Ezzie in Targa Newfoundland

JZ · 09-14-2005, 01:39 PM

As everyone know, longtime GTRCer Bob Esseltine (Ezzie) and his son Chris are participating in the Targa Newfoundland in their SR20DET'd Datsun 510.

To keep abreast of whats happening pls direct yourself to:

http://www.targanewfoundland.com/

BTW his team is call "Trailblazers Rally Team", look for them on the bottom of this page: http://www.targanewfoundland.com/tar....htm#2005TARGA

Go Ezzie Go!!!

**CanadianGTR** · 09-14-2005, 01:46 PM

Sucks that a privateer is up against two factory backed entries.

**spd-dmn** · 09-14-2005, 03:54 PM

Wish him luck!

http://forums.gtrcanada.com/viewtopic.php?t=4030

**TeeDub** · 09-14-2005, 05:28 PM

After Stage 2, 25th overall, 4th in their class. Not bad! :drive:

**spd-dmn** · 09-14-2005, 06:49 PM

4th of .. 4?

*Edit: Oh, I see there are two new competitors that were previously unlisted.

On top of the Charger and 300C SRT8s and the two Minis, there are now a '66 911 and a '99 Mustang GT.

I still don't get what the hell the factory-backed, essentially STOCK, cars are doing in the unlimited class. I think they're hoping for a win so they can brag about it in advertising. Truly a sad affair.

**Ezzie** · 09-20-2005, 10:54 PM

Hey guys, thanks for your support. I just got home at 6:00AM this morning (48 hr. road trip including the ferry crossing).

Unfortunately we DNF'd - put out on the 4th Leg with a shattered U-joint in the prop shaft. We were running in 4th (out of 7 in the class) and closing in on the 3rd place car at the time - the Chrysler 300M SRT8.

I never did quite understand why the Chryslers and the Mustangs were in this class - but not a real concern since Unlimited is supposed to be the fastest class - and the 510 was capable of competing with the best there. I was knocked down by about 30 seconds from where I should have been on the Gander subdivision stage (last stage of Leg 1) by a driver error (both mine and another competitor). I caught the Porsche 944 in the stage and went to pass him on the inside of a 90 left after tailing him for a couple of turns. He clipped my rear right quarter (didn't see me overtaking) and knocked me off the line, had to slot the turn.

The Mini Cooper S (Jim Kenzie driving) and I were close on the subdivision and tight village stages, the big cars were better suited to the fast open roads. The weight of a car does wonders to your confidence when over 200 kph - at points on some of the high speed stuff, the 510 was getting a bit light - remember these are public roads, not like a race track. Also having driven the roads before helped. An example was the Leading Tickles stage - a road for those with large gonads. I was caught by Rob Pacione (Al Palladini 4.6l supercharged Mustang) at about 6km. into the stage but once he was past, I was able to hang with him - reading his setup for the turns. At times we were running up to about 220 kph over blind crests - quite an amazing bit of driving.

This event is tough, gruelling and hard on cars - a lot of off road excursions and rollovers. My favorite bits were the subdivision stages (Gander, Clarenville, Grand Falls-Windsor). Where else in North America can you race at speeds of 100-120 kph through a subdivision and have the residents spectating and cheering you on?

The GT-R would probably be better suited to the more open stages, maybe I should enter it in next year's event. They aparently do quite well in the Targa Tasmania. If I do, it will definitely need beefier driveshafts IMHO to handle the driveline shock. The U-joint we broke was actually the same size as the GT-R's prop. shaft. There is a lot of driveline shock since due to the roughness of the roads, there are times you get air when under full boost. What did us in was a tight uphill climb in 2nd gear under full boost. The car was bouncing and we hit a patch of loose gravel. With the rear wheels breaking loose then hooking up on asphalt, it produces worse shock than a drag strip launch.

**spd-dmn** · 09-20-2005, 11:43 PM

Welcome back!

Sorry to hear about the DNF - although I am sure the overall Targa experience was more than worth the drive. I'll bet there are tons of great stories to be told.

I hope we get to see you, your son and (of course) the datto on the television feature!