One of the big stories of the 2008 Targa Newfoundland was the participation of Chrysler’s VP of design, Ralph Gilles driving a race prepped 2009 Challenger SRT8. Chrysler recently released this great short video interview with Gilles, where he lets us in on how the green monster was created.

Dodge Challenger Targa at Targa Newfoundland Rally

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.
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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
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Funny thing about the differences between some rally events. Here in Canada, we are very proud of our Targa Newfoundland and teams come from all over the world to race around The Rock. South of 2 borders, the Mexicans are equally proud of their La Carrera Pananmerica. A quick glance around the Gootoobz yesterday produced very little of quality Targa content. La Carrera however is a totally different beast. Almost daily we are seeing new videos, many of which are really good quality. I’m thinking that we need more film crews in Newfoundland next year, but for now let’s see the latest cool La Carrera video.