September 25, 2008 - Video! Not mine, this is from Flatovercrest.com. It's the highlights video we were shown at the gala after the race, and you should see pretty much every car in it. As I mentioned earlier, we didn't do anything dramatic enough to merit a lot of screen time. But you can see me briefly chasing down a Corvette with great enthusiasm.
September 26, 2008 - I think I solved the misfire issue that appeared near the end of the race. As I discovered right after the race, a wire to the air intake temperature sensor had broken. I patched that up today - a very temporary fix, but one that was good enough for testing - and the car seems healed. It'll pull hard to redline in at least three gears, which is something it would not do on the last stages. So we'll call that a success then.
It's a real testament to the flexibility of the engine that losing 2500 rpm of my rev range wasn't a crippling blow. Yes, the car was a bit slower getting up to speed. But I was able to drive around it, and we zeroed one stage and took a 2 second penalty on another like this. Compared to the penalties on day 3, that's nothing. entry 612 - tags: engine, post-race
September 26, 2008 - Another video! This is from the Brigus stage. There were only three or four corners on the entire rally where I hung the tail out more than was really necessary - and this is one of them. It was just so much fun, I couldn't help myself. You can hear me short-shift into the next gear due to the misfire. My appearance is at about 4:50.
September 28, 2008 - The culprit. The broken wire in this connector - which quickly became two broken wires when I poked at it - appears to be the cause of the misfire. entry 614 - tags: engine, post-race
September 28, 2008 - A bit of excitement on the way home. Coming off the Newfoundland ferry, I heard a few odd clunks from the trailer. At the next fuel stop, I kicked a wheel and it moved. That's not good. A peek underneath showed that a rear spring hanger had ripped off. Probably the road coming into Argentia.
Rural areas are where you want to have this kind of failure. A couple of quick inquiries sent us to Lloyd's fantastic shop in the woods, surrounded by forestry equipment and other industrial stuff. Perfect. They fixed up the broken hanger carefully and well, and found a similar crack on the other side. We lost a few hours of travel time, but no harm was done. entry 615 - tags: post-race, trailer
September 28, 2008 - Sorry, event sponsors. Before giving the car the post-race cleaning, I removed the stickers from the various event sponsors. It's a small car, and all the extra decals really cluttered up the sides.
It nicely showed off how much dirt there was on the car, that's for sure! entry 616
September 30, 2008 - Our local newspaper caught wind of the race and our involvement. I think it was due to Janel's mom calling up and bragging about what her daughter did last week! Anyhow, they interviewed us and wrote an article about the race. entry 617 - tags: press
October 7, 2008 - Race pictures! This is from Torbay, one of the prologue stages as Janel and I start to figure this all out. Taken by Gordon Sleigh. entry 618 - tags: prologue
October 7, 2008 - Another view of the car mid-corner. This is the same corner as the last shot, our second time through the Torbay stage. By this point, we were starting to get a little more comfortable with the speeds and the notes, and discovering just how much gravel got spewed on to the road by the end of a stage!
Taken by Gordon Sleigh. entry 619 - tags: prologue
October 7, 2008 - Looking nicely planted. As far as I can tell, this is the Main Point Davidsville stage, the first one of leg 3. I'm hard on the tail of the Corvette in front. entry 620 - tags: leg 3
October 7, 2008 - Finishing the Little Bay East stage. You can see the red boards for the flying finish just up ahead. You can also see the condition of the road!
Taken by Gordon Sleigh. entry 621 - tags: leg 4
October 7, 2008 - I love the stance of the car in this photo. You can see it moving around on the suspension, doing that friendly dance that Miatas do so well. We're on the Harbour Mille stage, heading back from our fried baloney breakfast.
Taken by Gordon Sleigh. entry 622 - tags: leg 4
October 7, 2008 - Running through Marystown. This was like being in the WRC with more spectators than anywhere else on the rally. Janel never saw them, she was too busy reading notes. entry 623 - tags: leg 4
October 7, 2008 - The beautiful Spaniard Bishops UIC stage that roller-coastered above the ocean. This was an interesting stage to drive due to the number of blind crests. It took a lot of faith to go piling over them and trust that the road didn't turn significantly. I love this picture.
Photo by Gordon Sleigh. entry 624 - tags: leg 5
October 7, 2008 - Terrorizing Brigus. This is the stage I keep showing people to show what the Targa was like. It's only 2 minutes long and crazy fun. Where else do you get to use a house as an apex marker?
Then I'll show them the Leading Tickles stage in the rain to see the other extreme.
Photo by Gordon Sleigh. entry 625 - tags: leg 5
October 14, 2008 - Some more race photos, this time from Ralph Saulnier. Ralph took some great shots. There's something about this one that looks very purposeful - it's not really a fantastic picture, but I like it. So I put it up.
It's from one of the prologue stages. entry 627 - tags: prologue
October 14, 2008 - Now this is what I'd expected the Targa to be like all along. I'm thinking it's Point Leamington, fairly early on. We're moving pretty fast, judging by the fact the hood is starting to lift. I could see it bulging in the middle at about 160 kmh.
Photo by Ralph Saulnier. entry 628 - tags: leg 2
October 14, 2008 - Enough of the rain, let's have some sun! Northwest Brook, I think. Ralph took some great shots, but he needs to reset the clock on his camera! It's interesting how much the suspension is compressed here. I think it's a high speed corner and the car's leaning a bit.
Photo by Ralph Saulnier. entry 629 - tags: leg 3
October 14, 2008 - One of my favorite pictures from the event. It's not completely in focus, but it captures the speed really well. Gooseberry Cove, driving into the sun flat out. This one's going to get turned into a poster for my wall.
Photo by Ralph Saulnier. entry 630 - tags: leg 3
THE DIARY
