"la Bambina" Comes To Kelowna!

[bilgladstone 13]

Pacific Northwesters should find this of interest, particularly those curious about Knox Mountain., www.knoxmtnhillclimb.ca. You'd have three days of motorsport competition if you string together Knox Mountain and Targa Bambina.

As a one day Targa Bambina format in 2010, new competitors and volunteers would be able to experience Targa from a low threshold of time and expense required.

[smartzuuk 167]

Kinda cool.... uh, could I spectate or volunteer?

[bilgladstone 13]

Sure! I can hook you up with one of the organizers, who ran the smart car entry in Targa Newfoundland last year! He'd be happy to have volunteers or maybe even crew help.If you anyone else is seriously interested, let me know.

[MikeT 744]

I could be interested too. I am on their mailing list but any info would be useful. And how about a low-carb(on) Canada 1 entry for 2011?

[bilgladstone 13]

Mike, the contact is the Targa dude I think you have already been in touch with. See if you can find his email - I looked and seem to have lost it!I definitely think we need to have an entry in 2011 if there is a Bambina like this year. But a full-on Targa entry costs like $6,000!!B

[MikeT 744]

We could try fundraising! Keith's new car is just itching to be thrashed! Or mine.

[bilgladstone 13]

It'll be worth spectating at least this year. Maybe meeting the smart car crew. We might learn a little about soliciting sponsors...

[smartzuuk 167]

What about the bay grey coupe with crossblade spkielines?

[MikeT 744]

Yeah, what about it? :mr evil:

[bilgladstone 13]

Targa Canada West - Arrive & Drive

February 2010 Newsletter

TCW has received many inquiries, questions, and entries since opening Bambina registration in January. We've put drivers-in-need in touch with navigators-of-interest, and owners of NSU TTs in touch with one another. Call or email us your inquiries!

Targa events draw interest across multiple motorsport segments including classic and modern owners, tuners, race shops, performance driving schools, drift teams, solo competitors, rally teams, open road racers, and circuit racers. So we're stoked to alert you to Bambina "arrive-and-drive" availability from a diverse group of top motorsport names in the Northwest. For those not familiar with arrive-and-drive, we should explain.

If you already have your own competition car, arrive-and-drive is a service where many of the other details of entry and competition are sub-contracted to a third party. Those details might include moving your competition vehicle to-and-from the event, and providing both a service crew and a spares packages during the competition.

An even more inclusive form of arrive-and-drive has the third party also providing the competition car itself: a turn-key race car and on-site event support. Each of the existing Targas has such purveyors of inclusive arrive-and-drive packages, some as in-house event offerings, and some as arms length offerings.

TCW senior management have competed in Targas around the globe through arrive-and-drive providers. There is much to recommend this approach, including priceless new friendships (Cheers Scott, Bruce, Steve, Adam & Chris)! We would particularly recommend those situations where multiple near-identical cars are on offer, as this helps assure you of close competition and camaraderie.

The arrive-and-drive providers that we have been talking to regarding Targa Bambina, presented in alphabetical order:

* Adare Motorsports of Spokane, Washington. A range of BMW competition cars, instruction, and all-marque support. Contact Scott Adare: scott@adaremotorsports.com or www.adaremotorsports.com.

* Bullet Racing of Vancouver, BC. A potential range of Porsche competition cars, instruction and Porsche support. Contact Steve Paquette: steve@bulletracing.ca, 604-374-6364 or www.bulletracing.ca.

* Proformance Racing School of Seattle, Washington. Chevy Cobalt competition cars, support, driver education and driver licensing. Contact Don Kitch Jr.: DonKitchJr@CS.com , 253-630-5130 or www.proformanceracingschool.com.

* Rocket Rally Racing of Squamish, BC. A potential range of Subaru competition cars and Subaru support. Contact Pat Richard: sales@rocketrally.com, 604-630-9696 or www.rocketrally.com.

If you know someone else that should be in the list above, please have them contact us.

Still need a little push to enter TCW? Check out TSN March 6th 1230-1330 Eastern Time for the 2009 Targa Newfoundland production.

http://www.targacanadawest.com/index.php?o...=1&Itemid=6

Edited February 25, 2010 by bilgladstone

[bilgladstone 13]

If there is genuine and serious interest in a smart car entry in Targa 2011, I will be excited to get together for a brainstorming/planning session because I want to do something like this while I still can.There are a couple of companies I deal with in Kelowna that could probably be talked into sponsorships.A successful 2010 Kelowna "Bambina" would certainly prime the pump.Bil

[bilgladstone 13]

Hi Bill,

Class 1 and 2 are designed for individuals such as you, and even cars like the Smart. We are keen to showcase that cars with a light carbon footprint can be fun, and part of the event. [emphasis is mine]

The way our Classes are structured the "green" cars are not off on their own, but part of the mainstream. I would recommend Class 1, then the only major investments you and your co-driver would need would be the motorsport grade helmets.......and some of the "arrive and drive" folks in our most recent newsletter may even be willing to rent you the helmets if you wish.

Kelly Silverthorn / CEO & Founder

Targa Canada West

Full payment on or before March 15, 2010 the discounted entry fee is $575 USD or CDN.

Full payment from March 16 to on or before May 15th, 2010 is $675 USD or CDN.

TCW Licences (valid for three years) will be issued at a cost of $80 which includes free enrolment to TCW Targa School 2010.

This is not a solo event. Driver + co-driver or navigator.

Class one:

Min. instantaneous speed= 60kmh. Average target speed= 90kmh Max instantaneous speed: 120kmh

... Anyone?

B

Hmm... maybe I'll get a 3-year TCW license anyway... just in case

Edited February 26, 2010 by bilgladstone

[MikeT 744]

Keith, do you want to enter the coupé?

[bilgladstone 13]

TCW license:

They are $80 plus GST each. Good for three years.......you may have to complete the 3-4 hour Targa School on May 23, 2010. Roughly 90 minutes classroom, and the rest practical. You get taught all of the signage, procedures, especially the safety procedures. You'll get some practice transits, and potentially a mock competition run up Knox Mountain in front of cheering fans.

B

[bilgladstone 13]

Road rally event planned for Okanaganby Wayne Moore - Story: 52962Feb 26, 2010 / 5:00 amIf organizers of Targa Canada West get their way, a road rally event will hit the Okanagan this spring. The motor sport event would be held on Victoria Day, Monday, May 24 and would require temporary closure of several paved roads throughout Summerland/Faulder, West Kelowna/Crystal Mountain and Joe Rich/Big White. Organizers will hold a series of public information sessions next week in Summerland (March 2, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Oddfellows Hall), Glenrosa (March 3, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Helen Gorman Elementary School) and Joe Rich (March 4, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Joe Rich Community Hall) to explain what the event is all about and answer questions residents may have. "We want to emphasize to people that the event is safe and the closures will be as short as possible. In some cases, it will be only several hours," says Duane Bentley, Marketing and Sponsorship Director with Targa Canada West. "For longer closures, there will be access. If it is closed for say six hours, there will be at least one opening for local traffic. It is really for safety tied into Ministry of Transportation requirements and our insurance." Bentley says, like similar events in Newfoundland, New Zealand and Tasmania, it is hoped the event can grow to have a large economic benefit to the region. He says the Newfoundland event, which began in 2002, attracts 70 to 80 cars and has generated about $43 million to the economy from 2002 to 2008 along with television exposure to about 220 million people. "They have great support in their communities. It brings attention to their area and tourists to it and economic activity. Competitors are coming to places they have never been before and in some cases, have never heard of." Bentley says the proposed event is not a race in the classic sense. "We don't use the term race -- it's not wheel to wheel racing. This is a competitive motor sport event, open to all sorts of sporting cars," adds Bentley. "It takes place on the twistiest paved public roads in the Okanagan. It is built after the classic European rally." Bentley says competitors leave every 30 seconds. It's not about getting to the end of the course the quickest but rather, the emphasis is on precision driving. He says he is hoping to be able to attract 50 to 60 teams for a race in May and, if all goes well, expand to a five day event which would be held throughout the entire Okanagan in 2011. "We are hoping to have about 100 teams for a week long race in 2011."

SOURCE

[bilgladstone 13]

Interview video from castanet.net

http://www.castanet.net/content/2010/02/823.flv

[smartzuuk 167]

I'm going to look at this a bit further... the coupe would have been ideal, but alas, it is all but sold... or do you mean the 451... hmm... it has nice wider tires already, but no suspension changes....

Edited March 6, 2010 by smartzuuk

[MikeT 744]

A Canada 1 on crossblades would do the trick!

[bilgladstone 13]

10 weeks out and counting... West kelowna: the first community to say NO to Targa. The single biggest objection? By a 138 name petition: "... local residents, the ones that get totally inconvenienced by being out of their homes for several hours and not being able to get back in... " Totally. [emphasis is mine]

SOURCE

This is typical of the Kelowna region. Everything is OK... unless it inconveniences Maw and Paw even a tiny little bit. Will other districts also soon ban the Road Rally? Should the whole thing move south to Penticton and Osoyoos, where they understand World-class events and actually welcome tourism and International aclaim?

B

[MikeT 744]

It'll probably have to go to Mexico in the end, shame.

[bilgladstone 13]

To involve a few smart cars in this event would be a "green" coup! Though there is currently no rally class for fuel efficient vehicles, it only makes sense that this is the way forward for car enthusiast series.B

[bilgladstone 13]

I have been having more and more... I'll call them fade-outs... in the last couple of months. Have to admit to myself that I just wouldn't have the stamina to maintain proper safe concentration for a 4-5 hour long rally.My car would for sure be up to the challenge but not the ol' bod. Damn

[MikeT 744]

I would have been keen to enter except I blew all our money on a new car, a trip back east and a new roof for the house (being installed today - 1/2 finished - and Saturday). Would I use the white car? Probably not, but the green one, sure. Better still, Keith's coupé!Bil, what is the latest info on the approvals these guys need to hold the event? Any more wet blankets?

[bilgladstone 13]

Bil, what is the latest info on the approvals these guys need to hold the event? Any more wet blankets?

No further news on rejections. The Province has approved the rally on public roadways but I guess any Municipality or Regional District can disapprove.So far, so good on other routes. Bil

[bilgladstone 13]

Targa Canada West - Early Birds Nested

March 2010 Newsletter

The early bird entry deadline of March 15th for the Targa Bambina 2010 has come and gone. The result is hovering at twenty entries to date for this May 23-24 event. The first to arrive was a Porsche 997 GT3 RS in Class 6 from the East Coast, and the second a West Coast Toyota Yaris for Class 3.

It would be hard to imagine two more iconic Targa entries from California than Steve Millen's orange Nissan R35 GT-R (see December's Road & Track cover) and Bill Arnold's silver BMW Bavaria (past multi-Champion at Targa Newfoundland). Both have confirmed Targa Bambina entries and should represent front-runners for the Modern and Classic Champions respectively. Their presence should also assure international media attention!

Moderns and Classics (pre-1985) are a dead heat in the entries to date. The oldest cars entered are both 1964 vintage -- Porsche 356 and Mercury Comet. The newest are a slew of 2009's including Nissan GT-Rs, Porsches, and Audi. The German brands are well represented -- four brands so far, and could reach as high as six if NSU and Mercedes teams in the wind commit.

If we grouped Driving Team members' ages by the same criteria, we have many more Classics than Moderns. Among the early entrants were several women Driving Team members, so fear not ladies reading this, you will not be alone. In fact, there were women Driving Team members as overall champions in the last five of six Targa Newfoundland, New Zealand, Tasmania events combined.

Several willing Navigators have called us to offer their services to teams in need. We look set to have a provider of helmets and driving suits willing to rent those out. So if any of those issues are the reason for your delay in entry give us a call.

Whatever the reason for your delay, don't procrastinate too long, as Targa will never be more accessible than 2010. The Bambina entry field is capped at 60 cars but near-800 have signed up for this newsletter. As well, the first inquiries from the near 100,000 readers of the Just for Canadian Doctors magazine article arrived yesterday.

Our team of eager Targa Canada West organizers continues to fine-tune arrangements with Knox Mountain Hillclimb, refine Targa School, host our volunteers and competitors, and even explore a TV production deal (no promises, but we want that coverage as much as you do).

Stay in Touch!