996tnz

Sic transit gloria targa. How much is the fine Doug and how many of them are you allowed to rack up? Targa is an expensive hobby but at least it used to let your car stretch it's legs, even on the Tour. OK, 80-90 percent of the course should be in fun tight twisties anyway but when even short straights are speed limited in the style of a pit lane, personally it would break the flow for me. Unless maybe driving a blower Bentley or something that would keep my hands full at much lower speeds. I'm with Macca on the idea of an older car but then maintenance costs go up too, unless we see a full field of 90's Integras come out to play.

If they really want to slow people down, wish they'd put artificial chicanes in instead but I suppose that could also just be seen as dangerous.

In fairness to the organisers, they are probably walking a razor's edge with ever more stringent safety legislation though. NZ seems to be fast losing it's place as a country for real adventures...

Macca

Walt. Its "progress" - a sign of the times. IMO this Targa Tour was the last bastion of accessible "grit" for the middle class petrol head. NZ is one of the most PC countries on the planet so it was always an enigma to be enjoyed whilst it lasted. I dont think its over yet but the glory days are. Shorter tighter stages are still a real blast. The 45km stage into Whangamonoma and the 50km stage back out are highlights of the NI Targa and truely exceptional roads - like the beginning of the Scenic Drive from Titirangi but carrying on for much longer. On roads like that you are lucky if you can break 150km anywhere without a death wish. Choice of roads will become more critical to the enjoyment of the Tour onwards i should think. Gentle Annies 1+2 is a great stage from HB but is a classic example of a SI stage where the road flows to fast to really be challenged below 150kmph. I did it most recently with RON/Patsy and crew in March on the way to the SI and found myself foxing (dropping back a few Km and then catching up) just to get a nice bit of 8/10ths in during the windy stuff. We were the back car anyhow. That was in a 993 laden with 2 weeks provisions and a wife!

So, I guess with 70 participants and no protection gear it was inevitable it was going to be increasingly regulated.

Im thinking there should be a Tour+. Bolt in half caged cars, can run R comps (IMO the Tour cars should not be allowed to run sticky tyres - it simply isnt needed, durability and thus safety is an issue especially in the wet and quite honestly the mess it makes of the car behind isnt very fair). The Tour+ would allow harness and helmet would be mandatory for passenger and driver. Tow hooks would be fitted. MSNZ basic license needed. Perhaps we could dump the half cage rule (too similar to the main event rules) and just make it helmet and cotton overalls mandatory. Speed cap 180 with a 5% overage allowed. Just a thought. You could charge a little more as it would be a smaller group (I still think you would get 15-20 participants per event).

Ill see how I feel after the May 2015 event. Might be worth dropping Peter Martin an email with a few ideas after that. Ive intended to make the NI TT a permanent event on my annual calender, so hopefully it can still retain the "spice" it had. That being said the RSG boys who did the NI Tour in May didnt seem to have any trouble at all in finding mucho thrillos.

996tnz

Peter's pretty focused and pragmatic so hopefully he can mount a successful rearguard action, perhaps along the lines of the Tour+ you suggest. Time travel might be easier though, back to the glory days. Just think, we could run an RSG entry in the Chariot Cup - brass helmets, horse harnesses, and the only cages would be releasing lions and bears...

O2GO

Better still we need a good hacker to cook the system. Hush lads. We've found a real limit that's higher. The stages today didn't have us battling limits. Today was much more enjoyable and they're already talking of reinstating the previous limit for the NI Targa. You need to remember Targa is new to the SI authorities.

O2GO

Hopefully safe not to offend anyone but my 500hp Aston experience today was average at best. John in his Turbo was the most fun. I got to broaden my experiences today but still haven't driven the GT3 dammit

Macca

Thats good news Doug. Lets hope it continues.

Looks like as of this morning Graeme was 3rd in class and 28 overall. He started very strong Day 1 so heres hoping that hes pacing himself nicely for the distance.

Looks like 117 competition entrants and 80 Tour. Big field this year.

O2GO

Good to hear about Graeme. We are about to head off to the event dinner at the Foresyth Barr Stadium so I'll try to look him up if he is there. As you know we are constantly ahead of the rally boys and girls so see very little of them during the event.

It's going to be bloody cold for dinner,p especially for us soft Aucklanders

O2GO

Graeme didn't have a great day today. On stage 1 his co driver was driving and they spun through a fence just after the start. Not much damage and they completed the day but lost time. Here they are working on the car

Just saw Mark at the door and he had a good day. Full of the usual smiles

O2GO

All the rally cars lined up in parade form

996tnz

Thanks for the update Doug. Hope it didn't cost Graeme and co too much time and that they're winning it back. More traditional rules for NITT again would be great (even if I was one of those previously complaining about the old 200k limit) so happy to hear there is light on the horizon. Good to hear todays sections ran full on anyway.

Nice too that you're getting around a few cars, even if we're a bit of a hard crowd to please when it comes to other metal. What Aston was it? Reputedly the AM V8 is the best handling standard model but all bar the track specials (or at least Nurburgring editions} seem more GT than sports. Great lookers though - the Rapide especially for a four door - but I do wish Ford hadn't gone on to pillage much of the look for Focuses and the like.

Great walk-by of the rally cars. Lots of nice stuff there. The Alpines and Lancia look great but I guess I should really keep it in-house and send some good wishes the way of that black Karewa 996T.

Meanwhile back in the cheap seats here in Auckland, with a bit of a 2Kcup lull coming up over Christmas and New Year (December run aside), I've topped up the need for speed with a sub 1K bucket racer - ie the motorbike equivalent of a 2kCup car:



The Bucket Racing organisers also have a similar one for anyone wanting to try it on a practice day. Any Rennlisters are welcome to come along and show me how it's done. Think I'll weigh more than the bike so could be interesting

John McM

Bucket racing. That takes me back to my days at Ohakea air base in the early '80s. I think they were limited to low cost and cc rating in those days.

996tnz

Still are. Cost not such an issue but F4 class bikes must be commuter rather than race model based and 150cc max, like these FXR150s that do well. Free to throw on bigger carbs (like mine) exhausts etc and ditch weight. Buckets tend to race on go-kart tracks and race circuits more than airfields now. Will likely get fit or hospitalised as the Mt Wellington kart track sees 30 something second laps through the half dozen corners you'll remember from the Rotax kart trials and I'll be spending most of my time off one side or other of the bike. Maybe you could come down and set me a time to chase? Makes a reasonable noise and feels flickable but I don't think I've ridden anything under a 600 since ditching my CT90 some 20 years ago so the thrills will be jostling in the infield rather than pulling big Gs down the main straight.

Came with near new Bridgestone Battlax slicks so it'll be hard to blame the tyres for anything unless it's wet.

John McM

My motorbike days are well and truly over BTW Good progress made on the Grinch tonight. No more overheating now.

996tnz

Good stuff - too much of that and it's bye bye motor. Will leave the night to the lightning now...

RS ZWEI

Does anyone know who crashed yesterday and suffered serious injuries in Targa?