Saturday, Sept. 20, 2003

Leg 5: Goodyear Tire South Avalon - Marystown to St. John's

The Paynter/Paynter Subaru WRX and Giannou/Winker Porsche 911S warm up before the final day's stages.

Repairs have been made to most of the cars that suffered problems on yesterday's run. Tom Silver's Mustang has new head gaskets, but the team discovered a hole in a piston. Without sufficient time or parts to make proper repairs, the team has chosen to run the car on seven cylinders, disconnecting the spark plug wire on the damaged cylinder. The Brkovitch/Crammond Honda CRX has had an engine/gearbox transplant.

The final day of an endurance event like Targa Newfoundland is probably the most difficult. The target times have been lowered to be unreachable in most stages, so fatigued drivers have to push their fatigued cars as hard as possible to maintain position, or to move up. There is a tight battle at the front of the field between several teams, with only seconds separating them. Bill Arnold has the lead in his BMW Bavaria, but is pressured by the '65 Mustangs of Jeremy Hill and Tom Silver, and by the '67 Acadian Canso of Jud Buchanan.

It begins with a two hour transit back up the Burin Peninsula and a reverse direction run at the 36 km Osprey Trail stage from Leg 1. Then it's down the Avalon Peninsula to Placentia for another run through the streets. The course is a bit different this year, with an added loop so speeds will be slower coming into the tightening right hander that took out the Datsun of Jack MacDonnell against the seawall last year. MacDonnell and most teams make it through relatively unscathed, though the Acura of Brian Oldford and John Harris collects a stop sign post with the bumper. Ralph Grant's Volvo is temporarily sidelined with a broken throttle cable, costing Grant and co-driver Jodie Shay their plate for finishing all stages within the prescribed time. The Ruf Porsche of Gary Church suffers a suspension failure and is out of the event. Jerry Churchill's run also comes to an end, as his Subaru WRX falls victim to mechanical woes.

The Leg 5 lunch break was at Our Lady of Fatima School.

Jack MacDonnell and Carson Rasmussen may have gotten past their bugaboo in Placentia, but the engine of the 280Z chose to give up a short time later on the long, fast stage to St. Bride's.

The first stage after lunch is the longest of the event at 43 km. It is also very quick, with fast curves and mild hills, so the big concern is exceeding the 130 kph limit for average speed. A speed trap in mid stage catches a couple of cars for added penalty points, but all make it through no more teams dropping out. Another 12 km stage without incident, and it's on to the final stage, the one that could decide the top five finishers.

The final stage is run partially through the town of Petty Harbour. The target times have been lowered so no one should be able to beat them, but they could come close. Jeremy Hill comes closest with on 8 second penalty in the Mustang, while Bill Arnold crosses the final Flying Finish with :11 in his Bavaria. In the final tally, only five seconds separate the two cars after five days of rally; Arnold with :38, Hill with :43. Jud Buchanan had been in second place going into the Petty Harbour stage, but 20 seconds of penalty time drop him to third in the overall result (:53), ten seconds behind Hill/McNeely and three seconds ahead of Silver/Fuss (:56). The top four are all in the Classic Category. Ernie Jakubowski and Scott Gerard round out the top five with 1:02, capturing first in the Modern category (1977 and newer).

The remaining cars regroup at Cape Spear, the easternmost point of North America, drivers congratulate one another on finishing, and all parade the 15 km back to St. John's for prize giving. All teams who make it to the finish are given medals, those who have completed all stages in the prescribed time get plates. Most teams begin to make plans for 2004.

Bill Arnold (right) and Peter Guagenti celebrate victory on arriving at Cape Spear. Photo © Tim Winker.

Complete results at RallyScoring.com