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 | |  | September 14, 2011 - A great start to day 3: two fast, simple and fairly short stages.
They were fairly easy zeros for us, although we were moving pretty fast to do it. Fast enough that a new problem with the car manifested itself. The hood was lifting dramatically at 200 km/h. Some of the adhesive holding the remaining underhood bracing had let go. The temporary fix was some hockey tape holding the lip down, which worked. The more permanent fix was a few more rivets. Hey, race cars like rivets, right?
We did have a bit of a problem. This area of Newfoundland doesn't have a lot of gas stations that carry premium fuel. And those that do, didn't have any. We ended up pumping regular fuel into the tank and topping it up with octane enhancer. Not ideal, but Steve at V8R Spec anticipated this and our engine is slightly lower compression than his usual motor.
On to Musgrave Harbour. And our first penalties of the day. It's a fairly smooth run through town (new pavement since last time) with a quick detour around a school. I made a navigational error and misjudged the entrance to the detour, but luckily I misjudged it early so it only cost us a short moment of indecision before I spotted the right spot and leapt towards it. The detour was fun with lots of gravel and we danced around it pretty well. By the end of the stage, we'd picked up 5 seconds. Not bad, really. Especially in retrospect.
Here's what I said about Musgrave Harbour in 2008:
"Terrible. Rough and bouncy with a speed bump in the middle. Very hard on the car, and on our penalties. 31 seconds late. Not fun at all. We finished on the Corvette's butt."
It's been repaved! The roads are generally much better this year. What's missing is that one stage every day that had me fearing for the safety of the car. The suspension's also working extremely well. The skid plates have come in to play a couple of times, but very rarely. They've done their job well.
entry 973 - tags: 2011 race, day 3, Main Point, Fredrickton, Musgrave Harbour | | |  | September 14, 2011 - Now, Valleyfield.
Shortly after we started, I recognized this as being a portion of a much longer stage from 2008, called New-Wes-Valley in that form. It was a stage on which we took substantial penalties as well. Here's what I said before:
"A great stage. All of the square corners were actually fairly fast and it would be possible to carry more speed. Still, it was a fun one. Part of the fun of a first-time Targa run is seeing all these stages for the first time. Would it be as thrilling if I could recognize things? We were 43 seconds late so there was obviously a lot more speed available. Still, what a blast. "
Now, I've always had a pretty good memory for corners. It might be from autocross, it might just be the way I'm wired. And I DID recognize things. With the call "Over blind crest into square left at T" and a few visual cues, I was able to recognize one particular junction that got a lot wider. That let me carry more speed over the crest, set up for the expected gravel in the road and come out much faster than before. Janel was also doing a spectacular job of calling the corners and crests, and I had just enough visibility to really let the car romp. We came up on this 911 with an unbelievable closing speed and just tore past him. We'd been given a very aggressive 130 km/h target speed and we beat it. I started just howling with laughter after we crossed the line. It was exhilarating.
The next stage was Wesleyville, the continuation of the same stage. Not quite as fast and certainly more complex and tighter, but we managed to zero it.
entry 974 - tags: 2011 race, day 3, Valleyfield, Wesleyville | | |  | September 14, 2011 - On to Greenspond.
This is one of the classic Targa stages, and one that we didn't get to run in 2008 due to a funeral. I'd been looking forward to it with a mix of fear and anticipation, as it's narrow, exposed and has the craziest corners. Last night, I watched a video of a car running through the stage to get an idea of how it worked.
Good plan. I was able to recognize every corner - including the real weirdos - and this made a big difference to our time. What also made a big difference was the fact that we're driving one of the smallest cars in the race. There's one spot in Greenspond where you have to ascent a steep grade that's only about 3/4 of a lane wide, and it has a grass bank on one side with a guardrail on the other. Oh, and gravel on the road that's been kicked up. Not a place for wheelspin or a wayward tail, so I had to judge the throttle just right. This spot is so steep I was really wondering if I should be in first gear instead of second when I approached it.
There was one car off on the outside of a sharp corner (and displaying an OK sign), but I also recognized it as the effective end of the hard part, with a full two lanes running up a hill out of town. Well, this car doesn't care about hills so the big hammer went down and we thundered away. We came across the line with a 7 second penalty. That's pretty darn good for Greenspond, even the supercharged Exige with Stan Hartling driving took a penalty there.
The big green Challenger driven by Rob Pacione was the first place Open car on Day 1, and we only got ahead on Day 2 after he was a bit slower around Gander. I asked him how he dealt with Greenspond, and he said it was like walking a tightrope. He also really liked the V8 Miata, although his well-known Dodge sure gets a lot of attention from kids.
Next up was Port Blandford. On a 5 km, 130 km/h stage, we had one instruction: "jump into medium left". Obviously, this was one left to the drivers. About two turns in, I recognized the stage as one we ran in 2008 with no instructions - and in the other direction. In fact, there was one crest on that stage that I particularly remembered, as it was one I came over thinking "this would be an easy place to get off if you lifted..." and saw a set of tracks going into the woods with a Targa car at the end of them. I realized that the jump would be that crest. We pedaled down the stage pretty quick, but thanks to a bit of tentativeness on my part over the jump (wouldn't you?) we came across the line 1 second late. Still, not bad. And quick.
entry 975 - tags: 2011 race, day 3, Greenspond, Port Blandford | | |  | September 14, 2011 - Time for yet another of the classics.
Clarenville. We got some attention on this stage last time as we caught a Corvette, giving a nice David and Goliath story for the TV crews. It's a quick town stage with some really odd sections. Again, my memory served me well. The course has changed slightly since last time, but I was able to recognize the two main sections that had been stitched together, giving an added dimension to Janel's pace notes.
The first time through, we were going pretty well until right near the end. We came over a crest into a left turn at an intersection, and we were too fast. I locked up the wheels and had a brief episode of target fixation on the oncoming curb before coming to my senses and getting the car rotated. First gear and a V8 will let you do that, and we came tearing across the line about 6 seconds early. Perfect.
For the second run, I knew where I could pick up a bit more speed and I definitely knew where I should get rid of a bit more. Our target time was about 7 seconds faster, but between more speed in the opening section and a lack of drama at that one corner I was able to come in 5 seconds early. The car's set up with a bit of extra rear brake bias to make it really easy to rotate into a corner (all rally drivers hate understeer) and that helped me set up for the narrow, tight corner. That plus the knowledge it was there the second time!
So there's a mistake, but not one with any consequences. We've had a couple of little moments at various points, but nothing has bitten us yet. Overall, we're still running fast but conservatively.
entry 976 - tags: 2011 race, day 3, Clarenville | | |  | September 14, 2011 - The results are posted!
Janel and I knew we'd taken 13 seconds in penalties, and we were 13 seconds ahead of the Challenger last night. So even if he'd zeroed everything, we'd be tied. Well, he didn't. We were the fastest Open Class car through Greenspond, and the stages that bit us also bit others. The end result is that we extended our lead to 21 seconds ahead of Rob's Challenger. There was much rejoicing. It's still a long couple of days to go with many opportunities to either take penalties or worse. Rob's got a long history in the event at the top level, and experience is worth a lot. But no matter what, we're overjoyed with how things stand right now. We'll keep driving to our level and hope that this awe-inspiring little car has what it takes to stay ahead.
Into the Clarenville arena nice and early, and time for a car wash first. There's basically a car show every night as we work on the cars and talk to the locals, and we always make sure the cars are nice and clean.
The forecast for tomorrow looks like it could be wet. There are some tight little stages that will do us well, but also some very fast open ones with aggressive times as the competition ramps up. As always, it's more important to get home than it is to avoid penalties!
entry 977 - tags: 2011 race, day 3, results | | |  | September 14, 2011 - Up on the stands in Clarenville for an inspection, I found a nick in one of my front brake lines.
I cut part of the plastic cover off and was able to determine that the stainless sheath was untouched - the only damage was to the plastic. That's not a structural part of the line, so I'll leave it alone. I wrapped the area in tape to give it another dose of initial protection. Based on the damage, I think it was a passing encounter with a rock.
entry 978 - tags: 2011 race, day 3, brakes | | |  | September 14, 2011 - The cars are starting to show signs of wear.
This Porsche Turbo, for example, took a short swim in shallow water and tangled with a boulder on the way. A lot of work overnight and it was back up and running the next day, although the aerodynamics may not be as Stuttgart intended. Another Porsche appears to have one fender made primarily of duct tape, and we've dodged the odd MINI part lying in the road. It's a tough race, and it's going to get tougher tomorrow.
A number of cars are out due to engine problems, including a very well-driven Civic that was our direct competition as well as a truly terrifying Mustang.
entry 979 - tags: 2011 race, attrition | | |  | September 14, 2011 - Brandon and Zach have extended their streak and are in a three-way tie for first.
We're going to send Zach home smarter than we got him, as he's monitoring about nineteen different things at once. We had no idea what we were doing to him when we invited him to take the right seat in this car. It's a difficult, non-stop job, and very different from a Targa-class navigator. There, the work is less complex but mistakes carry much higher consequences.
Here, Brandon poses for the camera as Zach tries to make him pay attention to something important.
entry 980 - tags: 2011 race, Brandon, Zach, day 3 | | |  | September 15, 2011 - Most of my reports are about how the V8 Targa Miata is doing.
That's because I'm fully immersed in it. We don't get to see Brandon and Zach much on the stages because they run right at the front of the pack due to their excellent accuracy and we run closer to the back due to our speed. With 56 cars running at 30 second intervals and a 5 minute buffer between the Targa and Grand Touring classes, that means we're nearly a half hour apart. By the time we arrive at a stage or a service stop, they're gone. Zach is posting to Autoblog so you can hear his side of the story. It's a bit delayed due to the publishing procedures at the mothership, but it'll show up.
As always, the Targa isn't one big story. With 56 cars, there are 56 epic adventures being written. You're only reading two.
entry 981 - tags: 2011 race, Autoblog, updates, Zach, Brandon | | |  | September 15, 2011 - Well, we had some good fun in the sun.
We woke up this morning to a light drizzle, which changed to a heavy rain then heavy fog as we worked through a very long transit. By the time we got to the start line, it was damp and foggy. So the conditions were downgraded to Condition 2. That means the base speeds are a bit slower. Not a lot slower, but a bit slower. We took off on a very long (25 km!), very fast (130 km/h in clear conditions) stage, feeling out the car's behavior in the wet. It's just a Miata, of course, until you get on to the throttle hard. But I wanted to get a feel for these tires in the wet - and it was slippery at first. We had to cross a few wooden bridges on the way and they were like greased ice.
Luckily, we were caught and passed by Richard Burton in his Gumball STi. Luckily? Yes. Because right when he passed us, we went into a fog bank. Now, he runs a GPS in his car along with the rally computer. This lets him get an idea of what way the road goes ahead of time, instead of waiting for it to be visible. And when he passed us, we went into an area of heavy fog. So I just played "follow the taillights". I could see what way his car was moving, and that let me run a bit faster. Thanks to his help, we came across the line a bit ahead of time and zeroed the stage.
This was a pretty fun stage. Smooth and fast. And hard to see!
entry 982 - tags: 2011 race, day 4, Boat Harbour | | |  | September 15, 2011 - I suspect that Boat Harbour is a very pretty area.
But we didn't get to see all that much of it as we lined up to run back. And as we rolled up to the start line, we were informed that the Targa class cars were going to run under Condition 1. Still looked pretty foggy to me, but that was the rule. So we had to go faster. 130 km/h average for 25 km. That's a long time.
Once again, the STi caught up. It took him a bit longer this time, but every time we came to a blind crest I had to back off until I could see what was going on. Sometimes that was just a bright yellow center line disappearing into the fog. Richard's magic GPS let him carry more speed - so once again I glommed on to his bumper and watched his roof over the crest. My plan worked, and we once again zeroed the stage. Success!
entry 983 - tags: 2011 race, day 4, Petite Forte | | |  | September 15, 2011 - Here's what Janel gets to see of the Targa Newfoundland.
At least, of the competitive stages. And my apologies, we took one second of penalties on Petite Forte.
Our next stage was Mooring Cove. It's a fun roller coaster of a stage, with lots of blind crests and tight corners at a relatively low speed. We romped through it and came through one second late.
Now for Marystown. This is a hugely popular stage, and spectators line the bridges to watch the cars tear underneath. It's like being on a WRC stage. Unfortunately, we didn't get to run it as there was a fairly big accident. Nobody was hurt, but we did learn that a Ferrari Enzo will float. Seriously. So for us, it was a transit.
entry 984 - tags: 2011 race, day 4, Mooring Cove, Marystown | | |  | September 15, 2011 - Time for Garnish.
This is a fast, fast stage with a very rough road. It starts off with crests (or "cresty" as it says in the routebooks, which I find to be a very amusing word), gets bumpy, then takes a detour into the small fishing town of Garnish where it becomes extremely rough, then back on to bumpy for another fast section to the end. We were catching air in fourth gear over the crests and really testing the limits of the suspension both on compression and droop. What a fantastic little car. We did punish the skid plates somewhat as you can imagine, and the rear finally buckled under pressure and bent enough to contact the exhaust. No real problem other than a big of vibration - and more importantly, no damage to anything important. If the plate hadn't been there, it would have been our exhaust and diff. We came in 29 seconds late, partly due to our lack of GPS and partly due to my self-preservation instinct on the hammered pavement. 200 km/h is pretty fast when the car's being thrown around like that.
Garnish was followed by a very short lunch, as we had to get back on schedule after the marine Enzo shenanigans. Two runs through Fortune, which is a tight town stage that's like a mini Gander. It works well for us, and we came through with 2 seconds of penalties the first time. The second time, I was faster but we had a tighter time and I think we picked up four. But that doesn't matter, because there was another accident that shut the stage down and that meant no scores for anyone.
So we headed back out to the Garnish course for a run in the other direction, named Frenchmans Cove. Long, fast, bumpy. Going through the town, I ended up using first gear and the handbrake to get around some of the corners and it worked very well. We were still suffering from a lack of GPS on the long cresty bits, which both of our main competitors in Open were using. Still, we were only 4 seconds behind the fastest car in the division and holding on to our lead. It was an exhausting run through the stage, both due to the physical battering and the mental stamina to drive that fast on that pavement for so long. There's no Miata in the world that could have done it faster.
entry 985 - tags: 2011 race, day 4, Garnish, Frenchmans Cove, Fortune, skid plates | | |  | September 15, 2011 - And there goes our lead, as well as our hope for a Targa plate.
On the second run through Marystown, we were running hard and doing pretty well. We'd cleared the hardest parts of the course and were hammering through one of the fastest sections when we made a hard right on a short downhill section, ready to howl under one of the bridges. And the car lost power. We were going fast enough that it took me a moment to figure out just what had happened. We had enough momentum to coast up the hill to a wide spot as I tried to get the car to refire, but to no avail. I pulled off the course in a safe place and we scrambled to get the triangles out and display the OK sign so nobody had to stop. Mission accomplished.
With the car safe and Janel signalling the passing vehicles (do we go past that fast? Holy cow!) I started to try and diagnose it. Nothing wrong underhood that I could see. And no fuel pump noise. Now, I'd been worried about the fuel pump in the past, but it was behaving itself. But when I heard it wasn't running, I assumed it was the pump. I checked a couple of wires but couldn't find anything obvious. So we gave up and watched the last few cars go by. There went our Targa plate, and we were pulled into the overnight stop on a rope.
We'd been running really well - Janel reports that we were about 4 seconds behind our base time when we stopped, and the best time in our class was a 34 second penalty. We were only a kilometer or so from the end. But that's how it goes.
When we got back to the arena, Brandon and I tore into the car. No power at the fuel pump. Odd. No power at the fuel pump relay. Odder. Brandon reported he could hear the main relay clicking over when I cycled the key, and could even feel it. But we swapped it out anyhow, just to see - and the beast awoke with a roar. We'd lost the main relay. The stock, unmodified Mazda main relay.
Now, if you call FM for tech support and you tell me that your Miata just stopped and won't restart, I'll usually tell you to check the main relay. I even had one in the car just in case. But I was so sure it was the fuel pump that I just stopped trying when I didn't hear it running. My bad. Had I identified the relay sooner, we may have been able to get running and get home without incurring the maximum 5 minute penalty. Or maybe not, the fact that it was clicking would have been a problem, and we still would have had to get reloaded into the car. Since we were running near the rear of the pack, I'm not sure we could have done this before the Road Open car arrived.
Did I mention that we did this right in front of a bridge full of spectators and our camera crew? Nicely done. We did provide a bit of entertainment when I had to pantomime to Janel that her OK sign was upside down, which was greatly appreciated by our audience.
So we'll be back in the competition tomorrow. Despite the rumors we heard that we rolled twice and were stuck upside down in a ditch, it was a simple mechanical fault that had nothing to do with the car's modifications. Usually that relay fails when the car is turned off, rarely does it let go while driving. So at least it wasn't an error on our part.
Tomorrow, we have serious weather on the way. Serious. It's going to be a fight to survive. Time to get to bed, it's late.
entry 986 - tags: 2011 race, day 4, Marystown | | |  | September 16, 2011 - We've got quite a storm coming, by all accounts.
Lots of rain and 25-35 mph winds. Waking up this morning, it looks like a little bit of the former and a good bunch of the latter are already here. It's survival time, especially since we're all running on tires that have seen four days of escalating competition. In our case, I've been preparing for this and have a set of very good rubber ready to put on. My rear tires from yesterday were only intended to end until the end of yesterday, so I was able to abuse them. Now I have lots of tread depth to deal with the treacherous conditions. One thing about the roads in Newfoundland is that they have some big grooves in them from truck traffic, and those grooves become rivers that like to hydroplane cars.
The big story on the internet is, of course, the Enzo. But for us, it was part of a demonstration class and was a bit of a sideshow. More important is the condition of the rest of the fleet. The M3 that is currently leading Open division had a cracked oil pan yesterday and barely made it home - but managed to do so without losing significant time or lunching the engine. The supercharged Exige snapped a halfshaft and missed three or four stages. All the cars are starting to look a big rough. Other than the electrical fault, we're looking pretty good. Janel and I are operating on fairly low sleep so crew management has become an issue, but I think we'll be okay today.
One stage today has been canceled, turning a long transit into a killer: 250 km. In the rain. Yuk. More importantly, we start the day with two long, fast stages that will be the last high speed test of the car and crew. Again, our priority is to bring it home.
entry 987 - tags: 2011 race, day 4, attrition, weather | | |  | September 16, 2011 - This stage looks even narrower as you're driving it.
If you're looking for pictures of the marine Enzo, check out Gordon Sleigh's gallery. He managed to catch it going in and being recovered. Lots of other great shots of the cars racing as well.
There was an injured spectator in one of the incidents yesterday. I don't know any details, but we're all hoping it's minor. Nobody wants this to happen, and there is a veritable army of volunteers to make the course as safe as possible. It's the first spectator injury in the event's 10 year anniversary.
entry 988 - tags: 2011 race, Enzo, day 4 | | |  | September 16, 2011 - Last year, Hurricane Igor rocked the Burin Penninsula just after the Targa was over.
It was the reason so many of the roads in the area were freshly paved, for example. And here we were, facing another. So the organizers made the decision to scrap the first two stages of the day, a pair of high-speed, long runs through isolated areas. Every competitor I talked to was relieved, including myself. The downside was that this meant a long, long transit to the first stage. And it was a nasty one. Deep standing water, heavy rain and very high winds. Both Janel and I were quite happy not to be actually racing.
Part of the plan was for us to have breakfast at the little town of Harbour Mille before we turned around and raced back. I don't know the population of Harbour Mille, but it's probably just a few hundred at most. Unfortunately, they didn't get the word that the stages were canceled and they went ahead and prepared a feast for us. A few people such as 2/3 of our film crew did make the trip so it wasn't completely wasted, but that's a shame.
We did learn that a Maserati MC12 will throw a very impressive rooster tail from the diffuser at 100 km/h, though. The Lamborghini Murchilago, not so much.
Yuk.
entry 989 - tags: 2011 race, day 5, hurricane, Harbour Mille, Little Bay East | | |  | September 16, 2011 - The Harbour Grace stage had already been canceled for undisclosed reasons, so we started the day just after lunch on the tight Carbonear stage.
Thanks to the canceled stages, we were at lunch very early. So we took the opportunity to take a quick tour of the stage, enough to get our bearings and program my memory. It's got some tight spots, so we're glad we did. The first run was in the dry and listed as Condition 1, but by the end we had our wipers on. Still, we were the fastest of the Open Class cars. Everyone took significant penalties. There was one exciting moment where an unmarked crest in the road turned out to be a mid-corner jump. We dealt with it, but it did add a bit of drama.
For the second run, conditions had degraded. And then it got ugly. Really ugly. About the time we hit the first turn, the hurricane arrived. Visibility dropped to near zero. I had to identify turns by spotting landmarks, such as a mailbox just on the inside of a tight left corner that I could use as an apex marker. All the way through, I just kept thinking "bring it home". Speed was not important. By the end, we took a massive 1:39 in penalties, nearly a full minute longer than our last run. The cars running earlier in the pack weren't affected, and cars that had been 30 seconds slower than us were 30 seconds faster thanks to the weather change.
After that, we moved on to Brigus. This is another of the classics, and we get to run it twice this year. The first time, we were informed that we were running in Condition 3. We were warned of standing water, poor visibility and dangerous turns. This in a stage that is very narrow to begin with. So we tip-toed through the course cautiously. Still, I somehow found space to hit 100 km/h. On the second run through, we were told that we were in Condition Targa. This means the Targa time (40% slower than base time) was our base time. In other words, real slow. We easily zeroed that one as we were actually faster due to improved conditions over the previous run.
And that was it. Targa 2011 was over. We lined up in a big Targa jam and tried to parade in to St. John's for the ceremonial finish. We did manage to get all the Miatas in line together, and managed to cross the line just as the PA system went down. Kinda summed up the day, really.
entry 990 - tags: 2011 race, Brigus, Carbonear, finish | | |  | September 16, 2011 - Brandon and Zach, tired and happy at the finish.
A couple of small mistakes yesterday caused them to pick up 14 penalty points, which unfortunately pushed them to 5th overall in the preliminary results. An excellent result for a first-time team, and two mistakes over five days of demanding competition is a pretty good record! You'll be able to read more on Autoblog when Zach's report is published there.
entry 991 - tags: 2011 race, results, Zach, Brandon | | |  | September 16, 2011 - The final results have not yet been released for the Open class.
According to my understanding of the rules, we have finished third. It all depends on if one car is counted as a finisher. We were 4:59 behind the winners...and we took that 5:00 penalty for the bad main relay. Sigh. Still, it tells me we could run with the big boys. We got to the end of the week safe and with a car that had proven to be pretty darn reliable. We changed an ignition coil on Day 2 to prevent a problem and identified why it may have been weak. And then the bone stock original Mazda main relay let us down. Otherwise, it took an incredible amount of abuse on fast, rough roads. The predictable handling and excellent suspension let me take full advantage of the huge power. It was actually quite shocking that, even in the wet, I could give it nearly full throttle in first gear if I got moving without breaking the tires free. Bystanders reported that I was coming off the line as well as many of the Subarus in the wet. Overall, everyone said the car looked very well planted and a number of teams were quite complimentary on how well it was set up. We also got a few comments on how the two of us were packed into the car.
I think it was a surprise to a lot of people, and we've proven the car has the ability to win the whole shebang even with a less experienced crew. Maybe someday we'll get a chance to come back and give it another shot.
Our goals were to finish, to bring home a Targa plate and hopefully place well. We managed the first, just missed the second and did fairly well on the third. Both of our biggest challengers failed to make the finish line.
More details later once the results of a number of inquiries (rally-speak for "requests for corrections") have been addressed.
entry 992 - tags: 2011 race, results | | |
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THE DIARY