On Tuesday September 4th, we set out on a journey that would take us all the way to Newfoundland in our Porsche 997 Turbo S. The 2012 Targa Newfoundland rally is not just another open road rally with parties; this is a serious motosports event with closed road ways, rules and regulations, and testing not only your abilities, but your patience. 5 days of racing activities are scheduled, but our journey started much earlier as we pre-rallied to start our rally.
Arriving in Manchester, NH at 6:30pm, we prompty headed out to make our way to Sydney, NS. With the car packed up, we cruised our way reaching the Canadian border at around 1:00am. What was suppose to be a 13 hour drive turned into 17 hours as we drove continually in a massive storm that was dumping heavy rains. The Porsche looked amazing on the red Agency Power wheels by Niche and the Toyo R888 tires. What we soon realized is that rutted highways, wet weather, and R Compound tires just don’t mix. We had to put along between 60-80 kph even stopping at one automotive shop in Nova Scotia to check our suspension and tires since the driving was so sketchy. After helping us out I asked the shop manager how much we owed him. He said, “just give him $10 for his coffee fund.” I gave him $40 and told him to get some pizza too!
We finally made it to the Ferry that takes 12-14 hours from Sydney, NS to Argentia, NF. There is only three ways to get to Newfoundland. You can fly, you can take a 2 hour Ferry to the western side of NF that comes with a 10 hour drive, or you take this Ferry. Completely loaded up with trucks, cargo, walk on passengers, and cars, we finally left port at about 4:00pm. Dinner on deck, we retreated to our definite must have 2 bunk cabin to crash out. After only a few hours of sleep and that long drive, this overnight boat ride was amazing. We awoke around 5:00am arriving to the Argentia Port where us along with locals and other Targa drivers disembarked and headed on the highway towards St. Johns. For fun we started ripping along with a Lexus IS-F but decided to back off after we saw the sign showing 660 accidents this year by moose!
After about another 1 hour of driving, we arrived in St. Johns on September 7th. We had another 2 days to get things setup before our first event day. Because of the issues we experienced with the rain and the tires, we decided to get the car lifted up and swap to our blue wheels with Toyo T1s tires that had been preshipped to our hotel. The local guys at TJ’s Garage let us hoist the car up for inspection and then swap our wheels. After that was done, we headed over to City Tire which checked and tuned our alignment to keep the car tracking straight. We connected with the right people as even though they gave us some flack, they hooked us up!
September 9th was the first official day of the event known as the Prologue. This brought us to the official start with a transit stage to our first leg. Dressed in full with our OMP Racing gear, we strapped in and fired up the in-car cameras. Going off our route book, we soon found ourselves feeling like we were in a road rally as we quickly became lost in St. Johns looking for the road to take. But when you have another 50 cars going the same place, we soon found a group and headed in the right direction. Keeping it very short, the Prologue gave us a taste of what the rally stages would be like. Running at 30 second intervals, our Fast Tour group ripped out on this 5km stage. With adrenalin pumping, we had completed the first stage and headed to our lunch checkpoint.
After lunch was a short transit drive to our next stage. Having a quick meet and greet at the local community center, we were able to show off our cars and meet some locals. Continuing on, we arrived at the next stage. This would be run twice in the same direction. Definitely more intense, this leg had us racing through the town of Flatrock. With houses on either side and crowds lined the streets, the only focus we had was the road ahead. Loose gravel and potholes made it interesting even with our slightly raised up 911 Turbo. Some turns and steep blind turns reminded me fondly of last years Nurburgring trip. This leg was a great start to our rally experience that had only barely begun.
Having run over 5 Gumball 3000 rallies and Bullrun, Targa is an experience like no other. With motorsports at the heart, the entire Newfoundland community and drivers are so friendly its unreal. Competitors come from all types of backgrounds and vehicles. Being able to drive your car how it should be in a controlled environment has more risks then that of any street rally. The better part is you are not putting the unwilling public at risk either. The challenges of driving in full equipment, following pace notes, and reaching your time, really tests your driving skill and comprehension. Tomorrow is a full day with 7 stages so make sure to keep it locked at
VividRacing.com Performance Racing Parts tnf.
