Targa Canada West

Great Setting

The West Coast Rally Association and Targa Canada West brought a unique type of adventure rally to the beautiful mountain town of Nakusp, BC this past Saturday. Twenty cars and approximately 50 volunteers came to Nakusp to enjoy touring the local roads and attractions.

Every component of the great promise of a BC Interior event came together for TTR. Endless blue skies, warm temperatures (24 C / 75 F), snow-capped mountains surrounding every vista, achingly twisty roads and enthusiastic fans. You could not script anything superior to what we were spoiled with.

Great Cars

The odds-on favourite for victory was a Porsche. Just in sheer numbers, the rear-engine 911s – and one mid-engine Porsche 914 – spanned almost 40 years of vintage and would provide close competition for the leader board. Kudos to the Porsche owners who made up a third of the TTR competitors (and thanks too for event partner BC Interior Region Porsche club members who came out to show support and see friends). But there were many other sporting cars: see the entry list...

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Great Drivers & Navigators

Of course, success in rally is more about the driving team than the car under them. As the rally school at Targa HQ in the Nakusp Arena drilled home, the three priorities in order of importance are... stay on the road... stay on route.... stay on time. Navigators rule! While most teams were from BC, AB and WA, a special thanks to those who came from farther afield: Newfoundland and Oregon.

Great Community

Targa Tabula Rasa kicked off with a well attended car show and charity breakfast by the Rotary Club and Kal Tire at the Nakusp Arena - which ended up serving 180 people! After socializing with the host community, the teams set out at one minute intervals to compete on almost 200km of scored regularity road sections.

Great Rally Roads

The area residents lined the roads to watch the cars as they travelled through the Brouse Loop area on their way to their first run up and down the Hot Springs Road in Nakusp, the feature road for the event. With outstanding scenery throughout the region, organizers then sent the cars to the neighboring community of Kaslo, BC for a late lunch.

On the route to the finish, and one last kick at the Hot Springs Road in Nakusp, the teams had another short stop the Nikkei Internment Camp Memorial in New Denver. Right at the finish line - competitors and volunteers relaxed with a soak at the Naksup Hot Springs.

With such an awesome day experienced, festivities returned to the Nakusp Arena Auditorium for a banquet and prize-giving. A large round of applause was deservedly delivered to lead TTR organizers Jennifer Daly and Keith Morrison. Likewise, special thanks to Targa volunteers Brad Reibin, Craig Ross, Simon Oakley, Mark Kornell & Nicki Beverley.

A big thanks to the community of Nakusp for hosting the TTR event. Mayor Karen Hamling was in attendance at the Start, and again in the evening to receive a thank-you from Targa – a West-coast cedar Targa Plate. The Nakusp Council and citizens are as supportive of Targa Canada West as we are appreciative of their great town.

Great Sponsors

Thanks to sponsors: many attended and some even competed!

• Lakeshore Vein & Aesthetics Clinic
• Motor Werke
• Genex Mining
• Citrus Pie Marketing Group
• Village of Nakusp
• Nakusp Music Festival
• Xross Motor Sports
• International Exhibitions Services
• Porsche Club: BCIR PCA
• Royal Volkswagen

Together, we work towards the Holy Grail of the West's first closed public road tarmac Targa event this fall - we'll keep you posted... but first the results.

Results

Targa Canada West TTR Rally Results - Detailed

The inaugural TTR rally offered a unique blend of hot springs, historical landmarks, outstanding roads and a chance to bring new tourists to the small towns in the interior of British Columbia.

The 2011 Targa Tabula Rasa Rally was won by the Squadra Classica rally team (car #3) of Larry LeFebvre and Reid Trummel who drove their yellow 1976 Porsche 914 2.0 past fifty checkpoints, accumulating only 37 points throughout the day. Keith Morison, the routemaster, planned these hidden checkpoints to be very challenging to even such veteran competitors as LeFebvre and Reid. He notes that Targa Tabula Rasa is bringing something quite new to both rally and touring sports car enthusiasts. "The events we want to bring to the area need to balance the sporting aspect of navigational rally with scenery and tourism of local landmarks mixed into the route. Targa Tabula Rasa was a shining success in both areas with competitors raving about the roads, the checkpoints and the communities they visited."

Second overall went to the complete novice team of Ted Hlokoff and Trevor Cameron in a Dodge Viper (car #13), from British Columbia. Alberta's Jason Mizzoni and Shane Ewert, who are skilled TSD rallyists, drove their Subaru STi (car #4) to third overall.

Team Max&Moritz finished first in class, driven by Albertans Fritz Peverl and co-driver Blair Hennes, with their classic 1972 Porsche 911T (car #12). Ted Wenner and Cliff Ungar (2005 Chrysler Crossfire, car #11), a British Columbia team who had not rallied since the 1970's, were thrilled with the event and their second in the novice class result.

Jennifer Daly, Director of Operations for Targa Canada West believes that this first event, Targa Tabula Rasa, is indicative of what these events can become. "It's very encouraging to see such solid support from the motorsport and local communities. Based on the success of this small test event, and the enthusiasm of the competitors and volunteers we will be moving forward with this concept." Targa Canada West expects to return to Nakusp BC with a fall Targa event. An expected September/October date will be determined after consulting with the communities and stakeholders involved.

Hard Luck

A few hard luck stories of the event: the two local DeSandoli teams couldn't compete due to a family emergency (and Don DeSandoli is the catalyst for TTR being in Nakusp) - we are sorry you couldn't be with us Don running the two Datsuns (240z and 260z). Another was the Alberta team with a 1990 Audi Coupe who drove out to the event to have a fuel line failure the morning of the event and be forced to DNS. Finally, Eric Grochowski who had an engine failure in his daily driver between Revelstoke and Rodgers Pass on the way home. Luckily, the Brauns - who were car 0, ensuring the checkpointers were in place and ready – had trailered their opening car out and were only a few minutes behind him on the road.

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Great Future

Anyone who drove the route now understands what has been driving the team behind Targa Canada West... the combination of this region's roads, scenery and communities are unparalleled in what they have to offer tarmac motor sport enthusiasts worldwide. We will keep you posted as we work towards the next event... mountains of motorsports adventure.

And stay tuned for the event video - coming soon.