Targa New Zealand 2010: Day 6 – Racing Day 5

Oct 29, 2010

Racing Day 5 Wrap Up!

I am in my hotel room writing this before Steve and Phillip get into the wharf for the final destination. They have both done an amazing job and the entire team is very proud of the effort and hard work put in by all! Steve pulled out some pretty miraculous skills this week and showed that he hasn’t lost his edge. Steve competes in very few of these rallies and really doesn’t get much time to get back into the racing lifestyle anymore, so it took a day or two for him to feel fully comfortable with the car, but I’ll tell you once he was in the zone he was a machine! The in-car video footage and the photos tell the story better than I ever could!

The car has performed flawlessly all week and Mark and Joe have done a great job maintaining the car and making sure Steve and Phillip have exactly what they needed all week. Jodi and Vivian (Phillip’s wife) have been great team moms and looked after the service crew and the drivers better than anyone could have asked for. We are all very happy to come home with the drivers and car all together in one piece and with a very strong finish! I am pretty sure this is Steve’s best finish in a Targa Rally and the competition is fierce! Tony Quinn is a great driver and has a lot of Targa experience with his GT-R having competed in three New Zealand Targa’s as well as others in Australia. Glenn Inkster is a very talented driver and will surely make a name for himself in the Rally scene. Watching him flick his Evo through turns is a thing of beauty!

Finally, what is with this weather? It was sunny and dry pretty much all week. It’s been chilly but I have never even heard of a Targa rally being pretty much dry for the entire week! Heck, last year it was hailing and snowing in Wellington!!! In 2008 they had to cancel a stage because the waves from the ocean were coming up over the stage road!

Well, I’m off to meet Steve and Phillip and join the festivities! Thanks for following along this week! We’ll definitely have a ton of photos and in-car video footage and a final recap!

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