Its been a while, but I’ve finally gotten to sit down and watch the full 2008 Targa Newfoundland teaser compilation that Warwick Patterson and the rest of the crew at Flat Over Crest have put together. What more can I say except it is absolutely awesome!
While the FOC video completely captures the excitement, speed, camaraderie, danger and everything else that makes up this incredible event, there are a two things I have to comment on. First off, who the hell races an open top car like an E-type Jaguar, yet chooses not to install a roll bar? If you need helmets, you need rollover protection. Rules?
Secondly, what the hell was the guy in the Evo thinking when he backed up at speed in front of the Sprongl Quattro? Good way to end up munched!
Oh yes, don’t forget to watch for some candid ACP and Jen Horsey! Yes, the camera was rolling and yes he did use it!
Check out the stunning beauty of Targa Newfoundland after the break. Continue reading →
Unfortunately, not many of today’s rally enthusiasts have been exposed to the awesomeness that is an early Eighties Group B type Audi Quattro. Certainly not a common sight in Newfoundland!
Fortunately for us at home and even more so for spectators on The Rock, Frank Sprongl brought his old monster out of the barn for this year’s Targa Newfoundland. Not content to shock onlookers with glowing brake discs and bursts of flame from the exhaust, the many time Canadian Rally Champion finished up the event by turning a poor, unsuspecting, autocross into a most delightful display of tire melting hoonage.
Crank up the speakers and put on the virtual ventilation device!
As usual, our incredible Targa content is courtesy of the folks at Flat Over Crest
Here in The Garage, we were rooting hard for the Mopar team at the 2008 Targa Newfoundland. Not only is the Dodge Challenger built here in Ontario, but the piloto is none other than hometown boy Ralph Gilles. While many consider the Dodge icon to be as American as apple pie, there is a strong Canadian flavour to this go fast dessert.
Like any hi speed event on real roads, a car has to be tough as nails to even finish. Of the 70 cars that started the 2008 Targa, only 39 finished. On its first real race outing, the Challenger finished 2nd in class and 22nd overall. A great introduction for an enthusiastic team.
Enthusiasm is a big part of what carries a car like the Challenger to market, a consideration which is not lost on the folks at Chrysler. A second, production car was also on hand for the team to introduce to fans alongside the 540 horsepower rally car. The team met with fans at every chance and even dropped in at a couple of dealerships to spread the gospel of Mopar.
Read more from Team Mopar Underground after the break and check out an enormous gallery of images thanks to our friends at flatovercrest.com Continue reading →
As we wait for everyone to recover from their celebratory hang over following Targa Newfoundland, the all important stories behind the results are finally beginning to trickle in. Perhaps the most significant this year is that from veteran Canadian auto writer Jim Kenzie, who exited this year’s event in a frightening way. In Jim’s words:
Coming back from Leading Tickles, I took a 159 km/h bend at about 160 km/h, which launched the car down an embankment and into the trees.
From the damage, it looks like the right front wheel caught in the gravel, dug in, flipped the car end-over-end, and it landed on the upper left rear corner, turning it into a replica of a Mini El Camino.
It then landed wheels-down in a grove of saplings, maybe three cm thick, all too close to a swift-flowing river.
Kenzie is a Targa fixture, having competed now the last five years, in the same car, unscathed. Rumor has it that a new car is already in the works for next year, but it’s a shame that this one won’t live on as it has had a great run. More important than nostalgia though is obviously the safety of the Kenzie and co-driver Brian Bourbonniere. The roll cage built and installed by 4 Star Motorsports (yes, the Sprongl’s of the monster Audi) did a superb job protecting the crew. It’s important to note that they were also wearing the Hans device which may have also helped reduce the personal damage in what was obviously a violent tumble.
You can read more of Jim’s tale on his blog. We’ll keep readers up to date as more stories begin to come in.
Between Warwick’s busy days and nights on The Rock and my busy day here in the real world, here is his report from Thursday at Targa Newfoundland. Once again, todays photos are courtesy of Andrew Harvey.
Thursday’s Leg 4 brought competitors to the scenic Heritage Run area on the Burin Penninsula. A new leader has emerged, but only by the smallest of margins.
Taking over the lead on the penultimate day was previous Targa champion, Bill Arnold, with co-driver Alan Ryall. On the notice board at lunch time, Arnold was one second in the lead, and he proceeded to pull a few more seconds on the final in-town stage to take a slim lead of only four seconds at day’s end.
“It’s not enough!” said Arnold about his lead, “If you pooch one corner, that’s it.” Continue reading →
Next up in our series of guest posts from the flatovercrest.com crew. Most of today’s shots are courtesy of Andrew Harvey.
Targa Newfoundland, Leg 2
Tuesday’s action at Targa Newfoundland saw a mix of high speed stages and variable weather, and was not without its share of incidents. Intermittent rain throughout the morning gave drivers the additional challenge of reading the quickly changing road conditions. From one minute to the next, roads could be completely dry, or filled with puddles of standing water. The marathon 30km stage into Leading Tickles was the first to claim casualties on Leg 2, and the return trip back out took its toll on a veteran team.
Inbound to Leading Tickles, Mark Hacking and John Leblanc slid off the outside of a turn in the Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart on stage 3, leaving them with damaged suspension. Their crew was able to extract them and repair the damage quickly at the service, and lady luck would save them from even more penalty points because the outbound stage was halted due to a big crash. Continue reading →
This is the second guest post in a series by Warwick Patterson from flatovercrest.com who is in Newfoundland covering the 2008 Targa event.
End of Leg 1
As the rest of the world clocked into work on Monday morning, Targa Newfoundland competitors punched a different sort of time clock. With the sun rising above the rocky, rugged landscape, teams convoyed out to Argentia and Placentia for the first true competitive stages (Leg 1-Stage 1).
There are a lot of serious race teams here this week, and they all came prepared to go fast right from the word go. Sixteen teams cleared today’s stages with zero penalty points, and another 11 teams are within just a few seconds. The final stage through Eastport was the toughest test today, showing drivers how hard they will have to push in the days ahead. Continue reading →
Over the next few days, we’re very lucky to have a few guest posts by Warwick Patterson from flatovercrest.com who is down on The Rock covering the 2008 running of Targa Newfoundland. Warwick is providing some incredible shots for our readers and even more over at FOC.
Day 1
The 2008 edition of the Targa Newfoundland rally takes to the roads east of St. John’s on Sunday for the Prologue stages. Teams will have three stages to practice their timing, settle into a rhythm, and find any last-minute faults in their car. While the prologue stages do not count towards the final results of the rally, the organizers use the times to create a start order.
With a large number of manufacturer entries, and a healthy collection of classic and unique cars, Targa 2008 is set to be an exciting event. Mitsubishi has a two-car team, led by Andrew Comrie-Picard and co-driver Jen Horsey in an Evolution X. Mark Hacking and John Leblanc are competing in a pre-production Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart - a direct competitor to the WRX, due out in 2009. ACP Rally had a frantic month prior to Targa, building both new cars in a span of six weeks, and rebuilding the Evo 9 after their X Games flip. Continue reading →
After hearing the news about Ralph Gilles campaigning the Challenger in the 2008 Targa Newfoundland, I decided to poke around youtube a bit and came across this Targa introduction video with non other than Andrew Comrie-Picard as the host. This video gives a pretty good picture of Targa. While La Carrera competitors worry about falling off a mountain, Targa teams have to avoid house and stay out of the ocean!
When stories began swirling around about the Dodge Challenger Drag Pak model aimed at hard core drag racers, The Garage wondered how long it would be until we see a road racing version to take on the variety of competition Mustangs Ford has on offer. Today Chrysler announced that design guru Ralph Gilles will tackle the 2008 Targa Newfoundland rally in a Snake Skin Green 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8.
With a Drag Pak car being used as a base, could this be the precursor to a competition model that turns as well as it goes?
Regular readers are familiar with tarmac rallies through the writings of Gary Faules who has taken us to La Carrera Panamericana and back. Targa Newfoundland is our Canadian version, which pits competitors from around the world against each other and some of Newfoundland’s most challenging roads. There are classes for classics and modern equipment, along with overall wins and even a navigational class for those who don’t wish to compete in full attack mode.
This will be Gilles’ 3rd visit to The Rock, where he has DNF’d due to leaving the tarmac and a class win last year in the Dodge Caliber SRT4.
