Monday, September 17, 2007

Targa - Finished!

We're done! We finished the rally and qualified for our Targa Plate. We came second in class, third in category 7, and eighth in the Modern division.

Unfortunately, our teammates in Car 404, Bob and Adam Trinder, DNF'd on Thursday with engine issues.

I'll be scouring the web for photos and other items; watch here for links as I find them.


Jeff

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

After a long night and with the help of several other teams and local residents, Rob and our crew managed to get the rally car back in proper running order.


Today was a good, clean run, which helped to make up for yesterday. We held our class position and set zero times on a few stages.


Here's a look at the car now:





Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Apologies for not posting anything until now. I've had troubles getting internet access since I arrived.

At this point on Tuesday evening, two of the five competitive legs have been completed, along with the unscored prologue on Sunday.

Sunday - Prologue

The Sunday stagest were fairly uneventful - the teams spent the day shaking out the bugs in the car and working on in-car communication. The highlight of the day for me was the meet & greet session at the Legion senior's home - the residents were amazingly friendly.

Monday - Leg 1

Leg 1 was a good day for us. We finished the leg in second place in our category, with only 15 seconds in penalties.

Our one incident (and penalty) happened on stage 2. We came into a right hand turn, but the brakes faded. We overshot the turn, spun 180 and banged both left wheels against the curb. There was only a scuff to one wheel, but some of the rear suspension was a bit bent. At service, our crew bled the brakes and that solved the braking issue.

Tuesday - Leg 2

Leg 2 also started out well - we zeroed one stage, and came close on both runs of the high-speed Leading Tickles stage.

Our luck changed on the last stage of the day, though, the in-town stage through the streets of Gander. We got too wide on a sharp right-hander and hit a tree on the outside of the corner. Both Rob and I are fine, but the left front corner of the car was pretty much wrecked. We managed to finish the stage (and under our Trophy Time!), but our crew has some major work tonight. As I write this, Rob and the guys have found the parts we need and are putting the car back together for tomorrow.

Closing Notes

I'm on a borrowed computer at the moment, so I don't have any way to get photos posted. until I can, check out the Targa coverage at flatovercrest. Also, the event tracker on the Targa web site doesn't seem to be working - have a look at the Rally Scoring web site for semi-real-time scores.

Jeff

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Targa!

It's just a few days now until Targa Newfoundland. I'll be there co-driving for Rob Gritten, an accomplished road racer from Vancouver, in the Rocky Mountaineer Racing 1986 Toyota Corolla GTS.

Assuming that I can get onto the interwebs from the various hotels we're staying at, I'm planning to post news, photos and updates in the evenings. The action starts on Sunday, Sept. 9 with a non-scored "Prologue" day; the stuff that counts for points begins on Monday, Sept. 10 and goes until Friday, Sept. 14.

This rally isn't like most others. To begin with, it's all on tarmac - no gravel. Also, it has a wide variety of amazing vehicles... I believe the way they phrase it is "classics, or modern cars likely to become classics." On top of all that, it's HUGE: it's about the same mileage as an entire year of the Canadian Rally Championship, but compressed into one week.

So, check back here for pics and scuttlebutt from the rally. If you need a Targa fix between my updates, check the Event Tracker for near-real-time scores. We're in car 718.

Jeff

Bad Jeff!

I have to apologize - I've been neglecting my blog. I have results and photos from Baie des Chaleurs and the Galway Cavendish Forest Rally to post, but right now Targa Newfoundland is looming. More on those when I get back... in the meantime, Targa!

Jeff