Targa Rally Day 6 – Results Day 1/5

Sep 15 2014

First!

Racing school paid off, as did our practice during off-hours, and Michel’s fast-mastery of navigational math.

4 more days to do this though, not getting excited just yet.

Monitor the results here.

Targa Rally Day 6 – Race Day 1/5 Complete

Sep 15 2014

We left at 8am for our new home in Clarenville, 2 hours north of St. John’s.

Much of our day was spent in transit.

Along with 5 races.

Entire communities rope off their front yards, and we go flying through at 80+ km/h. I’ll get an out-the-windsheild video this week, so you can see what it looks like.

While we were nervous for the race 1, it dissipated and by race 5 we were in a solid rhythm.

Michel has this calm, evenly metered voice that is so nice in my ear, compared to what’s outside my windshield: crazy roads, and scenery coming at me mega fast.

His voice never breaks, and he’s starting to pepper the commentary with observations like that drone line, which was so out of place it made me jacknife, and I almost bit the steering wheel.

In between races though, we are studious.

Our modified Micra dash.

The goal of the game is to cross the finish line at the exact right time, as monitored by the egg timer taped to our dash.

In race 2, we crossed the finish line at the exact moment the timer beeped, and we lost our minds with hyperness. Confirmed: a Micra steering wheel can handle a happy beating.

Didier has arrived! You know him, I’ve introduced you before.

Skipped out on dinner to nap; I’m wiped, and this is an endurance game.

So with that, I’ll leave you with my home this week TTYT

Targa Rally Day 5 – Today was Prologue

Sep 14 2014

First we convoyed downtown to the Driver’s Meeting, mandatory breathalyzer test, and then the group shot.

All Targa Newfoundland 2014 Competitors

A quick car show along the water.

Then the ceremonial kickoff, with a soundtrack by this guy.

Assembled into our starting order.

Kicking me off is one of Newfoundland’s leading politicians, Mr. INeedToLookThatUp.

Prologue – a warm up.

3 practice runs simulating actual races, timed and with helmets on, except the scores don’t count.

Taken 45 seconds before my first ever race.

I was looking at this.

Green GO.

Inside the cockpit.

When I first found out I’d be competing, I was kinda oh, I don’t get to be in the fastest category?

But after today’s taste, omg thank you for getting to be in this middle category; this is more than enough for my first round. I drove the stages at about 80 km/h, Jim drove them at double that.

After the first stage my hands were shaking badly. After the second race, nope, just a big grin. Grateful this practice day exists, and I got my first one over with when it didn’t count.

Michel and I are starting to become mirrors.

It shows in the results.

We did well, not perfect though (remember the goal – to accumulate as few points as possible.) That extra 4 points is from a surprise Intermittent Time Check, and we were going too fast.

The race kicks off tomorrow.

We drive about 300 km in total, which is peppered with 8 stages (races), then we end up in a city 200 km north of St. John, which will be our new HQ for the rest of the week.

I heard the internet there is terrible, non-existent really, which I’m hoping is wrong, because how will I blog?

TTYT and send me luck all day please!

Targa Rally Day 5 – No Paper, No Racing

Sep 14 2014

This paper must be shown at the start of each stage.

Received at registration, and if you lose it, they will not give you another one.

The 2 key pieces of information:

1 – proof you passed breathalyzer that morning
2 – the weight of your car before the race. It is weighed again at the end, and if it doesn’t match*, disqualification
* because a mismatched weight implies you added enhancements, swapped the engine, some sort of cheating may be happening.

Targa Rally Day 4 – Tech, Training & a Car Show

Sep 13 2014

First the car goes through tech: where mirrors are passed underneath, and its weight is noted.

Why weight?

As Craig here explained, the car is weighed at both the start and finish of the race, and if the two don’t match, an investigation commences to find out why (adding enhancements, swapping the engine, are you cheating…)

Then registration.