"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." That's the motto of the United States Postal Service, but might as well be the battle cry at Targa Newfoundland, as our compatriots at Vivid Racing have found out this week. Following the opening stages of the eastern Canadian rally, Vivid was at it again in the 911 Turbo S, even as torrential downpours flooded the island and made for some challenging racing.
The third leg of this year's rally brought Vivid Racing to the city of Gander, and along with it, hurricane-force winds and rain. That didn't stop this year's Targa Newfoundland from proceeding, however, and proceeding at speed.
The Vivid Racing/CarBuzz Porsche Turbo hit 130 km/h through city streets and country roads, cresting hills and speeding down the coastline, desperately trying not to join last year's ZR Autos Ferrari Enzo by skidding off into the drink. In this one day of racing along, Vivid covered over 400 kilometers in six towns. The Gander street course proved exceptionally difficult as it snaked through suburban avenues at speed with standing water leaving the Toyo tires searching for dry traction and the KW suspension soaking up the bumps. In other words, Targa Newfoundland proved to be anything but your average road trip.
Traction control off but stability management on, the Vivid Racing Porsche found themselves exiting corners sideways but still managed to set a 5:15 lap time that went beyond the Fast Tour class in which they're competing to rival the top-tier Targa class.
The next day brought Vivid Racing and their rivals to Main Point, Frederickton, Musgrave, New Wes Valley, Greenspond and Clarenville as the rain subsided and the sun began to shine through blue skies. At New Wes Valley another BMW M3 came out too hot from a left-hander and ended upside down on a grassy hill in between spectators, who were thankfully unhurt in the incident. In Clarenville the team recovered the GoPro camera that had fallen off earlier in the day, which allowed the team to continue filming so they could bring us these two clips: one mixing footage from inside and outside the car, and another 6-minute clip of in-car footage.
That second clip shows just how much fun (and how harrowing) it can be to race at speed through a residential neighborhood in the wet, all the while staying on the good side of the law that sanctions the event. Check out the clips and the photos from the last two days of racing and stay tuned for the conclusion to this epic journey by the Atlantic coast.
