Targa Newfoundland 2009 is on!

Stillen report!

The guy writing the blog hasn't figured out how the scoring in the Targa works yet.

We’re still a bit confused about the goal times as we are consistently the fastest car on the road yet we’re ‘losing’ to cars who have goal times 30+ seconds slower than ours.

Easy. The cars they're 'losing' to aren't taking penalties. It's all about choosing the right car for the event - read the rule book and find the class killer. I figured a Mk 1 Escort had the best combination of speed and handicap to be really competitive, and Paul Horton is proving this is the case. The modern monster cars are expected to be fast, so they're classed as such.

I think Targa Newfoundland is unique amongst Targas in this regard. Targa Canada West (taking place in BC next May, I'll have details on that later) is set up with five speed classes. You decide what you want your required average speed to be. The fastest class has an average speed of 130 kmh, and the organizers have made it clear that this is the only class that they find interesting. I believe Targa Tasmania is much the same way, so it could be that Steve was expecting that - the fastest car was the winning car, and it's that simple.

The handicapping in Newfoundland is a little bit controversial, but it's remarkably effective. One of the competitors did some heavy number crunching last year to determine which of the classes seemed to be the most heavily handicapped. I'd like to point out that our class was statistically the third worst one to be in Most of the classes fall in a fairly narrow range, which means they're well matched. The system does seem to favor the slower, older classes though. I think this is done to encourage the classics to come out.

So the GTR can be - and based on road position, is - the fastest car in the event. But that doesn't mean it's a guaranteed win. If there's another car that's doing a better job of beating its handicap, it'll beat Godzilla. Glen Clarke in first place has a massive amount of Targa experience, as does Hopkins in the 2002. Doesn't matter what they drive, they'll be competitive - and the scoring system is designed with the intent that any car prepared to the limits of the class should have a chance of winning overall. Millen is driving well, but even taking a second or two on a stage once in a while is enough to keep him out of the top 3.

I'd love to contact the guy writing the Stillen blog and explain how it works. But there's no contact info on the site. Hopefully someone will explain it to him at the banquet on Saturday, as the Stillen site is exposing a number of people to the Targa for the first time and there's going to be a lot of "how can an old 2002 beat the GTR?" questions from the fanbois. There always are.

It's not all high-dollar efforts with big teams. I suspect this guy is a grassroots racer.

Gratuitous Acadian shot. This thing went past us on one of the long stages on day 3 last year. He does not hang around.

If you think the car looks big here, just wait until you see it on Brigus tomorrow.

In case you're wondering, yes, he is a rally driver and he is turning left off the bridge. There's a great sequence of shots of this on the Stillen blog.

There haven't been enough pictures of the big Falcon. Currently in 15th. I just realized that this car is being driven by the same team that was running a fire-breathing 1966 Corvette last year, a Panamerica competitor. That car last year was stupendously loud and the exhaust fumes would make your eyes water. I don't expect this one is any different.

Sprongl again. If I remember right, he'd never driven this car on tarmac before the last Targa. Some might argue he still hasn't He did not hit the pole and he is hard on the gas.

Just awesome Keith, thanks!

that last series of pics of the audi are incredible! how did they not touch the pole or even go into the yard? and there are people walking around the side of the house not even paying any atention to the action.....just annother day in Newfoundland?

More picture! Sorry to those of you with modems, but it's unlikely you made it to page 3 anyhow.

This is the Greenspond stage. I'd seen in-car video of this one before the race last year and the navigation instructions are nuts. It was cancelled last year due to a funeral in town. You can't get upset about that - the Targa really does shut down a village this size - but it is a shame we didn't get to try it. Now, this is a MINI. Try threading that needle in an old Falcon or a GTR.

This is one stumpy car. Jim Kenzie was actually one of the instigators of the Targa Newfoundland and as I mentioned before, very friendly and helpful. He's a good example of the sort of people you meet on the race, always willing to lend a hand. In a race like this, you're not competing against each other. You're competing against the road and the clock, and it's almost a cooperative effort to get all the cars to the finish.

Jim reports that rain is expected for tomorrow. That may make things interesting. Will the very fast but low-on-Targa-experience driver in the 2nd place old 911 be able to keep up, or will he fall victim to his rear engine as one of the other 911 drivers did on the final stage last year? Will the GTR catch the old-school Acadian, driven by one of the most consistently fast drivers in the race, or will it simply get stuck between two fences on the Brigus stage? This should be good.

We have the times for the first two stages of the day. As far as I know, they're new ones, so nobody has an advantage from experience. As often seen, it's the same stage run in opposite directions. Typically, the base time will be shorter for the return trip. If you have the sort of brain that can run a 15-mile stage backwards after seeing it once going the other way (I can do this to a certain extent, but probably not that long!), then you'll be faster. Otherwise, you'll pick up some more penalties on the way back.

And that's what most teams have done. There weren't many penalties on the out leg, but the trip back was heavy on the penalties for a lot of teams. In some cases, they picked up more than a minute of penalties on the return leg. And here's where we get our fist big lead change: Clarke picked up 56 seconds of penalties on the return. At the end of stage 5-1, he had picked up 4 seconds of penalties over 4 days of racing. At the end of stage 5-2, he had a total of a minute. This single stage dropped him from first to sixth. Ouch! He's now tied with the Escort.

Stoschek and his vintage 911 were clean and have moved into the lead. It's a fantastic job by a Targa novice - at least, I'm pretty sure he's a novice. The 2002, the Acadian and the Camaro were also clean, so there's your top four. The GTR picked up 17 seconds of penalties and is holding on to 5th, but it's now closer to 6th than 4th and the Camaro is now ahead. Looks as if the Audi was faster through that stage, picking up fewer penalties despite a faster base time. Still, the Audi dropped behind the E30 into 10th.

Remember that the base times are always generated by the same handicap factors, so one stage won't have times that favor the classic cars any more than any other stage.

Interestingly, assuming the penalties taken by teams are similar to those from last year, we'd be sitting in 15th. We finished 16th last year. Of course, that's a big assumption to make, but the placement of a couple of other teams with the same cars as last year indicates that the speeds overall aren't much different.

Looks like someone is on the ball at Targa HQ. They're back near St.John's, and we're seeing updates by stage right now.

Clark may have a mechanical problem. He picked up another 34 seconds of penalties on Osprey and dropped back to 8th. Most other cars cleaned the stage. It is raining and in the low 50s (well, a Canadian would say 12°), maybe he's worn out his tires. You're only allowed 6 tires for the entire race, and I expect that 911 would be a bit tough on the rears.

There's only one second between the leading 911 and the 2002. It's tight.

Go Roy and Adrienne!!! I smell a 3-peat for Woodstock and crew! Amazing what they're doing with a car that when you look at it you wonder how the hell it's driveable let alone a street legal and fast (for it's class) race car. It's a true grassroots vehicle, right down to the pool noodle rear bumper.

And Keith, thanks for keeping this thread up to date.

It's not just fast for its class, they're pretty quick overall. They were as fast or faster as we were on many stages from what I remember, and the extra time allowed for the "slow" class helps. One thing about the classic cars is that they show the results of decades of lessons learned racing them. 2002s have no secrets. Neither do 911s or Minis or Mk1 Escorts. GTRs are a new creature.

I'm rooting for the 911, because he's done a hell of a job so far. And because it's someone else's turn

I "think" Sprongle has run that car on pavement before, but maybe not to this extent. He's run Mt. Washington hillclimb with both style audis, and the first half of the hill is paved. I love that car. Wish this event was cheaper to enter(but I understand why it costs what it does).

Thanks for all the updates, Keith! Hot damn. I totally forgot to put this one on my "Automotive Bucket List," right after "Learn how to drive well enough not to embarrass yourself or put others in danger."

Keith - your coverage is excellent, thanks for the updates!

Keith, I realize that the touring class is more of a TSD, but would you say their speeds are still high enough to make it 'interesting' of 'fun'? I mean would the touring class still be a challenging drive? not from the precision driving or calculating to the second point of view, but from the fast enough to be fun point of view?

I have to wonder if the average fun car occasional track car could be entered and two friends still have a blast driving around, or is it going to be slow enough to be frustrating?

Thanks for the awesome updates and incite from a BTDT perspective.

I've never driven Touring, of course. But from what I've seen...

I think last year's winner was a supercharged Exige. In that case, I think it would be too slow to be interesting. Ex-F1/Can-Am/Trans-Am/F5000 driver Eppie Wietzes was frustrated by the speeds as he drove a bone-stock 2004 Carrera C4 in the class as well, although he and his navigating wife were no longer on speaking terms by the end of the week !

However, the 1970 Alfa team that we hung around with had a great time. They weren't superdrivers or a polished team or even taking things too seriously, but they really enjoyed themselves. I think part of the key to running Touring is to bring a slow car and drive the wheels off it while simply enjoying the tour. An 850 Mini, for example, would probably be a riot in this class. And more importantly, it's much more affordable to prepare the car. In fact, there have been a few rental cars run in this class. Usually after an accident with a Targa class car.

The faster stages would be the more frustrating ones. I forget the exact numbers, but I remember Leading Tickles having a required average speed of around 80 kmh for Touring and 121 for us - and we were allowed to go faster. In town is much different.

A comparison - and they're running this stage a couple of times today, so it's timely! Both cars took penalties on this stage, the Alfa was 24 seconds late. The Targa Miata around Brigus

The Alfa around Brigus

Great updates and photos....

I think it is the Acadians turn

Keith wrote: It's not just fast for its class, they're pretty quick overall. They were as fast or faster as we were on many stages from what I remember, and the extra time allowed for the "slow" class helps. One thing about the classic cars is that they show the results of decades of lessons learned racing them. 2002s have no secrets. Neither do 911s or Minis or Mk1 Escorts. GTRs are a new creature. I'm rooting for the 911, because he's done a hell of a job so far. And because it's someone else's turn

I made the "for it's class" qualification because the few times I autocrossed against Roy and Adrienne driving Woodstock on race rubber vs my bone stock e46 328i on street tires I was typically several seconds faster than both of them and I'm not that good of a driver. Then again autocross is a different discipline than Targa running and Woodstock may be biased towards that type if driving.

Yes, autocross is definitely a different type of driving than Targa. But it comes in handy! One of the TV camera operators told me he could spot the experienced drivers, because when the tail came out they simply kept their foot planted and drove out of it. Autocross is good training for that.

We have a winner!

Provisional, anyhow, but I don't see anything that might change it. For the third year in a row, Roy Hopkins and Adrienne Hughes (or is it the other way around?) have come in first with the lowest overall penalties.

They cleaned the last day, finishing with only 10 seconds of penalties over five days of racing. Last year, they picked up around 45 seconds. Astounding work, and so close to a perfect run! They were the only team to avoid penalties on the final day.

The 911 of Stoschek/Spaeth came in second, after picking up 4 seconds on Marysvale and 10 seconds on Conception-Colliers. Both of those are stages where experience is a benefit, especially the latter. There's a short section of unique, extremely rough pavement that I thought might trip a few people up - in-car video. Still, an astounding drive. I think this is a rookie driver (from Germany!) and that's a huge feat. The final time was +23.

Third was poor Jud Buchanen in the Acadian. I suppose we could say "at least he wasn't second again", but I'm not sure this was what he was aiming for. A good fight, but he finished with +33. Conception-Colliers punished him as well, not a surprise in such a large car.

Tied with Jud was the Camaro of Yuille/Alexander. I have to say I don't know as much about this team, but I'm pretty sure they've been in the race a few times. I'd have to check that out.

Fifth goes to the Mk1 Escort. Yay! I've already shown myself to be terribly biased towards this car, and I'm not ashamed of that one bit.

Sixth overall, and first in Modern, is the GTR. So the Stillen marketing machine can claim a win at least. The team picked up penalties on each of the last four stages, falling behind the Escort. A good result for a very fast car. Since it is a fast car, though, it's held to a higher standard and that's what kept it from winning overall.

Seventh is Scott Giannou in his 911. Eighth goes to the E30 M3 - which means both Turks and Caicos teams ended up in the top 10, a big jump up from last year.

Glen Clarke continued to take penalties for the rest of the day, and fell back to 9th with a total of +2:43. Remember, he started the day at +4 seconds, so something went wrong there. Still, he got it to the finish line and probably collected a Targa plate. I believe that's better than last year.

Sprongl rounded out the top 10. It's a fast car with a fast driver, but he had the hardest times to beat. The GTR was a faster car with slightly easier targets. That's the same position Frank took last year I believe.

For some reason, two stages were canceled today, including the first run through Brigus. The second run went through though. It'll be interesting to find out why. A total of 33 cars managed to finish all the stages on the final day. There will be more in the final results, as you have to complete 75% of the stages to be classed as a finisher. Lucy, the cursed Mini from Las Vegas, finished today DFL with a total of 47:58 in penalties - but it finished!

I've been concentrating on the Targa class here, mostly because I don't know the Touring teams as well. There tends to be a much higher turnover in this class. It looks like Touring was won by Ferdinand and Christoph Trauttmansdorff in an E30 BMW 325i. They managed a perfect score. Astounding. There's no handicapping in Touring, by the way, so any car should be competitive as long as it's fast enough to hit the average speed.

Keith wrote:

Tell me those aren't Harbor Freight jack stands under the GTR. I'm pretty sure they are.

I'm on the trail of a couple of RX-7 rally cars. If I bag one, I HAVE to do this! Keith, since you clearly have the disease, can I count on you for halfsy?

Keith, Thanks for the reports. This has been a most interesting read. I may have missed it, but how did your team fare?

Thanks for the insight - now I have to wait for the 50 minutes (if we are lucky) of air time in March

lewbud, I wasn't racing this year. If I was, you wouldn't have heard a peep from me

I'll post more pictures and reports from other teams tonight, I have to run a track day today. I'm just wondering, MBS2005 - what would I do with half of an RX-7?

Keith - thanks for the updates. I've been following with a lot of interest.

NBS2005 wrote: I'm on the trail of a couple of RX-7 rally cars. If I bag one, I HAVE to do this! Keith, since you clearly have the disease, can I count on you for halfsy?

Hm, apparently a rotary can compete in the modern small displacement classes. Interesting...