Targa Newfoundland 2009 is on!

Keith wrote: .....Jud, I'm glad you built the Acadian instead of an STi. It's just so cool.

Most definitely! Having owned a 1966 327/350 HP Nova many years ago I realize what you had to do to make that a "handling" car

The co-driver/navigator is an unsung hero....

In reply to kyleatstillen:

kyleatstillen wrote: In reality, we did win. We won our modern division and the manufacturer's cup and we're proud of both achievements. Our closest competition in modern was the Subaru who finished 12th overall.

Hey Keith

Its Stan Here, #711 BMW M3 E30

I know I'm late on the draw here as I haven't been able to keep current and this is a small point but I did feel it at least deserves a correction.

I can understand the frustration for the Millen team , just like the rest of us who pour alot of our resources, time and passion into this event we want to do well and leave with pride. Certianly they (Stillen) more than most of us in there have a higher profile and the need to post strong results is understood. However if standings are important then at least be correct.

I'm in my office looking at what appears to be a second place modern division trophy and the pic I see receiving the award had the very pleasant Porsche division 7 guys (#708) beside us winning 3rd in Modern. This leaves a few gaps between Stillen and Team Subaru. I am not pointing this out to be petty, I just cant help but feel that this is indicative of Corporate eye poking. There was no need to mention this, nor is it correct.

I want to be very clear that I am extremely grateful for the Stillen team being there and I truly hope they return. We need great people like this at the event , but I think they also need to try and understand how the event can help them besides just judging the success of the event by your finishing position.

Team Subaru finished 12th this year after what can only be classed as a very sad fluke. Great driver, great car, just one of those things. I have to say that I was more than impressed with how the team carried themselves and got right back in the race. They easily could have said they were out rather than risk a lower place finish with a different co driver and a partly functional car. Marc Lachapelle was a great gentlemen all week and there isn't a person in Targa who doesn't respect that team and their crew, regardless of where they finished. Last year they didn't win, but I didn't hear anything from them. I do remember however their Chief Mechanic seeing me in a parking lot (my crew not there) looking panicked about a broken brake bolt 5 minutes before a stage that without their help, we would not have been able to run.

The same applies to ACP. I'm sure he had pressure to be first but he was third last year, yet at the same time he understood why he was there and he really made the most out of the event. He was accessable and helpful, shared ideas on how to improve and smiled everytime a camera showed up.

There is a lot of talent at this event that gets wronged one way or another every year but that's racing. The reality is that Targa is not however all professional racers and its a bit like those cook off shows on TV where the real enthusist gets a chance to cook off against a great chef and has the time of their life in doing so. Sometimes the great chef wins and sometimes the underdog does. The same reason people watch Targa is the same reason people watch those kinds of shows. If they want to see all top pro racing then that is all over the TV. This is a chance for everyone to mix it up and for those kids and spectators to see someone they can relate to, or know, racing with the likes of Steve Millen , ACP, Sprongle and it becomes exciting for them. Then there are the great drivers like Glen Clarke and Roy Hopkins who are unreal with how much they share and try to help you improve in the event. We came last year for the first time and placed 23 & 24th. Every word they said, we clung onto and this year our two teams finshed 5th and 8th. I can tell you... it was truly hard work for Pierre and I but we owe a lot of that to those guys and their input.

My long point here is that I just want to try and encourage great professionals like Steve Millen to try and understand the true value of the event. It may not be what he has seen in other places but it is one thing great..... Targa Newfoundland. People like Steve can add so much to the event and do so much to help the Drivers like myself and that is one of the keys of the event (and winning is good too!) I hope to see them back next year using whatever they gained from this year to their advantage.

Anyhow, we know Steve Millen is a great driver and he doesn't need a Targa trophy to prove that. I hope they had fun..... and remember that " they won Modern ...with the closest competitor being a Caribbean team in a BMW M3". :)

Keith, thanks so much for the updates and photos and I'm very grateful for everyone's additional color. Its a dream for a lot of us to do an event this far away and all these posts really give a solid feel for what its like and what it takes.

Changing gears....somewhere in the posts Keith made a comment about Dust to Glory with the Baja trucks 3 wheelin and I can tell you I went down to Ensenada last year to see the start of the Baja 1,000 and will go again this November and if there is a motorsports event that has equal parts danger and excitement from a spectators perspective that is it!

Thanks to everyone for the open discussion . To those of us who only get a glimpse of this great rally and what goes on this is wonderful. We need a GRM car for this .Now that would be a set of issues to cherish.

f86sabjf wrote: Thanks to everyone for the open discussion . To those of us who only get a glimpse of this great rally and what goes on this is wonderful. We need a GRM car for this .Now that would be a set of issues to cherish.

I wonder if the GRM crew have considered entering Targa? DO IT!

Somebody might have tried to convince the GRM crew to feature a certain Miata when it was being built, either as a project car or to run an ongoing series of articles But they like to keep the project cars in-house, which makes sense.

I know there are some guys at GRM who would love to take part in the race. The question is more about who can take that much time off work with two hungry magazines that need to be constantly fed. The best way to get someone from GRM to take part in the race would probably be as a navigator for a car that someone else prepares.

Back to this year's race - Stillen has put up a bunch of in-car video from their race. The Brigus stage is pretty exciting to watch, with narrow roads, tight turns and standing water. Steve Millen offers an editorial comment on the conditions near the start as he constantly countersteers. From the evidence in this video, I think the choice of a novice navigator really hurt the team's results. Steve's doing a good job, but here's an example - just before the wooden bridge at 0:55 is a sharp right over a crest. This is the corner that caught out at least six cars last year. The navigator calls it as "200 hard right downhill tightens caution" as they go over it. A bit late! Steve's obviously doing a fantastic job of reading the road as he does not get caught out by this.

I've also been told by a few folks that the GTR was not running on R-compound tires, and it does seem that traction was at a bit of a premium in the wet! That's a lot of countersteer.

By comparison, here's how my navigator dealt with that stage. The Stillen team finished the stage in 1:58 as far as I can tell from the video, we took 2:04 - so the pacing of the notes is very similar despite the radical difference in conditions.

Here's Gander. A dry stage, the car's having a much easier time dealing with traction. Lots of power in this beast! They do catch the factory Subaru by the end of the stage but it doesn't appear to slow them down at all.