Well, it’s a perfect event for Newfoundland. For purists like me, its big selling point is that we take the secondary and tertiary roads in their natural state. We have looked at a number of events that are in the Southern United States that border on Mexico and Texas in particular. They end the run much faster and they don’t have the view. The Tasmania event runs out of the countryside and into the highlands of Tasmania, which in a lot of ways is similar to Targa Newfoundland. New Zealand, which created theirs in 1995, I believe, theirs runs on both the North and South Islands and is smaller, much like ours, and very local. Most racers must go for the week-long, full experience so I imagine they come to Newfoundland on the ferry with a lot of gear in tow, Robert. Yes, people come in with big car trailers that are privately owned. Some people have spare engines and even spare cars. Unfortunately, these competitors get a commercial rate and this is the first year that we really noticed that people are getting fed up. And it does hurt us; there is no question about that. If some racers aren’t making Targa Newfoundland an annual event for themselves, that must trickle- down and affect the 105 communities throughout the province that look forward to the yearly revenue boost, right? You got that. And there’s something that you have to consider: Years and years of difficult times in business has developed into an attitude of “What are you going to do for me?” not “What can I do for you?”, and that’s a real shame. Last year, for example, we got a lot more pressure to do a smaller event for local communities and the local people. That event is held on the Burin Peninsula and we call it the Bambina. A friend of mine down that way passed away just last year so the event is named after him: The Tom Hollett Memorial Bambina. It’s a tough little bugger. Targa is an endurance race, there’s no question about that, but the Bambina is a hard, fast, sudden race. There are less stages per day – and it’s three days – and it’s over before you start. The Bambina is about 90 percent local entry, but the word is starting to spread about this event, too. We’re seeing more and more people come from all over Atlantic Canada and Quebec – in fact, teams from Quebec have won the event for the last few years. That annual event was held this year over the Canada Day long weekend and it brought a lot of business to the Burin Peninsula. We’re trying an experiment this year that resulted from the Bambina, which is a very short condensed event. Sponsors love when we’re in the more populated areas, but we’re usually off in rural areas where the roads are better. This The communities that we have to deal with are fabulous.
speeds as the day goes on.
Over the years, we’ve also had a whole bunch of people who started showing up in super cars, so we created the Fast Tour Division. These drivers just get to run and it’s getting more and more popular each year. We define the speed parameters, but these competitors get to drive their cars the way they were meant to be driven. There’s also another branch of the Fast Tour: the Quick Tour Division. This is great for people who want to know what it’s like to race in Targa without staying for the full seven days. Quick Tour drivers can participate for one to three days. “What made me lose interest was how puerile racing was getting. You know: the perfect tracks and the perfect glasses. Good racing is the old Trans Am days.” The full-Targa Division means your car is completely prepared with safety equipment like roll cages and includes a Classic, Modern, and Open class. If you’re going the Quick Tour way, you won’t be experienc- ing all five legs of Targa Newfoundland. The stages take drivers through the Avalon Peninsula, the North Burin Pen- insula, and South and North Bonavista Peninsula. Well it sounds like a dream come true for anyone with gas in their veins. It is. We have really three groups of people: There are those who want to have fun in their dream car and the Fast Tour Division is pretty much for the Ferrari, Maserati, and Lam- borghini owners. The Grand Tour Division is for people who really understand and enjoy math and accuracy – and there are a lot of racers out there like that. The Targa Division is one for your pure-blooded racers. You have everything from sophisticated cars in that group to backyard specials. Everyone says, you know, boy oh boy, you’ve got to have enough money to run Targa.
Every group of people who come to Targa Newfoundland is a tremendous group.
We have teams who come here and they arrive with seven cars to race against one another as a group.
They compete viciously and have the time of their lives.
I’ve had guys call me up from a taxi cab in New York City and say, ‘Get me in; sign me up.’ It’s interesting, Robert, that the three international- ly-recognized Targa events all take place on islands: Newfoundland, New Zealand, and Tasmania.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • AUGUST 2017
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