Targa Newfoundland on Speed TV - right now!

Kinda dropped the ball on this one. Speed is showing the 2011 Targa Newfoundland at 1 pm EST today. Like, in 10 minutes.

THey'll probably show it again. But I don't know when.

Thanks for the heads up! Just turned it on.

In reply to dyintorace:

I don't suppose this is available on the internet anywhere for those of us without cable?

It appears that a show about the Dodge Viper replaced the Targa show. Two of the four divisions were given approximately 15 seconds of air time between them, the rest of it was all Classic and Modern with a heavy, heavy emphasis on the Viper. Not a good show this year at all.

I have not come across a digital version online yet, but you can buy a DVD from the Targa organizers. The DVD is of the version shown in Canada, which doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the Open division.

Keith wrote: It appears that a show about the Dodge Viper replaced the Targa show. Two of the four divisions were given approximately 15 seconds of air time between them, the rest of it was all Classic and Modern with a heavy, heavy emphasis on the Viper. Not a good show this year at all. I have not come across a digital version online yet, but you can buy a DVD from the Targa organizers. The DVD is of the version shown in Canada, which doesn't even acknowledge the existence of the Open division.

Agreed. Terrible coverage. If a casual observer happened across that show, he/she couldn't be faulted for assuming there are only 2 divisions in the race! At least you got a nice head on shot and mentioned by name.

crap missed it.

And driving around with electrical problems.

I did see you Keith. They mentioned the' Miata with the V8'.

Keith wrote: It appears that a show about the Dodge Viper replaced the Targa show. Two of the four divisions were given approximately 15 seconds of air time between them, the rest of it was all Classic and Modern with a heavy, heavy emphasis on the Viper. Not a good show this year at all.

Found it, watched it and came away with the conclusion that Dodge is throwing lots of advertising money in SpeedTV's direction.

I saw almost 3 seconds of some newb in a Miata w/ a V8 motor . . . .

Will this eat into MY 15 seconds of fame?

Ahhh crap I missed it.

Bummer. Although your review of the coverage isnt too inspring...

I was pretty disappointed in the coverage too, but not specifically due to lack of Miata coverage (which did suck, I might add).

The problem I have is that they focus on the people too much, and having them croon constantly about how awesome Newfoundland ad nauseum is (which, they are awesome, but still) gets a little... old. I wanna watch cars race dammit!

And if it makes you feel any better Keith, over three years of racing the complete Canadian Rally Championship, almost every single event finished (besides the DNF's) in the top 10, class champions and a top 5 finish or two, and we had about 15 seconds of airtime. Life sucks

I'm not simply disappointed because they didn't give me screen time - I'll get more than my share when our own video project goes public. But the Grand Touring competitors deserve much better, as do all of my fellow racers in Open. Heck, I'm pretty sure Open wasn't decided until the last stage.

Back in 2008 (that show is easy to find on torrents), they did a much better job of giving a feel of the event. There were short bits on a variety of cars, from an NSU to the classic Mini that completed the race "10 yards at a time". And yes, us. But it was a much better show regardless.

For those that want some Targa footage without the editing, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/targamiata

watched it this yr ( missed the broadcast the last couple of yrs) heard them mention you Keith ... V8 powered Miata w/electrical problems ....

and you're correct, it seemed to be a Viper promotional show

Wait...I'm confused...SPEED has programming other than NASCAR ? When did this happen?

Weaksauce.

My buddy Jim who works the event (and has some pretty cool writeups about his adventure on his blog) posted that NTV had a poll of sorts on whether or not the event should continue... Jim's Garage link to NTV poll.

Is it in danger of going away? I know it's all volunteer, and a damn long way. The ferry ride is like 14hrs, right?

I don't think it's in danger of going away. Yes, it take an army of volunteers (2400 is the number that I've heard) to run, and it's quite a distance to get there. The ferry ride is the least of the difficulties for us - we'd already been on the road for five days by the time we got to the ferry terminal!

But people are still coming, and it is a professionally run event.

But it impacts a lot of people. Some of them love it, and count the days until Targa comes back. Some don't, and want to see the rich kids with the fast cars bugger off. Every year, a couple of communities decide to end their involvement with the race. And every year, a couple of communities decide to become involved. Thanks to the injured spectator at Fortune this year, there was more chatter than there has been in the past - although it's always there. NTV decided to do a poll on a possibly controversial subject because that's what news outlets do to feed the hungry deadlines. The result of the poll was 201 for vs 67 against, if you check out Jim's report.

I would think that the amount of income generated just for that Event would make people a little more accommodating.

Dang Keith I had no idea it was 2400 volunteers. Cheese N Rice!

It's on my short list of motorsports events I must attend one day, so good to hear that it was just sensational journalism at it's finest.

For those that missed it on Speed, it's now available online for streaming. Miata is at 29:00, although you will find other cars to amuse yourself. Good show for the Mopar fans.

Watch it!

I've never regretted giving up the dish, Speed, and all the other mindless crapola. Might have known the fat cats at Speed would poison it with advertising

To be fair to Speed - I'm pretty sure the show is produced by TV2GO under contract from Targa Newfoundland. They sell the show to TSN and Speed. There are some definite cues in the show that came from the organizers. The emphasis on safety and the lack of almost any crash footage, for example, is characteristic of the TN organizer's message.

Here's a question for anyone still reading. And it's a legitimate question because it's something that is under consideration. The GRM forum is a good place to ask, because for the last few years I've done "live" coverage of the event. So...

Would you prefer a single hour-long show like this, or 20-30 minute streaming updates every night during the race? Assume it's one or the other, not both. And let's assume that the streaming updates would be available after the event as well so you could watch them on your time. We can also assume that the hour-long show would also be made available after it hit the air, just like it is for 2011.

I vote for a 2hr mega special after advertising that might get us a good hour of the race

I would prefer the single hour long show.

In any case, I hope the folks in NF continue to support the event.

Rog

Just finished watching it. I was hoping you were all wrong. You were not.

I also would prefer a single show however I think it should be at least an hour and a half.

They should replace 80% of the car show people interview stuff with in car video.

I have an old one on tape somewhere that is about ten times better than this one was.