Road Trip: 2008 Targa Newfoundland – Part 2

Story and photos by John LeBlanc St. John's, Newfoundland - A lot of things run though your mind when you realize your Targa Newfoundland racecar is no longer pointing in the desired direction, but rather heading swiftly towards a ditch - sideways - at about 60 km/h. You think ... 1) Oh! So that's why the safety equipment (roll cage, five-point harness, helmet, fire-retardant suit, etc.) is mandatory for a Targa-class car. 2) Taking our Targa-prepped 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart "off road" on the second day of the five-day competition wasn't on our to-do lists during the months of planning, preparation and testing leading up to this year's rally. 3) Oh crap! After finishing the previous day in 15th spot overall, with only a one-second time penalty, meant my co-driver, Mark Hacking, and myself would more than likely not complete this stage, take at least five minutes in penalty time - or worse, not be able to finish the remainder of the rally.

I calmly thought to myself, "Hey, could've been worse." Thanks to the relatively slow nature of the slide, Mark and I were physically fine. All of the safety kit worked as advertised. But our Targa Ralliart? That was a different matter. Looking at the Mitsu's damaged front right side, and the way the wheel was pushed in and angled back, we knew this was a repair that required an emergency CB-radio call to our Mitsubishi Motor Sales of Canada service crew. They were stationed up the road, in the town of Leading Tickles, at the end of the Targa stage. Within 45 minutes - and replacements for a broken tie-rod and a front lower control arm later - our crew had us back on the road and ready to go.

Amazing. "That would've cost you about $4,800 at a dealer," joked Dave Sherrard, a marketing analyst at Mitsubishi Canada by day, but our stalwart lifeline during our long week at this year's Targa. After successfully finishing under our required times in the first two Targa stages of Leg 2, we knew that our "landscaping" incident would change our strategy for the remaining three-and-a-half days of competition.

A crash - even one as small as ours in a sturdy Targa Ralliart - is never a good thing. Beyond our bruised egos, pushing the car hard with so much ground to cover would only exaggerate or encourage any weaknesses brought on by our ditch driving. Our newly revised in-car mantra was now: "Friday or Bust!" Leg 3, on Wednesday, saw us complete six of the eight Targa stages without incident. But during the seventh stage - coming out of Gooseberry Cove - I managed to forget our new mantra. Event organizers string red or yellow police tape across the roads and intersections to indicate where the Targa stages are in towns and neighbourhoods. As we came flying into the town portion of the stage, several competitors' cars in front of us had blown through the turn, tearing away the tape that indicated a left hairpin. I did see someone waving frantically at us, but he looked like he was either trying to land an airplane or show us that his hair was on fire.

Fortunately for us, two other participants who had an incident and were out of their car saw us and waved us into a local resident's laneway. Seconds later, two Targa cars blew by us over a blind crest - in the opposite direction. After the course was clear we managed to get back on course and finish the stage. Revised mantra: "Never drive against traffic in a Targa stage ... until after Friday!" All week long we had been nursing the pre-production #905 Ralliart's dual-clutch sequential gearbox due to overheating problems. Only a couple of kilometres away from the finish line, on the last Targa stage on Friday, outside of St. John's, grey smoke started billowing from inside the car. We looked at each and thought, "That's it! We've cooked the tranny!" With smoke quickly filling up the Mitsu's cabin, I noticed there was no burning smell associated with the smoke. I looked back and saw that our helmet box had slid over against the trigger of the fire extinguisher in the back seat. Duh! With the finish line in sight, I powered down my window and shouted to Mark, "Don't worry! There's no fire! Just keep driving!"

Considering we ran with a brand new '09 Ralliart Targa car, and Mark and I had rallied together in Targa, the fact we finished after our troubles earlier in the week was a huge personal accomplishment for both of us. Brian Ockwell, the co-driver in the #952 Lexus GS 450 hybrid, likened finishing Targa to what former British prime minister Winston Churchill once said, "There's nothing so satisfying in life as to be shot at and missed." In the end, our #905 Lancer Ralliart ended up fourth in class and 37 overall. It was a small climb up from sitting 45 overall after our off-roading incident during Leg Two, and then my sense of direction problems during Leg Three. By the end of a grueling week our Mitsubishi Targa Ralliart was still running like the home of the Targa rally - like a rock. Our preproduction Ralliart might not have the power or sophisticated rear-torque management system of its more expensive $41,000-plus Lancer Evolution big brother, but its unflappable chassis aided by the upgraded Targa suspension was its biggest asset. It easily allowed Mark to carry speed through corners and didn't beat us up on some of the rougher stages. After five days and more than 2,300 km of this year's Targa Newfoundland, it's safe to say Mitsubishi's new 2009 Ralliart is a fantastically well-sorted sports sedan. When production models go on sale this month I expect it to be a worthy competitor to Subaru's WRX.