| THE 2008 RACE |
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 | September 21, 2008 - Another view of the final parking.
Everyone headed for The Keg, right at the end of the parking lot, and then moved on to George St. All of the restaurants on Water St were jammed, although we did manage to find a pub that served the best fish and chips ever made.
Some of the cars didn't leave until very early in the morning!
entry 61 - tags: leg 5 |
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 | September 21, 2008 - The breathalyzer test at the beginning of day 5 was perhaps not completely serious.
Yes, a few of these photos are out of order.
entry 62 - tags: leg 5 |
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 | September 21, 2008 - Mmm.
The dessert spread in Brigus. It was a non-stop buffet, with new dishes coming out constantly.
entry 63 - tags: leg 5 |
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 | September 21, 2008 - Rob and Brenda Tanner set up the starting gear for the Brigus stage.
They're my aunt and uncle, and Rob plans to run the event next year. He was pretty jealous of the fact that I was the one driving! Every time we drove up to the start line, Brenda would start jumping up and down and cheering.
Our service crew was my parents, of course. The whole race turned into a family affair. I'm not sure if they knew just what they were getting into, but they were a big help, doing minor work on the car in the evenings (things like checking oil and filling Camelbaks), fetching food for us at night, checking out of hotels and loading the truck and generally making life easier. They surprised us at one point with some green tea to help soothe our sore throats, a gesture that was hugely appreciated. Thanks Mom and Dad!
entry 64 - tags: leg 5 |
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 | September 21, 2008 - Scooting around one of the wider corners in Brigus.
Almost done!
entry 65 - tags: leg 5 |
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 | September 21, 2008 - Across the ceremonial finish after our anticlimatic final stage.
Uncle Rob was doing the announcing and got a little choked up. As did I. It happened a lot near the finish.
entry 66 - tags: leg 5 |
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 | September 21, 2008 - Winners!
Okay, so we didn't WIN anything except our class. But our goals were to finish and maybe, just maybe get a Targa plate. And we did. So that's a win.
entry 67 - tags: leg 5 |
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September 21, 2008 - We had the big awards gala last night.
Lots of awards and applause and food and more awards and more applause. Everything wrapped up at around 12:30 am. Jim Kenzie, the presenter, made a few very kind comments about our team. He praised our behavior in both accidents we came across, saying we did the right thing despite being novices. He also said our car was possibly the best looking at the event and really well prepared. More flattery!
There was a short video shown of highlights of the week. Holy cow, there was a lot of chaos - and that was just the stuff that happened in front of the camera! It showed us how little drama we had all week. We had a couple of small moments, but nothing like what we were watching. We didn't get much screen time, as you can imagine. I can tell you that the quality of the footage was top-notch though, and the TV show should be fantastic.
The Baldhead Racing award for the best-placed novices went to Hugo and Maxime Vadeboncoeur. They're a pair of brothers who drove a CRX extremely well, trading seats depending on if they were dealing with open road or village stages. They put in an amazing effort and finished 8th overall. I'd thought we might have a shot at this award early in the week, but it became clear on Day 3 that we just weren't going to be able to keep up with these guys.
entry 68 - tags: results |
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 | September 21, 2008 - So that's the end of the 2008 Targa Newfoundland.
Janel and I spent a few days hanging around St. John's being tourists and enjoying a more relaxing pace. As you can imagine, we're both really glad we did this. She turned out to be a fantastic navigator, cool under pressure and relentlessly reliable in her instructions. I got to play rally driver for a week and see how I measured up to others. In the process, we became closer than ever.
The car survived well despite getting pounded hard by the Newfoundland roads. I'll be going over it when we get home, and I'll post feedback in the build diary on what worked and what didn't.
The big question: next year? We're not answering that yet!
entry 69 |
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 | 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 70 - tags: prologue |
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 | 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 71 - tags: prologue |
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 | 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 72 - tags: leg 3 |
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 | 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 73 - tags: leg 4 |
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 | 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 74 - tags: leg 4 |
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 | 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 75 - tags: leg 4 |
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 | 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 76 - tags: leg 5 |
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 | 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 77 - tags: leg 5 |
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 | 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 78 - tags: prologue |
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 | 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 79 - tags: leg 2 |
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 | 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 80 - tags: leg 3 |
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THE DIARY