Targa
Newfoundland Wrap-Up Story
Toronto
Star Wheels - Saturday, September 28, 2002
by
Jim Kenzie
ST.
JOHN’S Newfoundland - Teams from Australia, the United States and Canada took
top honours in the first Targa Newfoundland rally which ended here last
Saturday.
Len
and Gayle Cattlin, from Melbourne Australia, drove their 1967 Mustang GT to
victory in the “Classic” division, which encompasses cars built between 1946
and 1976.
The
father-and-son team of John and Andrew Lawson, from South Yarra Australia, led
the Historic division (cars built prior to 1946) in a magnificent 1938 Alfa
Romeo Mille Miglia Spyder.
Bill
Arnold and Tamara Hull from San Raphael California topped the Modern division
(cars built after 1976) in their 1999 BMW M-Coupe.
Alan
and Carolyn Ryall, of Halton Hills (Georgetown) Ontario - the rally capital of
the world, as we shall soon see - dominated the Trials (time-and-distance)
division in their Subaru Impreza WRX.
***
While
there is no official “overall” winner of a Targa rally, the division winner
with the fewest penalty points is generally accorded the top step of the podium
- and that was the Cattlins.
It
took them a long time, and they came a long way, but they finally won a Targa
event - they are long-time contenders in the Targa Tasmania, which provided the
model for the Targa Newfoundland.
But
this was their first overall victory.
The
car has been converted to right-hand drive - a surprisingly popular modification
in Australia; the Ozzies love their rear-drive V8 power as much or maybe even
more than Americans do.
It
is also meticulously maintained, which is typical of Targa cars - a bit
surprising, considering the torture they go through in six days of rallying.
The
engine compartment looks like no 1960s Mustang you’ve ever seen, having been
fitted with fuel injection. Cattlin says it produces about 465 horsepower and
about the same number of lb.-ft. of torque. Adequate, as Rolls-Royce used to
say.
***
Second
overall and second in Classic was the 1965 Ford Mustang of Lennox McNeely and
Jeremy Hill, both from Toronto. This car has also completed a long-distance
rally in South America, and another that went from Finland to Jordan - yes,
vintage rally people are that crazy...
There
was some controversy at the start of the rally over what tires were legal for
this event - a protest was actually filed over the rubber on one of the
Australian entries, but it was denied.
The
McNeely-Hill Mustang was hardly part of that - it arrived in Newfoundland
needing new tires, so they went to Canadian Tire in St. John’s, bought a set
of Michelins, and went racing. Can’t get much more “street-legal” than
that...
***
Completing
an all-‘60s-Ford-V8 podium - third overall and third in Classic - was the 1964
Ford Falcon Rally Sprint, owned and navigated by Mark Williams of North Potomac
Maryland, and driven by reigning Canadian rally champion Tom McGeer. Yes,
from Halton Hills (Georgetown) Ontario.
McGeer
provided the first “incident” of the event on the demonstration runs on the
Sunday before the rally began, looping the Falcon into a curb, which tripped the
car over onto its driver’s side.
The
impact barely scratched the sheet metal, but it did the rear axle no good
whatsoever.
The
car was barely back on its four wheels before offers of help began pouring in -
“Me bruder’s got one of dose out on de farm!...” - so typical of the
spirit and helpfulness of Newfoundlanders.
Junkyards
were polled, a sand blaster brought his equipment to a shop at 11 p.m. that
evening to clean up some scavenged parts, an auto parts supply store opened its
doors at midnight - on a Sunday - so seals, gaskets and the like could be
sourced.
The
car was back in the running by the second Prologue stage on Monday.
The
Falcon was second overall going into the final day. On the very last stage, a
supposedly slow one designed primarily to show the cars off to the St. John’s
finish line crowd, the rear brakes locked up on a corner - a left-over from the
week-earlier semi-roll-over. The engine stalled, and the time McGeer/Williams
lost allowed the McNeely/Hill Mustang to slip ahead of them by mere seconds.
This
incident points out the essential fact of a Targa rally - it is a long-distance
marathon; a mistake early on can cost you later. You never know until you get to
the finish line.
***
Which,
sadly, only the front spoiler of Jack MacDonnell’s lovely 1976 Datsun 280Z
did. Navigator Carson Rasmussen blames himself for not getting the “caution
call” to Jack in time for the hard right-hander in the final day’s third
stage, but the driver of a rally car is the one turning the wheel - blame
appropriation plays little part in this sport.
In
any event, the car slammed head-first into a steel sea-wall, cleverly placed so
that only a small part of the car actually ended up in the Atlantic Ocean (the
incident was captured on video).
The
popular MacDonnell was taken to hospital overnight for examination. No broken
bones, but he underwent an MRI to ensure there is no nerve damage; at time of
writing I hadn’t heard the diagnosis, but he should be fine.
Rasmussen
was unhurt, and hand-carried the largest piece of the car he could lift - that
front spoiler - across the finish line. The team was awarded finishing medals,
but the Targa Trophy, presented to any car which completes all the Targa
(high-speed) stages within prescribed time limits, eluded their grasp - this
time; both men say they will be back.
(Ed.
Note: a few weeks after the event, MacDonnell’s neck is still stiff, but
he’s still planning on returning next year...)
***
So
where did the valiant 1971 Volvo 142S of Doug Mepham and yours truly place?
Fourth
overall, I’m prouder than I probably should be to say. Also, fourth in the
Classic division, and second in the “Limited Modified” Classic class to the
Cattlins.
It
was also the first non-Ford (Volvo is owned by Ford now; it wasn’t when this
car was built), first non-V8, first non-American car, first four cylinder, first
under 200 hp...
Oh;
did I mention that I live in Halton Hills? That our Volvo was built by the
Sprongl brothers, of Halton Hills? And that rallymeister Ross Wood is from
nearby Milton, also in the Halton region? Something in the water, you
suspect?...
Our
run was hampered by an on-going starting problem. We diagnosed a bad battery - a
new one didn’t help.
We
diagnosed a problem with the ignition switch - bypassing that didn’t help.
Finally,
in Gander, it seemed it had to be the starter solenoid.
Bill
Arnold, who won the Modern division is his BMW, owns a BMW repair shop in
California. He told us that just about all Bosch starters have one of two
solenoid designs - any auto electric shop that has ever worked on a BMW,
Volkswagen, Volvo, just about any European car, would probably have one.
But
in Gander Newfoundland?
At
lunch that day, we had asked the magical Teralynn, our “CROW” (nickname for
“Competitor Relations Officer”) if she could find someone who could help.
She got on the phone to Gander, and everyone there told her, “Go see J and J
Enterprises” - that’s Glen Granville’s do-it-all general contracting and
auto-electric business.
Mechanic
Darren Bursey greeted us at the final stop of the day. We whipped out the
starter (well, “whipped” is a bit of a stretch...). Darren was sceptical
that he would have such a part.
Still,
he took the starter back to the shop, indeed found a solenoid that would fit,
and within an hour, we were back in The Show.
Amazing.
Thank
you.
***
Fellow
journalist Bob English entered a bog-stock Kia Rio RX-V, partnered by first-time
rallier and local St. John’s radio personality Ken Ash.
Surely
the competition highlight for them was recording a time on one long, straight
stage that exceeded the FIA (Federation Internationale de l’Automobile - the
world governing body of motorsport) regulation that no rally stage can have an
average speed higher than 132 km/h.
The
team took a penalty for this, but probably served their car supplier better by
doing so.
I
can see the ad campaign now: “Kia Rio - the economy car that’s just too fast
for international rallying...”
(Guys,
you know where you can send the royalty cheque...).
The
non-competition highlight for this team was surely the sight of Bob dancing a
jig atop a steel bollard on George Street in downtown St. John’s at the
official end of the event. I don’t think Bob English even danced at his own
wedding - the original of the photo I took can be made available at the right
price...
(Listen
- I have to pay for next year’s entry somehow...)
***
The
Lawsons’ 1938 Alfa Romeo Mille Miglia Spyder didn’t have a lot of
competition in the Historic division - they were the only official entrant.
But
to make a division, the 1951 Citroen Traction Avant of Edison Wiltshire was
re-classified to Historic because it was built using 1930s technology.
Wiltshire,
the official chaplain of the Targa Newfoundland, earned the nickname “The
Faster Pastor”...
The
Lawsons had to overcome a blown piston in the final stages to get to the finish
and take their prize.
Any
other owner of a monumentally valuable automobile such as this would have just
put it on the trailer; John and Andrew limped home on five cylinders, risking
further internal damage to the oily bits, just to complete the challenge.
They
had topped the leader board for much of the rally; their engine woes eventually
dropped them to 11th overall.
***
Bill
Arnold and Tammy Hull had driven their BMW M-Coupe east from California earlier
in the year to compete in Car and Driver magazine’s “One Lap of America”
event. They left the car there, returned home, flew back two weeks ago to
retrieve the car, drove/ferried it to Newfoundland, and won the “Modern”
division.
The
car’s odometer is calibrated in miles, so Tammy had a lot of work to do each
morning before they even fired the car up, converting all the distances to
kilometres.
She
is an experienced rally navigator, he’s the owner of a BMW repair shop and a
talented “shoe”, all of which helps explain their top-rank performance.
The
lovely silver Bimmer looked decidedly incongruous in the parking lot of the
Fairmont Hotel after the event, rally decals all still in place, with a
roof-rack luggage on top, ready for the trip home...
They
are driving it back to New Hampshire, from which it will be trucked back to
California.
***
The
Modern division and possibly the overall crown was expected to go to the
massively talented and experienced team of Mark Saxby and Martin Rees of
Launceston Tasmania, in their massively fast Porsche 911 Turbo. But about
one-quarter of the way into the final stage of Day Three through the streets of
a residential subdivision of Gander, a valve made all-too-intimate contact with
a piston, which pooched the motor.
As
helpful as Newfoundlanders were to drivers in distress, there weren’t any
spare parts for a car like this in Gander.
In
his welcoming address to the Targa, the mayor of Gander joked that the cost of
cleaning up the oil spill would be about $5,000. Saxby replied, “You’ve got
it, if you’ll pay for my motor...”
***
It’s
hard to beat “zero” in rallying, and Alan and Carolyn Ryall (need I remind
you, of Halton Hills) cleared every single stage in the Trials division in their
Subaru WRX.
Alan
has considerable rallying experience, but this was Carolyn’s first time behind
a rally odometer for many years - a time-out for family-raising.
At
the awards banquet, Alan noted that on Day Two, his wife said those words that
every spouse wants to hear: “Darling, why don’t you put a roll cage in this
car and go in the performance division next year?”
Say
no more...
***
It’s
a sentiment that was heard from at least a third of the Trials competitors.
Terry DaSilva and Rudy Stohr of Mississauga did their first ever rally in
DaSilva’s pristine (23,000 kilometres) bought-from-new MGB; he plans to outfit
his Opel GT to enter the performance ranks of the Targa Newfoundland next year.
***
As
helpful as Newfoundlanders were to competitors in this event, they don’t have
a lock on Good Samaritanism.
Jud
Buchanan (from guess where? Of course; Halton Hills...) blew the clutch on his
beautiful 1967 Acadian Canso on Thursday, on the way into Gander.
Buchanan’s
car is a custom-built piece; there aren’t many off-the-shelf parts that are
going to fit, especially off shelves in Gander Newfoundland.
So
the Toronto-based director of the “Show Kids You Care’‘ foundation, a
primary sponsor of Buchanan’s effort, fetched himself up on the doorstep of
Euro Drive Clutches in Burlington Ontario at 8:00 a.m. Friday morning, waited
while they custom-made a clutch assembly for the car, drove to the Toronto
airport, put the bits aboard an Air Canada plane bound (eventually) for Gander.
Jud’s
crew took them from there, fixed the car, and it completed the run back into St.
John’s to gain well-deserved finishing medals for Buchanan and co-driver Peter
Wright.
***
All
the competitors were simply stunned by the hospitality of the people of
Newfoundland during this event. We have shared only a handful of the stories
with you here; in every car there were at least three tales to tell - the
driver’s, the navigator’s, and the car’s.
In
previous stories on Targa Newfoundland over the past year, I have suggested that
if you have a car that is set up for rallying, you must try this event. If you
don’t have such a car, get one.
For
the Trials division (to be called “Touring’‘ next year), you can run any
car you want - everything from a 1958 Corvette to a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee
showed up this year.
If
you have never run a rally in your life, you won’t be alone - neither had
several of the competitors in this year’s Targa Newfoundland.
Check
out www.targanewfoundland.com
for information on how to enter.
***
To
the organizers and all their staff; to the literally thousands of volunteers who
marshalled and scored the event - most of whom had never seen a rally before,
let alone officiated at one; to the civic
organizations who organized meals and entertainment for the travelling circus
this event proved to be; to the police, ambulance, fire and paramedic crews who
helped keep us safe; to the Canadian Forces who provided invaluable
communications assistance out in the boonies;
to the local and provincial governments, without whose support this could never
have happened; mostly, to the people of Newfoundland, who allowed their
communities to be disrupted just so we could have some fun - “Thank You”
just doesn’t seem to cover it, but it’s all our language can offer...
***
For
detailed official results of the Targa Newfoundland, log on to www.rallyscoring.com,
click on “Rally Results”, then follow the link to Targa Newfoundland 2002.
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