn’t clear on how to set up a car for Targa Newfoundland. When the crew wasn’t having their kidneys battered by the Aluminium seats, the road-racing ultra-low-profile tires and rims fitted to the Cooper S were blowing out under the road conditions.
For these protests, I was vilified by some of the competitors, and subjected to a few pointed practical jokes. I understand a whole series was planned for each day of the event. In subsequent days, some twenty other protests were filed by a dozen other competitors, so the concept of me spoiling everyone’s fun by protesting was moot.
Demo day was a time trial around the Confederation Building - equivalent to a U.S. state capitol building. The main purposes of the day were to evaluate rookie crews, and train the various marshalling teams involved in the event. Although the results do not count, the day was stressful for us as three problems arose - one, the brakes were working, but just didn’t feel right. This was traced to a common 944 complaint - a cracked firewall. This wasn’t a safety issue, but it did affect brake feel throughout the event. The second problem was the clutch was no longer up to the job, and was dying. It appeared likely we would be able to nurse it to the end of the event, and did. (We did carry a replacement assembly, but changing a clutch is a fifteen-hour job without a hoist in a 944.)
The third problem was more insidious - the dash voltmeter was reading lower than it usually did. Normally the voltmeter shows a little over thirteen volts, but now it was showing twelve. A check at the battery showed the correct voltages, so the problem was dismissed, but this was the beginning of the end of our competition.
We weren’t the only crew with problems. A number of other cars could be seen with their hoods up, or on jackstands. Markus and Scott were drafted to bleed the brakes on #908, getting foam. Jim and Jeannie had their brakes completely refreshed just before Targa, but the pads just weren’t cutting it.
Prologue day saw more new brakes tested - and the first serious off of the event. The Hill/McNeely Mustang, last year’s second-place overall, spun off, just missing a telephone pole.
I was at the shop when the car came in, and the problem was soon diagnosed - the friction material had separated completely from the backing plate in one of the pads installed. Post-event analysis showed some of the pitfalls of using modern technology on old cars (or old car parts). The Hill/McNeely Mustang was built for true vintage competition, and used 1960's era "performance" brakes (stock brakes from a bigger car - in the case, a Lincoln). State-of-the-art in brake pads in the 1960's was an asbestos pad compound riveted to the backing plate. Asbestos isn't allowed anymore, and carbon/metallic/ceramic composites are now the performance material of choice. In this particular case, a modern moulded race pad compound was applied to a backing plate designed for rivetting, and used in a single-piston caliper. The single piston caused the rivet-type backing plate (modified for moulding) to flex and bind under hard application, and the flexing of the plate resulted in the material leaving the backing plate, leading to failure. Happily, the Mustang was able to make it back into competition the next day.
The Prologues are used only to establish the start order for the first day of competition - although they have no effect on the standings, times are recorded, leading to some gamesmanship. In between the prologues was the now-traditional Targa visit to Beachy Cove elementary school, where competitors got their first taste of fame, signing autographs for the kids.
A number of teams were prepared for the kids this year. The Subaru team had the best stuff, with make-your-own-WRC-Subaru sticker pages, and various posters. Having a somewhat lower budget, we printed up 2200 3" square Baldhead Racing stickers. By the end of the week, only a handful remained. We also printed up twice as many shirts as we had last year, and still ended up using almost all of them up - this year, however, when a local service club asked for a shirt for a raffle, we had one for them. Most of our extra shirts went this way.
The first stage of Leg One unfortunately continued another Targa tradition - the cancelling of the first stage due to offs. We had thought that with sunny summer conditions, there would be no problems. We were wrong. Two teams went off the road after the flying finish of the first stage.
After parading to the next stage, the competition began in earnest. Although Leg One was meant to be an easy day, the second stage, Seal Cove, demonstrated a common complaint - most cars from the late 1980’s and beyond have no chance of placing well if the weather is perfect. The reason is the base times (the times to beat for no penalties) are based on the times the best cars of an era can achieve. With the introduction of "supercars" and street-legal homologation specials such as the Porsche 911tt AWD, 959, GT-1, GT2, GT3, Ferrari F40, F50, Enzo, and MacLaren F1, the base times for post-1990 vehicles meant only such supercars could be competitive with earlier cars retro-fitted with modern components.
This is why the fastest cars in Targa - Sean Hyland’s 2001 Mustang and the Paynter’s factory Subaru WRX - had no realistic chance of winning - although if there was a lot of rain, the Subaru would have been close. The way penalties are calculated in Targa (the "base time" concept, which varies by age and preparation level of the car), favours older cars fitted with modern components. I figured one of three well-driven Classic division cars would win: Bill Arnold’s 1972 BMW Bavaria (with an E36 M3 motor), Jud Buchanan’s 1967 Acadian Canso (Canadian Chevy II, with a current Chevrolet crate motor), or Lennox McNeely’s 1965 Ford Mustang. This latter car carried period-correct modifications (essentially a GT350R), but was driven by probably the most talented driver competing in the event, Jeremy Hill.
By the end of the day, some 20 teams were tied for first place, with zero penalty points, with five other teams within five seconds of stage penalties. Targa organizers introduced 30 minutes of "free" road (transit) penalties per day this year, which essentially eliminated co-driver ability from affecting the standings. This was good as most Targa competitors had totally inexperienced navigators, but bad in the sense that inexperienced drivers didn’t get such a break!
Speaking of breaks, our car broke right after lunch. The car sputtered to a stop in the first stage after lunch, and by the time we got it going again, we had not only blown that stage, but missed the start of the following one (an automatic 30 minute road penalty, which, for some reason, was not included in the 30 "free" minutes of road penalties one had each day, much to our chagrin). We still have not figured out exactly what went wrong, but it appeared the lowered voltage available at the time put too much current through a toggle switch I had installed as a theft deterrent in the airbag system, causing the ignition to cut out under high heat conditions.
Our event was now essentially over on the first day of competition - but thanks to airline ticket rules, we wouldn’t be able to fly out early without paying a change fee, or, in some cases, buying new tickets. We would also get no refund or credit on the entry fee, the hotel rooms, the ferry, or the additional end-of-event banquet tickets I had purchased. So, stuck in Newfoundland, and in 36th place, we decided to press on as if nothing had happened.
Leg Two, like Leg One, was what I like to call an "endure and persevere" day. (I hope these kinds of days disappear next year.) As long as one drives reasonably quickly, and doesn’t go off or break down mechanically, one will end the day in first place - along with half the field. The competition in the first two days was simply a matter of survival, and not making mistakes.
With no real need to have competitive stage times (except for pride), we changed the service crew arrangements to haul the whole team up to Leading Tickles for lunch. This place out in the middle of nowhere (even for Newfoundland) has some gorgeous scenery, and the 100-year record high temperatures made for a wonderful summer day.
Our electrical problem seemed to have disappeared throughout the day, but made a re-appearance in the last stage of the day, the famous run through the Gander sub-division. This stage, and its sister stage, (back through the same course the next morning) were, like last year, the best stages in the rally.
We watched most of the stage from someone’s driveway. The car died again about a kilometre into the stage. Evidently the toggle switch was a symptom of something else. The car started again after a few minutes, but died again within sight of the finish line. That night in service, Markus and Scott:
While conventional wisdom says to make one change at a time to isolate the problem, racing wisdom says yank anything non-essential that might be causing the problem, and figure out what is causing the problem later (which I have yet to do). The dash voltmeter now read properly, and we had no further (electrical) troubles for the rest of the event.
Some fifteen teams were tied for first with no penalty points by the end of the day. Crews with worse problems than us moved us up to 34th overall. I started smoking again, and drank a few beers. (I’ve since stopped both.) Team moral was at its lowest, and withdrawing was a distinct possibility. However, the question of what the hell else we would/could do for the next few days could only be answered by staying in the rally.
Leg Three was the third of the "endure and persevere" days. The only difference was the base times to achieve in the Gander sub-division stage were tightened up a bit, although not by much. We were blocked by a slower car for over ten seconds, and still managed to get zero points easily on that stage. It made for good in-car video.
One difference between Targa and conventional racing or rallying is the passing car has absolute right of way, and the car being passed must yield immediately, and signal the car by. Cars are started 30 seconds apart, with the slowest cars first, and the fastest last. This generally leads to passing only on the high-speed stages. However, with our mechanical problems, we were rated as one of the slowest (absolute) cars, and cars are ordered slowest to fastest for start times each day. Thus, the cars in front of us weren’t used to a faster car closing so early in the stage. For example, it took about three miles for us to make up 30 seconds on a 1953 Healey in Gander, the first stage in the morning. It was something the Healey crew wasn’t on the lookout for, and the only way we could get by them was by some very late braking, and hope that they didn’t turn into us - they didn’t know we were there until we were beside them.
The other (fortunate or unfortunate) highlight of the day was a new, very short stage on Greenspond Island. With lots of tight first and second-gear corners, I lost the car in one corner between two rock walls, but managed to stay on the road (really interesting video - or so I thought at the time). One other team wasn’t as fortunate, and did two end-over-end rolls - after the flying finish. I’m not sure what caused this, but the team did finish the rally - in Touring class in their GMC van support vehicle.
(The touring class competition was much tighter than last year. This is the competition for cars without rollover protection. Cars are limited to lower speeds than the Targa cars, and have "windows" of time to complete the various stages.)
By the end of the day, the stage was set for the real competition to start. Eight teams were tied for first place with no penalties. The top five were, of course, Classic division cars, with the rest of the top 10 filled by the fast Modern division vehicles:
1. Salter/Harber - 1953 Healey 100
=1. Silver/Fuss - 1965 Mustang
=1. Hill/McNeeley - 1965 Mustang
=1. Buchanan/Wright - 1967 Acadian Canso (Chevy II)
=1. Arnold/Guagenti - 1972 Bavaria
=1. Clarke/Gamblin - 1979 911
=1. Jakubowski/Gerard - 1981 911SC
=1. Hopkins/Hughes - 1988 M3
2. McNutt/Ellis - 1988 CRX Si
3. Paynter/Paynter - 2002 WRX
=3. Hyland/Cox - 2001 Mustang
The Hopkins/Hughes BMW E30 M3 would have been our primary competition. It was unfortunate we broke so early, as the stage times showed we would have had quite the competition - E30 M3’s are very closely matched to 944 S2’s - while the E30 has 16 less hp, it also has a couple hundred pounds less weight.
As for us, we ran penalty free that day, as we had in all the stages where we didn’t break. A few more competitor mishaps moved us up to 32nd overall.
The Targa literature says the level of competition gradually increases so the last day is the toughest. However, like last year, it was leg four that really shook things up. This was the first day that had stages where the target (base) times were impossible to meet.
The first stage of the day, Marystown South, was the first stage where everybody had to go as fast as possible - no setting the pace just to meet the base times. (Some of the Targa competitors are masters of this. After we broke, I tried this strategy, but was never really comfortable with it, although it is the smart way to race - go slow enough to win.) Only three teams made their base times, and only seven teams completed the first stage in under four minutes. The top ten fastest teams were (absolute time, decimal minutes):
Many of the teams (ahem) encountered a fire hydrant at one particular corner (verrry interesting video), but nobody hit it (but it was close - if the hydrant had been protected by tires, it would have been broken for sure).
The next stage, Garnish, was more a challenge for co-drivers than for drivers. Times were easy to meet with sufficient horsepower, and the key to an easy go of it was good communication between driver and co-driver. We found calling "Right U-turn" or "Left U-turn" was most effective on this stage (and how the stage should be driven - straights terminated by slow U-turns about a four-lane street wide). We cruised through the stage. (That’s it for hints for next year’s competitors J .)
Mortier-Burin was the next stage, followed by Burin-Mortier, the same stage backwards. These are relatively simple high-speed stages, but offer some of the most dangerous curves in the event, as an off in many of the curves will dump you into the sea. Even with backing off on many of the corners, we only missed our base time by two seconds. Both stages had little effect on the overall results, although most teams took penalties.
The next stage, Grand Bank, was a new stage this year, very tight, with co-drivers being kept very busy calling corners. Base times were set low enough that most competitors easily cleaned the stage, but crews were so busy that nobody let up, and the previous stages had tight times, so everyone was expecting these to be even tighter.
The start of the stage was delayed when one of the touring cars went headfirst into the wharf. A number of other teams subsequently spun or went sideways through the wharf, but only a couple of teams went through wide enough to tag the wharf, namely yours truly. (Watch the TV show, I’m sure we’ll be on it this year!) Thanks to our 6061-T6 rear skidplate, mechanical damage was non-existent, but the rear quarter was now cosmetically challenged.
The next stage, Fortune, was another new stage this year. It was essentially Gander with bad roads and gravel, and impossible to achieve base times. After this stage, everyone had penalty points. Clarke/Gamblin tagged a curb in this stage, putting them out of contention with a bent rim and blown tire. They still managed to complete the stage within the trophy time. Ten teams managed to get under four minutes (absolute time, decimal minutes):
The next stage was the reverse of the Garnish stage run earlier, with similar results. The last stage, Marystown North, was also a repeat of the morning’s Marystown South stage, backwards. Base times were again impossible to achieve, and only three crews were under four minutes (absolute time, decimal minutes):
1. 3.87 Paynter/Paynter - WRX
2. 3.97 Hyland/Cox - Mustang
3. 3.98 McNutt/Ellis - CRX Si
4. 4.02 Buchanan/Wright - Acadian Canso
=4. 4.02 Arnold/Guagenti - Bavaria
6. 4.05 Clarke/Gamblin - 911
7. 4.08 VanZutphen/Badenburg - Integral
8. 4.13 Jakubowski/Gerard - 911 SC
9. 4.15 Seko/Carrick - 944 S2
10. 4.20 Hopkins/Huges - M3
=10. 4.20 Coulombe/Memme - Miata
=10. 4.20 Church/Miller - Ruf RGT
The slower performance of most of the cars for this stage can be explained by one factor - poor marshalling. While the standard of marshalling through most of the event was excellent, it was clear that no maintenance had been done on the stage from the morning - or if it had been done, spectators had re-arranged the tape. In three cases (I’ll have to look at my in-car to be sure of the number), caution tape had been ripped from one anchoring point, and was thus blowing across the stage road, appearing to block the right road, and open up the wrong road. The worst instance was when we came up on a called right, with three possible roads to choose from, all having caution tape blowing across them, with no caution tape for straight on. We only figured out which was the correct road by looking down the streets to see which roads did not have any tape on them farther down, and going down the road that had tape blowing across it. Although one team did inquire on it, we were all in the same boat, so it was correctly denied. The large number of parked cars on course (and on line) were also interesting. While Marystown, both North and South, were good, fun, stages, the return stage could have been the most dangerous stage of the event, thanks to blowing tape.
The end of the day saw the overall standings starting to take shape as expected. The top five remained Classic division cars, and, as before, the rest of the top 10 was mostly filled by Modern division vehicles:
1. Arnold/Guagenti - 1972 Bavaria
2. Silver/Fuss - 1965 Mustang
=2. Buchanan/Wright - 1967 Acadian
4. Hill/McNeeley - 1965 Mustang
5. Salter/Harber - 1953 Healey 100
6. Jakubowski/Gerard - 1981 911SC
7. McNutt/Ellis - 1988 CRX Si
8. Hopkins/Hughes - 1988 M3
9. Grant/Shay - 1970 142 GT
10. Paynter/Paynter - 2002 WRX
Arnold had six seconds on second place, Hill was only two seconds back of Silver and Buchanan, and Salter was another five seconds back from them. Salter’s clutch was locked, so it was evident they would be dropping down the standings the next day. Thanks to offs and mechanical problems by other competitors, we had moved up to 26th overall.
Leg five was the last day of Targa, and should have offered plenty of opportunity for changes in placement. Three of the stages - the south Avalon stages - were what I like to call "cruise control" stages - if one drives pretty much how one drives on a normal expressway, one will make the base times. The JCW Cooper S did the stage with the cruise control on, the air-conditioning on, the sunroof peeled back, and the CD player blasting. It was also amazing the number of competitors on the first of these stages had an average speed of 129km/hr or 130km/hr.
Of the other stages of the day, Placentia was totally changed from last year. Of the (planned) last three stages, Bay Bulls was cancelled a few weeks before the event, and Witless Bay a few days before the start of the rally. These two stages had quite an effect on the results last year, and no doubt Hill/McNeely were sad to see them go. The final stage of the day, Petty Harbour, was also changed from last year.
The first stage was Osprey Trail East, a stage from Leg One run backwards. This stage provided the only rain for the event (amazing for Newfoundland in September), and even then the rain only covered a few kilometres. Most teams, including us, backed well off for the rain-soaked parts, but the top teams just kept going, and easily cleaned the stage.
Placentia was next stage, and significantly changed from last year to be much, much, slower. Five teams managed to get under the 7 minute, or 70km/hr, mark (absolute):
In the overall standings, Silver took four seconds in penalties at Placentia, dropping them from second to fourth, and Salter took eight seconds (with a locked clutch), not changing their fifth position, but they were now sharing it with Jakubowski. Placentia also flipped the seventh-place CRX and eighth-place M3, who were locked in a battle for category 7 honours. Ninth-place Grant/Shay had mechanical issues, and kept driving using the kill switch - either full throttle, or no throttle! (Don’t try this at home, folks - hell, don’t try this anywhere!) This moved the extremely consistently driven Volvo 142 S of Mepham/Osborn into the top 10, just behind the consistently fastest entry, the Paynter’s WRX.
This set the table for the last stage of the event, Petty Harbour, one of my favourite stages. At the start of the stage, the Mepham/Osborn Volvo came out of nowhere and staged in front of us. As we were nowhere in contention for anything, it didn’t matter, and I knew Doug would move over for me. As it turned out, we came up on him much sooner than I had predicted, and couldn’t pass him on the narrow road we were on when he first moved over for us. Later on I found out he had punched a front shock through a lower control arm, which accounted for the interesting vehicle dynamics I saw (I had to pass him through esses). He did manage to keep his overall placement, and be one of three teams to win a silver Targa plate both last year and this year, a huge accomplishment. (The other two were Arnold and Hill/McNeely.) I expect to see these three teams in TN04 to win the first possible gold Targa Newfoundland plates.
Everybody was going all-out at Petty Harbour - eleven teams averaged over 100km/hr (absolute time in decimal minutes):
1. 4.40 Hyland/Cox 2001 Mustang
2. 4.48 Paynter/Paynter 2001 WRX
3. 4.55 Arnold/Guagenti 1972 Bavaria
4. 4.62 Clarke/Gamblin 1979 911
5. 4.63 Jakubowski/Gerard 1981 911 SC
6. 4.67 Seko/Carrick 1990 944 S2
7. 4.67 VanZutphen/Badenburg 1996 Integrale
8. 4.72 Churchill/Roxbury 2002 WRX STi
9. 4.77 Hill/McNeely 1965 Mustang
10. 4.78 Buchanan/Wright 1967 Acadian Canso
=10. 4.78 Hopkins/Hughes 1988 M3
The difference in base times was not enough for Hill/McNeely to catch Arnold/Guagenti, but they did catch Buchanan/Wright, swapping second and third place. Thus, the final top ten were (margin of Targa penalties in minutes:seconds):
We finished in 24th, some forty minutes in penalties behind Arnold. Rallying is a game of "what if’s," (particularly for the losers J ), and if we didn’t have electrical problems, we would probably have finished in the top 10. Oh well, at least my prediction for the winners was right.
With the event officially over, only the final banquet remained for the next day, where Jim Morrow and myself would present the Baldhead Racing Novice Award. While most of the competitors used the day as an opportunity to sleep in, we used the opportunity to run in a Solo2.
Targa has been responsible for the resurgence in grassroots motorsports in Newfoundland. Besides the Targa Newfoundland Motorsports Club, an entity dedicated solely to the Targa event itself, the Vinland Motorsports club has been resurrected, and boasts, after one year of operation, an impressive schedule of TSD rallies, Solo2’s, and social events.
The idea of some kind of charity Solo2 event on the day after Targa started bouncing around the Internet last June. The Targa organizers themselves had a full plate preparing for the banquet so they could not be involved, but others were interested, and the Vinland club kindly offered to sanction and run the event. Two of the Targa competitors, Mark Armstrong and Greg Davies, arranged to have the Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada be the charity of choice. People could sign up for rides in a "Targa Car," with proceeds to the Children’s Wish Foundation. Nine of the Targa competitor’s cars showed up (in no particular order):
The WRX was clearly the crowd favourite, although Jud scored FTD. (I would’ve had him, but I coned J.) I used the event to let the team have a chance to drive the car. We had four drivers registered. (Mercifully, I was fastest. Mind you, it was the first-ever autox for Markus and Scott.)
Before the event got rolling in earnest, we entertained two special guests. Justin is a 13-year-old being treated for cancer at Janeway, Newfoundland’s children’s hospital. His wish is to go to the Daytona 500 NASCAR race and meet Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte. Unfortunately, February is a long way off when one has cancer. Anyhow, Justin and his 10-year old (and much bigger) brother Jeffrey were given real racing suits from Leaf Raceware tailored to fit them, and brought out to the Solo2. They had their pick of cars to go out in, and they chose the Cobra replica, and, to my honour, my car. We put them in the co-driver’s racing seat, strapped them into the six-point harnesses, and we blasted loudly (and slowly, because Justin’s body can’t handle excessive g-forces) around the course in first gear. Thumbs up and big smiles all around.
A few weeks before Targa, I was figuring out how much of each size of team shirts I should have made. We only had one person who took a size small, but, for some reason, I felt the need to order two extra small shirts. Now I know why. The look of joy on those two boy’s faces when we gave them team shirts and made them members of "the Baldhead Racing team" meant more to me than any Targa trophy will; and those happy memories will last long after the disappointment of our 2003 Targa Newfoundland competition have faded from my mind.
There's always next year!
P.S. We did manage to win one award - a team award. Teams in Targa are formed by at least three crews, and there were team competitions for Marque, Nation, etc. Thanks to Glen and Evan's excellent performance in the 911, the Ottawa team, consisting Glen/Evan, Jim/Jeannie, and myself with Steve Carrick, won the President's plate for best team performance. So much for Halton Hills being the Rally Capital of Ontario!
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