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It was confirmed today that Colin McRae and three others, including his 5-year old son Johnny, were killed when his helicopter crashed near his home in Scotland. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends, and those new friends he had made here in North American during his time at X Games. He embodied all that makes rally special and is a rally legend for the ages.
Two people are believed to have died in a helicopter crash near the Lanarkshire home of former World Rally Champion Colin McRae.
Continue reading "Colin McRae Feared Dead in Helicopter Crash" »
In their fifth attempt at the Targa Newfoundland, Roy Hopkins and Adrienne Hughes have taken their sponge-painted 1969 BMW 2002 to the Overall and Classic win. In a demonstration of historic horsepower, all the top finishers were in the Classic division, including second-placed Michael MacKenzie and Kirk Alexander in a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro, and Jud Buchanan and Jim Adams in their 1967 Acadian Sport Canso. The top Modern division finisher, in seventh place, was Jeff McKague and Mike Gayowski in their Mazda RX-8. The Unlimited title was taken by the Subaru Canada entry of John and Clarke Paynter. We'll have more stories and photos this weekend.
UPDATE: After the post-event technical inspection, Car 415 (MacKenzie and Alexander) have been reclassified to 'Unlimited Class', moving Buchanan/Adams to second and Bolger/Milnes to third. See results here.
It was an early start for teams this morning, as the two-hour transit to Burin Peninsula meant that cars were on the road at sunrise. The first stages would take the teams to Harbour Mille, a stunning little fishing village perched on the rocks. As whitecaps whipped at the sea walls, cars roared down the coast in the bright morning sun. The real heart of Targa Newfoundland has begun, as the race order starts to show itself, and teams start feeling the pressure to perform.
Now midway through the week, the teams seem to be getting comfortable and settling into the rhythm of the Newfoundland roads. One of the final cars in the field reported seeing no warning triangles today - a good sign after the brutal attrition of the opening two days.
Here are the Targa and Touring results after Leg 2.
Leg 2 of the 2007 Targa Newfoundland is in the books, and it was another eventful day for the competitors. Today's stages included the flat out Leading Tickles turnaround stage. Several motors seemed to suffer under the extended wide open running, with the very trick '59 Mini of Richard Paterson and the Subaru WRX of Peter Rotelle sidelined with motor failure. Very few teams are running penalty free in these tricky conditions, and the results are ever-changing after each leg. We're off to the historic town of Greenspon tomorrow, along with seven other stages around the Kittiwake Coast.
Monday dawned to a cold, misty morning and the stages were a mix of wet and dry conditions. The first two stages - Argentia and Placentia - were mainly dry but still claimed the first victims of the week. The lovely Austin Healey 100 of Ivan and Ian Shelton went off the road, damaging the car considerably, and moments later the right-hand-drive Civic CRX of Martin Racine joined them off the road.
The 2007 edition of Targa Newfoundland kicked off today with two prologue stages near St. John's. Competitors first tested their cars and teamwork through the Flatrock stage, and started to open things up on Torbay South. Many teams were still ironing out last-minute wrinkles, while others were taking it easy knowing that the real race begins on Monday. Here are some photos from today's action...
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS:
Andrew Harvey
Warwick Patterson
VIDEO PRODUCER:
Warwick Patterson
RALLY RADIO:
Erik Ockwell
