Targa NFLD: Leg 2

Posted on 16. Sep, 2008 by Warwick in Targa 2008

Tuesday’s action at Targa Newfoundland saw a mix of high speed stages and variable weather, and was not without its share of incidents. Intermittent rain throughout the morning gave drivers the additional challenge of reading the quickly changing road conditions.  From one minute to the next, roads could be completely dry, or filled with puddles of standing water.  The marathon 30km stage into Leading Tickles was the first to claim casualties on Leg 2, and the return trip back out took its toll on a veteran team.

Inbound to Leading Tickles, Mark Hacking and John Leblanc slid off the
outside of a turn in the Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart on stage 3, leaving
them with damaged suspension.  Their crew was able to extract them and
repair the damage quickly at the service, and lady luck would save them
from even more penalty points because the outbound stage was halted due
to a big crash.

Targa Newfoundland co-founder, Jim Kenzie, and co-driver Brian
Bourbonniere in the factory MINI Cooper slid off the
road at a high speed corner and cartwheeled into the shrubs and trees.
According to witnesses who arrived on the scene after the crash, it
looked like a MINI had been shot out of a cannon, with suspension parts
and debris all across the road.  Amazingly, both Jim and Brian were
seen at the arena in the evening, a little sore and banged up, but
virtually unharmed.  Proof that proper safety equipment such as a good
roll cage and HANS
devices are worth the expense! We assume that the location of this
crash will be noted in next year’s routebook as "Kenzie’s Corner"! *

In the scoring department, last year’s overall winners, Roy Hopkins and
Adrienne Hughes are leading with only 0:01 second in penalties.  Two
more classic cars are hot on their heels though, with previous Targa
winner, Bill Arnold, in second place with 0:04 seconds, and Jud
Buchanan in third with 0:05.  Andrew Comrie-Picard is proving the EVO
X’s mettle with fourth overall and a lead in the Modern division over
the Paynter brothers in the Subaru STI.

The fire-breathing Audi Quattro piloted by Frank Sprongl is sitting in
sixth.  Sprongl came through the final Gander in-town stage at maximum
attack, much to the spectator’s awe and amazement.  He managed to pass
an EVO 9 in the tight subdivision, and crossed the finish with glowing
brakes and flames licking out of the exhaust. As you can see in the photo below and his four-foot cut onto someone’s lawn, Frank is not letting the age or history of the car get in the way of driving the snot out of it!

Peter Guagenti’s Mitsubishi EVO was spotted parked up and done for the
day after stage 3 with a suspected spun rod bearing. Scott Giannou and Ray Felice are also out of the event with a blown engine in their Porsche. The blue 1959
Morris Mini, piloted by Dave Pledger and Chris Willett had major
engine troubles at the end of Leg 1, and were not seen on stage
today.  Instead, they are holed up in a Gander garage replacing their
motor with a donated engine from Dyrk Bolger’s wreck (see Leg 1 news).

The circus heads East and South again tomorrow, finishing in Clarenville.  Stay tuned!

[* Jim hosts a segment on Motoring TV of the same name]