Targa Canada West

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For tarmac motorsport enthusiasts the world over, September’s arrival means its time for Targa Newfoundland. So Glyn Trafford, Pete Gulliver, and I will all be taking a short break from preparations for Targa Canada West to participate. The ever-busy Office crew will stay home in British Columbia to keep our own week-long TCW 2010 (May 23-28) event on track.

Launching a Targa event in the West would have been a lot more challenging without the North American trailblazing done by Newfoundland event principles Bob and Scott Giannou. Ontario journalists Doug Mepham and Jim Kenzie are usually credited with the impetus for the event, after racing in Targa Tasmania many moons ago. A tip of our collective hats to them all!!!

If the motorsport gods are smiling our way, we’ll be shaking hands on the podium with Crash Kenzie. We’ve enrolled our Newfoundland entry for the Kenzie Top Marque Award with the two of Paul Abbott and Richard Jacyna, with all three Hondas ably managed by McNutt Racing. I doubt any of us will be contenders for individual class wins, but we’ll be fully entertained by our own intra-squad and eight car intra-marque rivalry.

However, the big news out of Newfoundland should come from the pointy end of the grid, and the exploits of motorsport legend, but Newfoundland rookie, Steve Millen. Team Stillen has built up a very orange Nissan R35 GT-R (see coverage at roadandtrack.com). In Tasmania this past April, Tony Quinn’s very black R35 GT-R prevailed over Jim Richards’ Porsche GT2, and Kevin Weeks’ Lamborghini Gallardo. We’ll have front row seats on the Granite Planet next week as the big Nissan strives for another Targa victory on the world stage. You can catch it on TV, (though usually not until January).

Renting our Newfoundland racer lets us keep working away on Targa Canada West until the day before Prologue. Through the summer we’ve been meeting thousands of competitors -- literally from Mosport to Monterey. The interest and support we have achieved at the grass roots level has been heartening in the extreme. We’ve had new friends of the event actively proselytizing for us everywhere West of the Mississippi, and Down Under too.

Other fruits of our summer labours have included an impressive new TCW website www.targacanadawest.com, abundantly populated with interesting content. The all-important technical regulations have been up for weeks, with our invitation for feedback open until we return from Newfoundland. Those photographs you’re enjoying on the TCW website are by my radiologist colleague Dave O’Keeffe, with our thanks to Peter Martin and Targa New Zealand for the permission to use them here.

Another late summer labour has been re-running our entire 2010 route, mostly aboard a Triumph Daytona triple, or various Porsches. (Tough work, I know, but someone has to.) Though this was my fifth such full circuit, I’m still left with a silly grin for a few weeks afterwards. Some of that government stimulus money has indeed made it to our regions, as I can report that any sketchy pavement has been re-done or patched. I trust some asphalt stimulus has made its way to Newfoundland as well!

After returning from the Rock, we’ll be re-doubling TCW’s efforts in further raising sponsors, competitor, and volunteer interest, and also converting that interest into commitments. The first deadline for competitor’s early bird discounts approaches in mid-November, so that should help focus everyone’s minds and calendars. As well, we’ll get fully stuck into the detail work of safety plans, route books, and community liaison.

Talk to you in October, (or in Newfoundland).

Dr. Kelly Silverthorn
CEO & Founder,
Targa Canada West