Targa Newfoundland Tid-Bits

At the end of today (Day Two, now in Gander) a well-meaning newbie competitor who did not understand how Brian and I work (he never tells me ANYTHING about where we stand; it simply confuses me...) mentioned that we were second in the Open division by a couple of seconds to an eight-million horsepower custom-built-for-Targa Dodge being driven by a team which does this sort of thing all the time and has won this event about three times - so for a four-cylinder front-wheel drive compact car (OK, a pretty hot and beautifully race-prepared four-cylinder front-wheel drive compact car) driven by an old fart who does exactly ONE rally a year - this one - we are delighted!

Our crew of Alain Lauziere and Jacques Fournier is fantastic - the car is washed down every time we stop, and they even waxed it this morning! Jacques thought a minor suspension tweak might make the tight Gander stages better so he did it - and it was!

The car runs great and looks terrific.

I also passed a personal milestone today. I drove past 'Kenzie's Other Korner' - where I threw our lovely little 2004 Targa Mini into the woods two years ago - at speed for the first time (the stage was 'scrubbed' last year due to a timing problem, and we just 'transited' - drove slowly - through it).

Now, I made sure Brian warned me about the corner (despite its infamy - I'm not the only one who has lost it here - it is not marked in our route book), so I did slow WAY down to make sure history did not repeat itself.

Once past the spot, Brian immediately got on the Intercom: "OK, scratch that off your list and focus on the next corner!"

It's things like that which make him the best co-driver in the entire field.

Not much time for blogging tonight - I need my sleep! More tomorrow from Clarenville.

Comments

[Gigi]

Sounds like a great race. Have you seen Kia's 2010 Forte Koup that debuted at Targa Newfoundland, tricked out in hot cherry red? Check the video here www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBAjqawMIwQ and @kiadrivechange as we continue to drive change.