Final Update!

Or at least until I figure out what I forgot and decide to post again.

It's now Sunday and I've been home for a couple of days letting it all sink in a bit. I'm not sure it will all ever really sink in completely, there was just so much to do, to learn, and to absorb. We did a pretty good job of it, but a lot of it is truly a blur.

What I do know is that we had a blast and we'll be back, weather and wealth willing. If the US Dollar slips against its Canadian counterpart much further we'll all be getting second jobs to pay for this kind of adventure. Why didn't we think to do this a few years ago? Or rather, how come we didn't do this sooner? There's no good answer to that one, but it's fair to say we're hooked.

Now's the time for thanks. We have many people to thank, and I'm sure I'll make a fine muckery of it, but here goes.
First of all (NASCAR hat!), we would want to thank our sponsors, without whose support this trip would have been truly ramen noodle inducing, in that we'd be reduced to subsisting on noodles and broth for some months after the event if we didn't have the great support we did. Autobahn BMW in Fort Worth really helped us with spare parts and sourcing some other things that we ended up needing. As I type this there is a cap and rotor on the front of the motor that came fresh out of an Autobahn box. If you need a BMW or some parts, check 'em out. http://www.shopautobahn.com/
They're truly nice people and they always have an M5 or M6 or some other example of unobtanium that they let me drool on, at least for a while.

Toyo Tires, through our affiliation with the BMW CCA supplied us with a great deal on some of the new Proxes R888 R-compound tire, the much vaunted and long awaited replacement for the venerable RA-1. More on the performance of the tires anon, but the support from Toyo was invaluable and made us the subject of much envy on our voyage. They also make cool street tires for those not racing all the time: http://www.toyo.com/


CAP Software (shameless plug alert!) provided the rally computer and other computer related support and that equipment was instrumental in our ability to contest the stages with as little stress as possible. The Timewise 798A computer is a fine piece of equipment and worked flawlessly all week, giving us precision in our readings that the other teams could only dream of. If you have a retail store, we can help you out: http://www.capretail.com/


BuckDesign, run by our own Bill Buck, provided all the graphic design support and design work for us. It's his fault the car looked so good, and I can truly say we got lots of compliments on the car while we were there. Thanks Bill, we can't wait to start working on graphics for next year. Contact Bill for great design work: buckdesign@mindspring.com


Thanks again to all of our sponsors, but also to all of our supporters. Money makes the event happen, but knowing people are watching and that they care makes it worthwhile. The kind remarks we received from so many people both at the event and away from it really mean a lot and it gives us the energy to look over that next crest. Please know that it was and is very much appreciated and we're lucky people to have so many friends and "fans".

We even managed to make some friends and fans at the event too. Jim Kenzie, the Canadian journalist, took us under his wing a bit and followed our story on his blog. You can see it here:

http://en.autos.sympatico.msn.ca/Targa/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5426621

http://en.autos.sympatico.msn.ca/Targa/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5454003

Again, words of encouragement and advice from someone like Jim were really tremendous and it's great consolation at the end of the day to go back and read such things. It's actually somewhat fitting too, because it's really his fault we were even at this thing in the first place. You see, for those of you that are new to Targa, Jim was the announcer for the TV special for the first few years and Nick and I both so thoroughly enjoyed his presentation and commentary on the event that we put it on our wish list of events to attend. This year that wish came true and we got to meet Jim to boot. Thanks Jim.

Now, back to the Toyos. Nick and I both use the RA-1 on our race cars for our normal track duty. This is a long running design, but it offers a killer combination of affordability, longevity, and predictable behavior over the course of a race. It's a great tire and we were planning on using it for Targa, but then Stan Chen at Toyo offered me the new R888 and I couldn't turn it down. This tire offers a cool modern tread pattern and generous sizing, but the performance was a real treat too. The grip was excellent in the wet and the dry, and we definitely needed good wet performance for Targa. The tire was very predictable and the breakaway characteristics are excellent. I was very happy with the handling, and they're very stable under braking, even on mixed or loose surfaces. I'll definitely be buying more of these.

We were also the only team at Targa running the new tire, and it generated a lot of attention. I'm pretty sure a lot of the teams wanted to attribute our success to the tire, and it certainly helped, but I like to think we had something to do with it as well. I guess it's the old driver ego thing, but nothing helps inflate an ego like a great set of boots, and the new R888 certainly qualifies as that.

So, we're finally home. We took the long boat ride (over 15 hours) from Argentia to North Sydney and hit the road henceforth. You could call the return trip the "Hedonism" portion of the trip because get this, we stopped at a hotel. I know, what wild wimpery. But, it turned out to not be such a bad thing because we had an issue going on in the trailer that needed attention.

See, Newfoundland is a bit like Texas in that it has it's own distinct culture, and as a result, they get their own beer and liquor. There are several brands of beer, some by Molson, that are made and distributed only in Newfoundland. Well, I had to bring some of that home with me, so we filled up the trunk of the race car with six packs of foreign beers. A frothwagon indeed. I also picked up some Screech. Now, Saved by the Bell aside, Screech is a local liquor, akin to dark rum that is made and served in Newfoundland. I came to like it and brought back a fair dram to share.

So, what happened in the trailer? Well, we stashed about a dozen six packs in the trunk of the race car in the enclosed trailer. We figured this would be a secure enough place for it, and we didn't really have anywhere else to put that much beer anyway, so there it went. The problem was Connecticut. If you've never been, take your mouthguard with you if you go. The roads in Connecticut are the worst I've ever seen. I would liken it to driving on the moon after the Navy shelled it for a few fortnights. I'm quite sure that driving across the Australian Outback at 100MPH in the dark would provide a smoother ride than does the interstate in CT. Wow. The result was that many bottles of brew bashed themselves open in the trunk. The trailer smelled good, but we didn't really get the benefit of all that lost lager. What a shame.

Some consolation came from all the excellent Newfie music we picked up on our sightseeing day. Nick and I both had heard of Great Big Sea, a local band that has somewhat made it good, but we picked up some tremendous traditional stuff and some albums by The Punters and The Navigators. Check 'em out, it's kickin'. Not exactly Top 40 material, but neither am I.

As I type this some of the pics and video we have from the trip are being edited for public consumption, so hold on a little while longer please. See, I lied, there will be another post. Greg and Brian took a ton of pictures of the idyllic setting, so we'll get those up here soon.

What else? Can that really be it? I guess so for now. We had a great trip, learned a lot, did many things I never really thought I'd ever do, and we had a lot of fun doing it. I'm afraid we've started a tradition. Hopefully that inheritance I didn't know about will come through.

Thanks for reading, I'll let you know when we're off on the next adventure.

Cheers,