For the past week-and-a-half I have been in Newfoundland, Canada competing in the 2011 Targa Newfoundland. This is a week-long 2,200-kilometre tarmac rally held annually throughout eastern and central portions of the province of Newfoundland.
The route is made up of approximately 40 competitive Targa stages where the road is closed to public traffic. The stages are linked by non-competitive Transit sections where provincial vehicle traffic laws apply. It is one of three internationally recognized Targa events and quite possibly Canada’s most-grueling motorsports event.
The car, owned by Kia Canada, features a 2.4-litre four-cylinder 16V DOHC engine, six-speed manual transmission, high performance exhaust, cross drilled and vented brakes, Toyo R1R tires and an interior roll cage that puts us in the Targa Modern division.
I have assembled a section here based on my original day-by-day articles on Autonet.ca. I have also uploaded every photo that I personally shot while in Newfoundland on this great adventure. I just wish there were more.
After the provisional results for Targa Modern were made official (after Brian O’Kane/Andrew Comrie Picard’s car disqualification was overturned) on September 26th, we placed 11th overall in the division. And, sixth in our division. Not bad for a $21,000 Kia. For more results, visit the Targa Newfoundland website.