Monday - Leg 1

Monday morning we had a nice transit up to Holyrood for the first stage.  It was a bit nerve racking as this was our very first stage, Desmond's first time navigating and it was wet.  We took it easy and made our base time without penalty. Sure it's Leg 1, Day 1, and the times are easy, but we still felt good as we must be doing something right.  Second stage was Conception Harbour which was a narrow, smooth twisty course with a couple of rough sections and hairpin turns.  Unfortunately we picked up a 5 second penalty on that stage. 
      The next stage, Marysvale, was an exciting stage. It was still wet out and we were still working on out communication skills.  I was having problems listening to Des as I was concentrating on driving in the rain and Des was working on left and right :)  There was a crest into a hard downhill right which Des forgot to tell me the "downhill" part.  We came around the corner a bit hot and the car was sideways with the ocean on the left side.  Luckily we managed to pull the back end in and continue on our way and "zero" the stage (ie. no time penalty).   The fourth stage of the day was unfortunately cancelled because of issues with the timing equipment. 
By the next stage "Harbour In" the roads were starting to dry up, so the speeds were increasing.  I was becoming more comfortable with the car but we were still getting used to communicating directions.  At one point there was a fast crest into a left turn, which Des called as a right turn!  Fortunately we made it though after the surprise.  The orange Datsun 240Z ahead of us was not as lucky and went off the road into someone's front yard and hit a water tank.  The car behind us, a white Subaru WRX also went off the road into the bushes.  After hearing this, we didn't feel so bad.  I thought we had picked up time on the stage, but we actually zeroed it. 

      At the lunch stop we had an amazing lunch of the local fish and chips.  There is definitely something to be said for making it with fresh Newfoundland cod!  During the lunch break, spectators had the chance to look at the cars, but more importantly, the chance to meet "Trailer Park Boys" actors, J. P. Tremblay and Robb Wells.  Personally, I have actually never seen the show, but apparently all the locals are avid fans.
       The next stage 1-6 is aptly named "Harbour Out" as we run the same road backwards in order to leave Southern Harbour.  The speed increased since we were now a bit familiar with the section and we easily zeroed the stage.
     Stage 1-7 was a short stage called Adeytown.  It's only 4.71km long but the basetime is 2.21min with an average speed of 120kph, which is fast considering that you must get up to speed and also negotiate the turns and crests with broken pavement.  We picked up another 4 seconds in penalties and reached speeds above 160kph.
       The final stage of the day 1-8 Port Blandford was another fast short stage of 4.64 km.   The issue is that there were some sizable crests at the end of the stage.  It's like a roller coaster ride as the car gets light over these crests at speeds of 180kph.  The funny thing is that the marshal at the end of the course told us that she gets "air" over those crests all the time!  We learned early in the week that every cab driver in St. John's is also a Targa racer in the making!
        After the stage we had a long commute up to Gander for our first night.   There was a car show at the local Gander arena and it gave us time to check our car over.  Thankfully everything seemed to be running smoothly.  We finished the first day in 3rd place in our division behind leaders and 3 time Targa winners Roy Hopkins/Adrienne Hughes in their Mopar sponsored 1971 Dart Demon and Jim Kenzie/Brian Bourinierren (2 time winners) in their Mini Canada sponsored JCW Cooper S Club racer.  The Dart zeroed the day (no penalty seconds), while Kenzie had 2 seconds for the day and we had 9 seconds.  Not bad for a couple of Asian drivers with no factory support on their first day ever of Targa Class racing!

After an exciting, but very tiring first day, we were happy to go back to our hotel to rest.  We had to be back in the morning for our 7:00am breathalyzer test and to start out for the Tuesday morning stages.