The Ultimate Canadian Road Race
The Targa Newfoundland is perhaps the best thing to come out of Newfoundland since Screech rum. It is an eight-day rally held on the paved public roads of Newfoundland, and is open to just about anyone with a desire to explore the potential of their vehicle’s performance in a beautiful part of Canada.
There are three main categories: Targa Tour, Grand Touring, and Targa. Targa Tour is the non-competitive class for owners of classic and vintage machinery who want to experience the fun and fellowship of a racing environment, but without exposing their priceless antique to a guardrail at 100+ km/h. The Grand Touring category operates in a time, speed & distance format; competitors are required to finish a stage within a specified window of time. Run the stage too slow or too fast, and you are assessed a penalty. This is perfect for the enthusiast who wants to run their car hard on a challenging course, but doesn’t want to have the pressure of a flat-out, lowest-ET-wins type race.
For those who do want that pressure, there is the Targa category. This is the balls to the wall, “run what you brung†top class that requires extensive safety modifications and a willingness to push your car to the limits. There are several further divisions within Targa based on the age of your car, the amount of modification, and the displacement of your engine, but all the cars in this class are designed to run flat out over forty stages of rally driving. A couple of Subaru WRX STi’s, a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, a Porsche Cayman S, and a 1970 Volvo 142 GT is some of the range of diverse machinery that took part in last years running of the Targa Newfoundland. This year’s race runs from September 8 - 15; to reserve your spot on the starting grid, go to www.targanewfoundland.com.