Targa New Zealand

Over the next week I will be sending all of you an update on how Ian and I are going in Targa. Today was Documentation and Scrutinering, which went on to 4pm. We then completed one shakedown stage which was 7km long. We finished this stage but found that we had a small brake issue, which we have now resolved. Tomorrow is prologue and we are seeded in 36th for the day and we can’t wait to get back into the seat.

We woke up this morning to the pouring rain thinking we were in for a challenging day and as it turned out we did really well. After an hour and a half drivers briefing we were itching to get into the car. We set of for prologue 1 with a 17km stage. We finished this stage well passing a Ford Cortina and catching a BMW and two Porsche 911’s. We then returned to service with no problems after resolving yesterdays brake issue. Our next stage was at Pukekohe around the circuit where we passed several cars and recording a very quick time. It was then off to the town centre for results and our seeding order for the first full day of competition. We found our selves to be at the front of the field finishing 35th overall for the day out of the 147 cars that started. So we now find ourselves high up the field in 107th for the first full day of competition. Targa runs cars slowest to fastest which is different to conventional rally’s so as you can see we are looking for more wet weather to maintain this position.

After a very successful prologue day we started on the road at 107 for the first day of Targa proper. This meant we were running in amongst some pretty impressive machinery. We more than held our own and after a great day in mostly wet conditions we finished at 54 over all meaning that we would start at 79 for Day 2 of Targa proper.
Day 2 dawned a little less inclement which is not really in our favour as the Taranaki roads, particularly in the afternoon, favoured the high horsepower cars. Nonetheless we set about completing the day in one piece. The early stages were narrow and twisty and damp and we were enjoying those conditions but hit a pothole which bent the rim and put the steering out of alignment.
We changed the wheel at the next service and carried on. In one of the stages there are four very big jumps which gave us both the opportunity to look for our wings. Landing front wheels first doesn’t do a lot for the sump guard which is now a slightly different shape than when we started. The boys are panelbeating it as we write this.

Tomorrow is another long day and we will be starting at 84 which makes us 51st overall. Not bad for a four cylinder small car on a relatively low budget. The boys with the Maserati wouldn’t swap us for the Uno.
Well another great day! We started the day on an overcast drizzly day and headed for Mt Curl just out of Wanganui. Once again we had a stage that suited the light weight nimble Uno and for the rest of the day we just had a ball. We seemed to be running through some great country and the car just ran like a dream. The burble of an Italian engine on song was just amazing.
We really appreciated the much better quality roads and Blair was able to hustle along at a very good clip.
The final stage at Manfield was superb, we managed to drive away from a Subaru WRX and clean up a few other cars.
Tomorrow is another day and we have been put into position 94 meaning that we finished in the top 50 for the event so far, at 46th.
Once again the crew have worked really hard all day to keep the car going strongly.

Day 4 started with a stage over the hill amongst the windmills. 10 kms of twisty road that was extremely exciting. All day we have averaged 30 secs per km or better, culminating in the last stage by covering 24.74km in 12 minutes flat.
Blair has been driving very smoothly on the much improved roads over the last two days. The car is still running very strongly, so much so that we haven’t had to put any oil in it. The tyres are starting to show the 5 days hard work they have done. However they have more than enough rubber to see us through the final 9 stages.
As we look at the internet we are currently showing as 44th fastest but the start order for tomorrow has not yet been announced.
The thrill of the day was chasing, catching and passing the Porsche in front of us around the twisty bits and him not being able to catch and pass us.
The driver later admitted that he couldn’t believe how well the car goes and how well it corners and stops
Tomorrow is another day and we are looking to finish the event in one piece and hopefully claim a class prize.

Wow what a week! We have just received the final results for the week’s rally and we have done better than we could have ever hoped for. Ian and I finished 1st in class with a big margin to our nearest rival, and 3rd in the Index of performance, which in most people’s opinion is even better than than winning the event. The index of performance takes in all factors about the car’s year, performance, weight and the final result to find a winner. To finish 3rd in this is huge, it is far more than any of us expected. Then to top it all off we finished 39th overall beating out 108 cars.