Results!!

Day 6 of Targa saw us back on the familiar roads of Wellington, the sun was shining and we had a plan to get us across the final finish line that involved taking no risks, running low boost and keeping the engine revs low to avoid anymore engine valve problems.

Stage one was Shelly Bay, a piece of road around the Harbour that included in it's 5.44Km's all of the road that is used for the Wellington Car Club's sprint of the same name. An event I have won for the last five years in a row and hold the record for fastest time ever. However the local sprint only covers around 2.5km's of the road and I've not driven over the rest of it in years, let alone at speed. It came as a total surprise to us (however not to others I'm told) that we posted the fastest time dead equal with V8 Touring Car drivers Clark Proctor and Paul Manual !!

Oh to have been running full power and going for it! However we just couldn't risk breaking another gearbox and not finishing.

From there we drove to Whitemans Valley and once more along with some twisty bits we were confronted by those long, long straight bits of road where the top cars just sit on 200kph from start to finish. However we still managed 10th place. I cannot describe what it's like to drive a bent Evo over some of those bumps at 198kph but "Scary" does not do it justice. (It never made it to a wheel alignment machine after the crash and the rear wheels are pointing in all directions!)

Next up was Moonshine road, I haven't driven over this in years and never at speed. The first couple of corners caught me completely by surprise as my tyres were stone cold having just been fitted at the Maidstone service stop. The car slid around like it had two flat tyres on the rear! I carried on at a reduced speed until they warmed up a little and started to provide some grip. From there it was a succession of super-tight 15kph signposted corners that seemed to just keep coming forever. The road eventually opens up a little towards the end and again 180kph came up on the speedo as the finish line appeared at the end of a straight.
We posted the fourth fastest time for this stage and then sixth when we repeated it again in the afternoon as we were held up by a Porsche that we caught and passed mid-stage.

Next up was Paekakariki Hill road. A piece of road that I know well but have never raced over.
I realised at the start that it would be very easy to feel over confidant on this road and that could be dangerous. There's a big difference between driving over that road quickly on a saturday afternoon and driving flat out in competition. There are several straights on that road where 200Kph is possible but there are bumps and changing road surfaces that will bite you hard.
Again I underdrove the car and brought it across the finish line in one piece fifth fastest. Just one second slower than overall Targa winner Tony Quinn in the GTR Nissan. We repeated the stage again in the afternoon and again posted the fifth fastest time.

Next up was Makara a road I do not know at all, having driven it just once or twice in the last 30 years. Again a mix of tight twisty corners, some taken dead slow in second gear, and faster open corners taken at speed in fourth. It finished with a hillclimb towards Karori on off-camber corners that had us pushing wide if I used too much throttle. We posted 9th fastest on this stage.

From there we drove back to Shelly Bay and did the morning stage in the opposite direction.
It was the last stage and we weren't going to try for a good time, we were just 5.44km's from the finish line after 900km's of competition. I drove qucikly but smoothly to the end and posted the 4th fastest time.

Our combined times made us the 7th fastest car on the day, and we knew we could have gone a lot faster, especially if we used all the power available. This was the sort of result we had aimed for when we dreamed of entering Targa and you cannot believe how fulfilling it is to know that although we couldn't do it every day, it was possible to run with the top five at this event.
All credit to those that can do it stage after stage,day after day. I can't !

The icing on the cake came at today's prize giving. Back in the weeks leading up to Targa I was approached by fellow Wellington competitor Richard Skilton and asked if I would like to be the fourth member of "Team Tarmac" that comprised the crews of himself, Gary Morgan and Tony Quinn. Of course I said "yes" as there was no downside, just the opportunity to win a trophy for the team with the best average finishing time. Well with Tony Quinn on the team we couldn't loose! (even though I seemed to be the one trying the hardest to earlier in the week)

So the Targa Life Challenge team came away with a win at the Dunlop Targa 2009 even if it meant we did it by hanging onto the coat tails of our fellow team members. We shall take our trophies with open arms and enjoy the result.

I have not been able to log on to the Targa results website to look at other stage times from earlier in the week, in particular the ones where we weren't crashed out or running on three cylinders or without a working gearbox, but when I do I'll post anything worth bragging about here.

Till then, on behalf of myself and rest of the Targa Life Challenge team I thank you all for the support you have all shown, both individuals and companies, without which this dream could not have come true.
I'd also like to thank our service crew, Murray O'Neil, Mark Kibble and John Raptis. These guys are without a doubt the most professional, hard-working car ferries I've ever seen. No matter how hard I tried there was nothing I could break that they could not fix! To wake each morning to a fully functioning race car that I was sure was beyond repair each day is a fantastic thing. Thanks guys, you are the best!

...Ron

Don't forget to support our cause! To donate to the Cancer Society via our donation page follow this link... http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/TargaLifeChallenge/