Well by now you will know of our misfortune in the Dunlop Targa 1998 Rally. The Targa Florio
Team's fourth Targa entry looked to be our best ever event. The car was in great shape. The
crew was experienced and ready for a really good performance. But then the one thing that has
never let us down failed. But more on this later
This report really begins on 01 October 1998. That was the day of the official Targa practice. I
flew to Auckland from Los Angeles at 5.00 am and was met by a very sleepy looking Wally
Simpson. The P76 had had a lot of work done since Targa 97 and I was anxious to make sure
everything was working as advertised.
Wally and I turned up at the official practice day at 10.00 am. P 76 club members Gordon
Gruebner(And Son) and Noel White visited later in the day. Thanks for the cash donation Noel.
Much appreciated. The car was performing excellently and I was able to give friends, supporters
and P76 Club members a couple of laps around Pukekohe. Edward also arrived from Hamilton
to lend a hand as did Rick Merrall <Rick's Workshop (09)420-4473> from Kaukapakapa.
Noel white enjoyed the ride and noticed how much lateral body movement there is in the
standard P76 front seats. He compared that to his sons race car with race seats. But the wallet is
only so big. The race seats will have to wait. Gordon's son also seemed to be enjoying the ride
although he didn't have a lot to say.
There were still a few minor irritants-fuse to intercom and trip meter and that @#$%^ starter
solenoid but these were soon fixed. After the practice day I took the car down to Edward in
Hamilton to have the final panel and sponsors art work completed.
Mike at Straight line Panlbeaters <(07)847-????> sealed a lot of the holes in the fire wall and
boot floor where previous modifications and rewiring had left gaps. Mike also re-aligned the
front passenger door and seal so that it fitted at long last. Ed Tubman arranged for the artwork to
be done and completed. The "Feathers"(Featherston Tavern) replaced Mobil as a major sponsor
on the bonnet. Excellent art work. Thanks Feathers.
While that work was being done I flew back to LA and went back to work for a week. I returned to NZ with my wife Glen on 22 Oct(Team PR/Video person). After picking the car up from Edward in Hamilton I had a few days to enjoy driving around the Auckland area- without getting a ticket.
The car was handling beautifully and stopping as well as going. It is easy to spin the LSD rear
wheels with the new cam. fitted. The only thing I didn't get finished was replacing the Cylinder
head temperature gauge line(More about that later). The normal P76 water temp gauge was
working OK
Zero oil pressure on start up was no problem after John Harcourt explained the technique.(Close your eyes, grit your teeth and rev the engine up to 3000 rpm a couple of times). It worked. For good measure we added a tin of Moly-slip to the sump. A modification that I had wanted to do a few years ago but had never got around to was to fit an oil accumulator to keep oil pressure up after heavy braking. Watch this space.
New front disc brakes had been fitted. Rick Merrall had sourced a set of XA Falcon-Bathhurst
discs). These were ventilated, lightened and had water dispersion grooves. Of course they were
also much larger in diameter. The motor had been rebuilt by John Harcourt <Harcourt
Engines(03)349-7263>. An American off road rally grind high lift cam replaced the previous
high lift high race cam. New rings and bearings completed the motor work. John also fitted a
new Holley 465 carb.
Rick had made a metal guard for the modified auto trans(a work of art Rick). Kevin at Auto
Trans Ltd<(09)309-2538> had re built the trans after Targa 97 and had also wired the lock up
torque converter on 3rd and 4th gear. Kevin had also fitted a deeper sump pan(More on this later).
Labour day Monday, 26 October, Wally and I turned up for scrutineering at the Waipuna Pub.
The car passed the check after the now mandatory something to niggle about complaint. This
year the fire extinguisher was a little too loose and the Video camera mount were in for close
scrutiny.. A few strips of tape later all was well with the extinguisher. The camera mount I
explained must be safe as it had survived the 1996 crash!
Tuesday 27 October was wet and windy. A foretaste of the weather to come. The Team met up
at the Domain in Auckland for the prologue. The weather was windy but fine enough. A
reasonable crowd of Aucklanders was on hand to watch the activities. After a suitable bribe to
Adrian we were lead car in the Downtown procession. That way we were guaranteed to get some
favourable TV coverage!
After the parade we waited our turn at the prologue. The prologue was a short blast around the
Domain gardens. More suited to a go kart than a P76. Alex Reid a P76 Club stalwart turned up
and promptly broke into a nervous sweat. He had to leave after our first round as the excitement,
roaring engines and squealing tyres was too much for him. He never saw our second round. The
times around the Domain were purely for entertainment value as we had already been seeded for
the first day.
Wednesday 28 October we were up early and at the Waipuna Lodge for the start of the Targa
proper. Our start position was 21. A bit near the front for my liking but at least we would not
have too much pressure at the beginning(Remember the slowest cars start at the front). There
were nearly 80 cars in the event. The weather was wet and windy. The wet suited me as it levels
the playing field considerably. Especially for those competitors using barely street legal tyres.
This year the event followed the same path as last year at least for the first morning. Remember
last year. We never made the morning stages(Diff. failure on the start line). Wally navigated us
to the start line with only one off! Turned wrong way in East Tamaki. Competitor No 28 Andy
Trapnell from the UK who was following us in Mike Johns Viva naturally made the same
mistake. At the start line we laid to rest the ghost of '97. A short wet blast around the coast from
Mareitai towards Clevedon. No problems and the car was handling well. The only thing worthy
of note was that the car bottomed once or twice. Mental note-stiffen rear springs.
The next special stage was one of the top ten Targa stages. As the Targa pace notes read-10 Km.
Twisty with plenty of cautioned corners finishing along narrow bumpy roads at the waters edge.
Will be very slippery if wet. A small mistake could be costly.
Wally and I were now settling into the familiar Targa routine and enjoying ourselves immensely
Ed and Glen were sorting themselves out as to where to service, best video shoot etc. This year
we had the luxury of two service vehicles. Ed driving his Ford Courier Ute and Glen driving the
Arden XJS. It was about to prove very useful.
Special stage 3 was a fast but bumpy stage along Kaiaua road heading inland. The P76 bottomed
at least a half dozen times and I was becoming concerned that we would need to stiffen the
springs before the rally got much older. Towards the end of this 14.Km stage we hit a patch of
tar seal that hid an area of subsidence. We were doing about 180 Kph. I looked through the rear
vision mirrors as we were coming to the finish line and was shocked to see white smoke pouring
out the back
White smoke-transmission leak! We drove on to the next servicing stop at the Mangitangi
School and got out to inspect the damage. The rear left corner of the auto trans sump had a small
hole and the transmission was streaming out like a bleeding artery. We called Ed and Glen and
they hurried to Mangitangi to help while the transmission bled on.. With the help of another
teams welding torch the hole was sealed.
I took the opportunity to call the Shock Shop and ask for some help with the bottoming problem.
I also called Kevin at Auto Trans to ask how much fluid to put back in. Kevin explained that he
didn't know as they had fitted a special deep dish pizza pan. Glen set off for Auckland in the
Arden to pick up a spare sump pan and seal and some rubber spring spacers from the Shock
Shop.
Filled up with fluid again Wally and I charged off after the field and caught them at Stage four
with only a minimum penalty. Stage 4 was a short 7 Km new stage along Paparata road near
Hotel Du Vin. Everything was fine again apart from the odd bumpy patch.
Stage 5 was a very short stage of 3.5 Km but cost a lot of offs the previous year. By now the rain
was getting quite heavy and the driving conditions were very demanding As all P76 owners
know the car's windscreen wiper/washer system is not the best in the world.
I have modified the wiper arms by adding small down force blades that clear the bonnet lip.
Rick also used silicon rubber low resistance wiper blades and also added an after market washer
pump However the most useful modification was the rain repellant fluid on the windscreen.
Excellent! No need for wipers at all and bugs slide off.
Special Stage 6. 11 Km along Kohekohe road led us to Kariotahi Park for our lunch stop. The
planning for this service and lunch stop was very poor. With the rain wind and traffic it was
chaotic. Ed was nearly run over by another competitor. Probably didn't have his own service
crew and was jealous
After lunch we raced on through stage 7 another Targa top ten stage. Quote-The toughest test in
the event. Narrow, twisty, blind brows, jumps, slippery, with the most downright acute corner.
Treat with trepidation!!! You've been warned. This will not settle your lunch. We finished the
stage comfortably in between the maximum and minimum times.
Stage 8 was another short stage 4 Km along Beaver road west. No problems with the car or crew.
The rain was lighter and the wind had dropped considerably. We met up with Ed and Glen at
Pokeno. It was decided by Ed to use Mike's workshop(out of the rain) in Hamilton to work on
the car at the end of the day. Ed and Glen headed off t Hamilton while Wally and I raced on
through stages 9, 10 and 11.
At Straighline Panel beating we met up with Ed and Mike and set about rotating the wheels,
checking the fluids and brakes. Mike and I fitted the rubber rear spring spacers with nylon ties.
We fitted just two each side to try them out the next day. We had two more if we needed more
stiffening. The it was off to Ed and Annette's for a shower, a change and down to the Quality Inn
for dinner and a few beers.
Thursday 29 Nov. We were up at 6.00 am and off to the start by 0715. Over night our start
position had been changed to 14. We were running sixth in our class and things were looking
promising. On the way to Te Awamutu the car seemed to be handling a bit better and I
approached the start of stage 12 with cautious optimism. I had decided to add the extra two
rubber spacers at the overnight stop in Rotorua.
Stage 12 was 8.5 Km along Puahue road. Fast and smooth-no problems. Stage 13 and the driving
conditions were improving with light drizzle and little wind. The car was handling well and the
motor pulling strongly out of the corners. As the road dried I was able to appreciate the huge
difference the new front discs made to the stopping performance. It felt almost like a new car.
No need for servicing after stage 14 and t was on to one of our my favourite stages. Stage 15 was
the scene of my first off back in 1995. We tooted the horn and waved as we roared past that
infamous spot by the Honokiwi garage. We passed a few earlier casualties but nothing too
serious. Stage 15 was a magic 16 Km blast along Turitea road. As we finished this stage and
headed in to Otorohonga for a short special stage around the town and lunch I knew it was worth
all the effort and money. This was magic.
The publicity stage 16 around Otorhanga was a chance to lay some rubber and give the locals a
and ourselves some legalised hooning. Lunch was very pleasant and the weather was clearing up
nicely It was going to be a very successful rally. We left Otorhanga and headed off for the first
stage after lunch, No. 17.
Stage 17 was another Taraga top ten stage. At 26.5 Km this stage was the longest stage of the
event. We were motoring well into the stage which started with a long uphill climb. Suddenly I
smelled that not unfamiliar smell of radiator coolant fluid. I glanced out the rear vision mirror
and horror of horrors I saw white smoke. The car began pinking and the water temperature
gauge jumped up a bit. However the temp was in the green and the car was going well although
pinking a lot.
We were about 12 Km into the stage and nearing the crest of the uphill section. I realised we had
lost water but was unsure from where and how much. I continued racing on down for another 6
Km until we leveled out at the bottom of the hill. The engine was pinking very badly and I had to
pull over and stop before it seized. Oil pressure was maintained above 25 psi. Wally leapt out
and setup the triangle while I waved the other competitors on.
When I opened the bonnet the engine was virtually sizzling. I dipped the oil and promptly
blistered my thumb. Plenty of oil and no water in it. The radiator was cold with of course no
fluid. Where had the water gone? There was very little sign of coolant under the hood. Wally ran
over to a farmhouse and called Ed and Glen. We were of course out of cell phone range.
It was a long wait for the rest of the field to race on through before Ed and Glen could get to us. I
was devastated. With everything running so well how could we have ended up like this. When
Ed arrived we pored some water in the radiator to see where the leak was. Would you believe it-a frost plug behind the starter motor had fallen out. That's where all the water had gone.
Ed towed the car back to Otorohanga to a repair shop where the heads were removed and the
damage assessed. The motor had severely overheated. The cam bearings and valve guides had
walked and there was the possibility of a cracked block or heads. We were out of the Targa! To
say I was pissed off was an understatement. I was in the depths of a serious depression.
I arranged for the P76 to be transported back to Rick's workshop and we headed off to Rotorua
to rejoin the rally. Glen and I decided to join the supporters tour in the Arden. Ed and Wally
decided to stay the night in Rotorua half the next day and then return to work. That night I was
never going to race the P76 again. It could be used as a boat mooring or an artificial reef for all I
cared!!
Friday 30 November. I woke up in a more positive frame of mind. After viewing Nelson
Marshall's Capri motor(Dropped valve) and seeing the carnage that had occurred to other
competitors I felt a whole lot better about our bad luck. We all watched the publicity stage
around the Rotorua waterfront and then headed off to join the supporters tour.
Glen and I started looking for clues. I read the instructions the wrong way and we promptly
ended up in Murapara instead of Taupo for lunch with Wally and Ed! I know now why I prefer
to drive rather than navigate. A quick phone call to the troops in Taupo and we headed off for
Whakatane and they returned to Hamilton..
That night we joined the supporters for dinner and found out that we were allowed to drive the
special stages after the police car had closed the road. Glen was not impressed with this idea.
The next morning, Saturday 31 Oct, we were supposed to leave the start point with the other
tourists at 7.15 am but Glen insisted it was 7.30 am. I think she did it on purpose so that I would
not catchup with them for the special stage runs. Either way we spent the entire morning trying
to catch them. We finally met up at lunch in Opotkiki.
As we sat down for lunch we were informed of a dastardly fiendish plot to get Sergeant Plod.
We were to go with the others to a spot on a blind corner on special stage 41 at Old Coach Road
No.2. There we were to set up a polystyrene brick wall across a one lane bridge on a blind
corner. The idea was that as Sergeant Plod sped down the road with siren blaring he would round
the corner and be confronted with a brick wall.
After setting up the road block amid great hilarity and a little trepidation(What if he couldn't
stop or tried to avoid it and ended up in the creek) we hid in the grass with our cameras ready.
Sure enough the white and blue Commodore appeared at speed over the brow of a hill siren
blaring. At the last moment Mr Plod spotted the obstruction and was able to comfortably pull up
for a closer inspection. When satisfied it was a fake he drove through and continued about his
business. A big anti-climax for the hidden spectators!
That night we listened to the trials and tribulations of the other tourists and heard about the more
spectacular offs such as Ray Williams in the Lambo. replica. Backwards through the air past the
finish line- very impressive- and rolled too. With a bit of tape they were back in the rally. I
decided over dinner that it was time for a high speed blast in the Arden at the Tauranga freeway
in the morning.
Sunday 01 November. It was fine and cool. We were up at 6.00 am and down by the closed
Freeway at 7.15 am. I was fair to my wife Glen. I said she could either get out now and rejoin me
after the two lap race or strap in and hang on. She opted for the latter. We were about seventh in
the line up order behind two HSV Commodore's, Nelson's 55 Thunderbird and his 1970's
Ferrari(Driven by a friend) and two old Vauxhalls(Cresta & Wyvern).
After a long delay waiting for the road to be closed and the centre spans to be removed we were
off. I blew the two old Vauxhalls off in the first short straight. Down the main straight for the
first time I passed the Ferrari at the Chicane under heavy baking(I didn't think we were going to
make it without taking out the cones but we did). Then it was dust off time for the first
Commodore and off after Nelson in the Thunderbird. I caught and passed Nelson down the long
straight the second time around and had only the one HSV Commodore left to catch.
Unfortunately he had too much of a lead and I was unable to catch him.
As we finished that stage and were stopped at the lights with the brakes smoking I became aware that Glen had not said a word from start to finish. No she was not dead or passed out but jammed
cat like in the passenger seat with a big grin on her face. We had topped about 220 kph before
the chicane with a fully loaded car. Not bad for the old Arden XJS!! We headed off to get
breakfast and find the tourers.
After driving most of the route on Sunday morning we met Ed and Annette at Cambridge for
lunch. We watched the special stage around the shopping area before heading off back to
Auckland for the finish. I was at Waipuna for the medal ceremony all be it as a photographer
rather than a competitor. That night we attended the prize giving festivities and were awarded a
plate for finishing the stages we did finish below the maximum times.
That was Targa 1998.
The car is in the process of being repaired and modified further before competing in the
Tasmanian Targa in April 1999. It may possibly have a shake down weekend in the Targa
Bambina in March. Wally will have to drive as I will be unable to attend(Not enough leave). We
will be back for Dunlop Targa 1999 in Auckland Thanks to all those Club members who once
again showed support for us in our bid to keep the P76 competing.
We have started a supporters movement. For $25 you get a free supporters Sweat or T shirt, key ring and calendar. You will also receive progress reports on the car and team and a copy of the Supporter's 10 Commandments. If you or any one you know would like to support the Targa Florio team directly please contact:-
Wally Simpson at(09)309-9621 Wk or (09)575-9841 Hm.
Edward Tubman at (07)847-3433 Wk or (07)847-9116 Hm.
Geoff. Ogilvie at Email:geoffreyogilvie@netscape.net
PS We will soon have a website. I will advise the URL when available.