Monday = Funday

We did it.

We didn’t crash out or blow up on the first day. We didn’t even find that we’d put the brake pads in backwards or that our ride height was obscenely low either. In fact, we had no major issues.

We made it through DAY ONE (You’re supposed to say that in your best James Earl Jones voice inside your head), it’s fairly momentous. Nick started the day driving due to the vagaries of another coin toss (I just know that someday luck will work itself out), and I was navigating. We had some issues with delays and whatnot in the morning, but Nick put in 4 really solid stints to start off, the only problem being a little balkiness in the “new to us” close ratio gearbox. He was having problems getting into second gear, but it seemed to get better.

The day dawned cold and rainy, and the transit from St. John’s to Argentia was in fact wet and foggy, but by the time we actually lined up for the start, it was dry. The first stage was relatively short and Nick felt it out nicely and got through with seven seconds or so in hand. Not a bad start at all.

The second stage was a short way away in Placentia, and this is where some others began to have issues. We came to a long left hander in the instructions and found an Austin Healey from the Touring class well and truly planted in the ditch. The driver and co-driver are reported to be okay, but it looked like a rough one. As it would turn out, a CRX from the Targa class piled into the same wreck later in the stage. Scratch two competitors. The Healey incident and the melee surrounding it caused us to slow down and take our first points of the rally, but that’s disputable. More on that later.

Then, breakfast. One of the unique/neat things about this event is that we stop during the day at local gathering places such as churches, parks, and meeting halls for meals and “meet and greets” where we basically bask in the local hospitality. To say that the people of Newfoundland welcome this event and its competitors with open arms would be an understatement on the order of saying Hitler was sort of a bad dude. It’s very special and a real treat to meet the locals and hear their take on the event, the cars, and Newfoundland itself. Thanks.

The third stage was a medium length transit away, and it was actually shortened due to road conditions, so we only ran about half of it. It was also marked Condition Two (more James Earl please) meaning that the road might be damp or wet and there might be light fog and rain. The upshot of this is that our base time is higher, so there’s an allowance for the conditions. We lucked out in that there didn’t actually seem to be any moisture on the road, so Nick was able to drive a controlled pace and clean the stage nicely.

The fourth stage was also shortened, this time due to a funeral procession or ceremony in the first half of the stage, so we only ran the last 10.4km of the original 29km. Yep, it’s a long one. This time it actually was wet so Nick got to try out the handling of our new Toyo Proxes R888 tires in the rain. The initial reports are good, not to mention that our car is quite the talk of the town. It seems that many of the other competitors had tried to get a set of these and were unable, so we have the only set at Targa Newfoundland 2007. Everyone else seems to be running the venerable RA-1, a tire I truly appreciate, but it is getting a little Methuselah-ish. Anyway, Nick handled the rain easily and we cruised in well ahead of the base time.

Then, an event near and dear to every racer’s heart. Lunch!
The good people of Gooseberry Cove welcomed us into their hillside town and fed us soup and sandwiches and lots of smiles. Very nice, and we had a long time there to relax as well. Until the score sheets came out. Then, it was time to scramble and jockey for position to see the positions. At first glance we were sitting 18th of 70 or so competitors, with three points to our name, the first eleven places being competitors with zero points. We were 18th overall and first in our class, twelve seconds clear of the next car. Hey, this was looking pretty good.

After some fist pumping and general self-congratulatory behavior we settled in to wait for the afternoon stages. It was my turn to drive.

The fifth stage had us retracing the route we had just taken, but the stage was run at the full 29km length, also in the wet, so it was pretty exciting. Lots of up and downhill corners with bumps and blind crests, all the while whizzing past houses, mailboxes, and people. It certainly gets your attention. We were starting behind the 702 car, an RX-7 run by Joe and Melissa Butler of St. John’s, and I managed to catch and pass them on the stage since it was so long. But, we were so far ahead of our base time that we had to slow down in order to not be too early. Not a bad problem to have.

Having cleared out the first stage butterflies for me, it was time to do the last stage of our first day. It was a short 4.7km, but it was also wet and quite tight and windy, with some cautions and steep crests thrown in. I had to push a bit after slowing for the caution sections, but in the end I managed to clean the stage as well. It felt good.

So, how was the first day? Long. We spent close to 11 hours in the car with some long stages and transit sections. Did my butt hurt afterward? Yes, yes it did. Sparco makes not the Barcalounger, it’s true. But, did I feel good. Yes, the answer to that is also a big affirmative.

We finished the day and made it back to the Gander Arena for the car show and some minor service. We needed a top up of oil and fuel and had the front suspension bolts checked by our handy crew, but that was it. The car ran perfectly and we didn’t hurt it at all.

And get this. We don’t suck as terribly as you may have heard. We finished the day tied for the overall lead after we got a time correction due to the Healey incident. We zeroed our first ever day of stage rallying and it felt really good. So, along with ten others, we headed into day two with everything to lose. More on that in the next chapter…