FFROG wins Targa Newfoundland

 

Alan Townsley and his Factory Five Challenge Car dominate GT Unequipped class
 

The Targa Newfoundland is one of the few major rallies held in North America, and the only one run over a six day period, covering nearly 1500 miles!  Add in some of the rough and rugged roads in the most remote sections of Newfoundland and you have an automotive adventure unmatched this side of the Dakar rally.

 

Not content to just enter this automotive marathon, Alan Townsley and his navigator, David Fuhrmann, built their car with the sole purpose of taking the checkered flag.
 

 
Based on their results, we think that they did a fantastic job.
 

Although the Targa Newfoundland has always been a way for owners of historic and classic sports-cars to drive their cars the way they were designed to be driven, the field is swinging more and more to professional racing teams driving modern machines. 

 

In the last few years, some major automotive manufacturers have jumped on board and teams from Porsche, Subaru, Mini and others are battling it out with everyday enthusiasts on the roads of Canada’s eastern-most province.

 

Alan Townsley first joined the world of Factory Five with the purchase of a Mk2 Roadster (FFR 3865) back in 2002.  The natural choice, then, for the Targa entry was the racing version of the car her so loved to drive.

 

A Challenge Car (FFR 1005292) was delivered in March 2006, and the race was on to get the car on the road and set up for speed.  Knowing the class of the competition was a powerful motivator for Alan to build it right.
 

In preparation for the big event, Alan enlisted the assistance of David Fuhrmann, a close friend and passionate racing enthusiast, to navigate the challenging course with him. 

 

Fellow FFROG Steve Friebel (FFR 3870) also signed up to be the one-man pit crew, and the team was formed.

 
Obviously, these guys are the over-achiever types, so simply threading the 1500 mile course of tight roads, hidden turns and roads not designed for speed wasn’t enough for them.  They opted for the GT Unequipped class, meaning they could use no GPS technology, only simple four position calculators for speed, time and distance computation.  Driving the 400+ miles of closed public roads at high speeds is treacherous enough, but adding the challenge of deciphering a map on the fly makes it nearly impossible to avoid the many obstacles along the way.
 

Unbelievably, they received very few timing penalties.  Their only significant fine came when their communications headsets picked up interference from someone else's radio and they lost the ability to communicate. Within 30 seconds they had gone off the course into the red tape as Alan had no idea of what was around each bend. They got going again, but hit an ITC (Interim Time Control) soon after and were 30 seconds late.

 

They did manage to shave this penalty down to 11 seconds by the end of that stage, but incurred more points against them for driving too fast. 

In catching up, Alan saw 162 kph on the speedometer - well in excess of the mandated maximum 130 kph for GT classes.  Thankfully, there were no radar stations at that part of the stage
 

The casualty rate of this event is always steady, with many cars ending their chances in totaled wrecks – the 2006 running was no exception. 

 

Some of the carnage highlights included: a Porsche 944 ending up in the water up to its roof, an Acura Integra that rolled over right in the middle of a town section after taking some air and landing off kilter, and a Porsche Cayman which ended its run by 'parking' in someone's garage in a sub-division.

 

That isn’t to say, however, that there weren’t repairs to attend to.

On the first day they lost power steering at the end of the last stage due to a bolt shearing off. Luckily, they were able to finish that stage and managed a temporary repair that got them back to the Master Time Control In, which marks the end of that days rallying.

That night they changed the rear springs back to 400's, repaired the alternator tensioning bolt that had failed and fabricated a steel skid plate to protect a vulnerable rear brake line.  (As it turned out, although they bottomed the chassis in other places over the week, this area was unmarred.)
 
The night before the event they had drilled extra drain holes in the seats and floor, in anticipation of inclement weather.  The spray on the inside of the windshield, however, was a real bear.  Alan had a chamois that remained on the transmission tunnel and every 20 seconds or so he had to wipe off the glass in order to see the road.
 

Beyond just inclement, however, in the heart of the race, Hurricane Florence wreaked havoc on the province – so much rain came down, that some of the course roads had to be closed due to flooding.  At one point, they even had to cross over a causeway where the sea waves were breaking right over the car (a chance to really enjoy the smell and taste of the fresh salt water).

Even on this harrowing day, the only broken component was their umbrella!
 

Not only did they win their class, they beat the second place finisher by a margin of several minutes!

 

At the end of the event, their Factory Five was featured, along with the other four class winners, at a black tie gala event to celebrate the completion of the 5th running of this classic race.

 

Steve had to fly out on Friday but as Alan and David received their trophy, they were greeted by a standing ovation from all of their competitors.  The event is a grueling test of endurance, reliability and stamina which takes its toll on even the heartiest of vehicles.  Rarely does someone have the courage to take on this challenge in an open-top car.  Alan and David were the only ones to do so this year.

 

 

Alan added some additional details for everyone.

 

On the Factory Five Challenge Car:
The interest in the car was just incredible. Many of the competitors were stunned when I told them I had built it in about 17 weeks for less than $27,000.

 

On Targa Newfoundland:
At the beginning of the week the navigator is provided with daily 'route books'. Inside there are “Tulip” diagrams with written instructions describing the route.

At each time control throughout the week we MUST arrive there within a given time window.  For example, our MTC (Master Time Control) 'out' in the morning was around 7 am. You set off 30 seconds apart in an assigned order. There is usually a transition stage to the first true speed test. These were from a few km's all the way to a 90 km run before breakfast. You are given a time in which you must complete the transit. Then, you MUST arrive at the next time control at your calculated due time, which is your 'out' time plus the transit time. You must arrive there within 5 minutes. A flat tire or mechanical failure will see you sucking up penalties.

For the special stages themselves you are given an average speed to run and the length of the overall stage. Each instruction within the stages has a distance in km's of how far into the stage it is. Often there is just one average speed but sometimes they have you run at say 69.6 kph for the first 11.45 km's, then change average speed to 91.7 kph for the next 23.71 km's and finally change average speed to 67.2 kph for the final 4.23 km.
 

The journey back home:
Although they survived the race, the drive back home was not as successful.  David, the race navigator, was not experienced in towing, and jack-knifed on I-95 in Maine, collecting some guard rail rash on both the car and the trailer.  The trailer also blew out two tires in the process.