Saturday, Sept. 21, 2002

Leg 5 - Southern Avalon

The final day was also probably the most brutal. Eight stages and over 500 km of driving. Most positions were secure, only mistakes would change the standings.

Unfortunately that was the case with the Datsun 280Z of Jack MacDonnell and Carson Rasmussen. They were a DNF on the day's second stage. The final 2 km of the 7.5 km stage were run through the town of Placentia. The last instruction before the Flying Finish was a sharp right with the warning "Caution! tightens. Sea wall barrier on outside." MacDonnell came in too fast, locked up the brakes and slid straight into the curb and the sea wall. The left front strut folded under and the front end hit the metal barrier. Were it not for the sea wall, the "Zed" would have gone into the water.

Another late near retirement was the 1938 Alfa Romeo of father and son John and Andrew Lawson of Australia. The engine began to spew oil after the day's first stage and the diagnosis was a holed piston. The Lawsons skipped a few stages, but went on to the final two short sections held in towns, thereby classed as a finisher. Theirs was the only car in the Historic classification, so they take home the honor of being the first in that class to win Targa Newfoundland.

Today also saw the longest leg of the rally, 43.21 km. It began with a short blast through the streets of Branch, then followed the coast road to North Harbor. There was a substantial penalty for averaging over 132 kph (about 80 mph) on any stage, and with only sweeping turns on the road, it was quite easy to travel at 150 to 200 kph. Consequently many teams slowed or stopped near the finish to keep from coming in too early and collecting the penalty.

The final two stages were short, in town demonstrations. Witless Bay was 3.74 km and base times were generous so the teams would not have to push hard to achieve a zero score. It was still quite technical and kept Targa co-drivers busy reading instructions. The run through Bay Bulls was only 1.16 km, but still a challenge as the base times had been set to ensure penalties. With such a short stage the penalties would be minimal, not enough to matter at the end... except in one case. The Falcon of Tom McGeer and Mark Williams led the Mustang of Jeremy Hill and Lennox McNeely by only two seconds in the battle for second position overall. Both knew that they could not lolligag through the stage. McGeer was out first, but what Hill would not know until the stage was finished was that he spun the Falcon, losing about 26 seconds. Consequently Hill also attacked the section, and captured second overall on the final stage.

There was a moment as the cars pulled into Park Expose at Bay Bulls that is so euphoric. Each driver and co-driver was welcomed by the others as they pulled in. There was much shaking of hands and hugging. We had done it! We had survived a week of Targa Newfoundland... the 1ST Targa Newfoundland. Only this elite group would ever be able to say that.

Tim Winker,
Co-driver, Car #502
1976 Porsche 911 S
1st in Category 5
12th overall