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Did anyone see the Targa NZ on the telly yesterday? I came across it by accident while flicking channels during the cricket lunch break and was quite happy I did.
Great flat-out action and a couple of big crashes. One was an Escort coming up to a notorious LH corner way too hot and ploughing off the road. The comment from the driver was "I thought ok, I'm going through the fence and into the paddock, but then I saw the large ditch..." The ditch was large enough to swallow the Escort whole!
Another drivers-are-optomists one was the guy who had rolled his BMW(?) 3 or 4 times ending up on its nose leaning against a bank on the side of the road (that's earth-type bank not money-type btw!) Anyway the driver said “well, the engine is not damaged so we’ll get it back and have a look at it and hopefully we can fix it overnight and be back in the race tomorrow” The voice-over said it all “Um, do you want to have a look over your shoulder (at the car)?” Certainly didn’t look as if it was any chance!
They have a few different regs in NZ, take for example the Mk 1 Escort with turbo Nissan engine, Toyota 5 speed and Falcon diff – 420lb/ft @ 4000rpm in less than a tonne. The driver’s comment was “people don’t give an old Escort a second look until they see the times”
Great flat-out action and a couple of big crashes. One was an Escort coming up to a notorious LH corner way too hot and ploughing off the road. The comment from the driver was "I thought ok, I'm going through the fence and into the paddock, but then I saw the large ditch..." The ditch was large enough to swallow the Escort whole!
Another drivers-are-optomists one was the guy who had rolled his BMW(?) 3 or 4 times ending up on its nose leaning against a bank on the side of the road (that's earth-type bank not money-type btw!) Anyway the driver said “well, the engine is not damaged so we’ll get it back and have a look at it and hopefully we can fix it overnight and be back in the race tomorrow” The voice-over said it all “Um, do you want to have a look over your shoulder (at the car)?” Certainly didn’t look as if it was any chance!
They have a few different regs in NZ, take for example the Mk 1 Escort with turbo Nissan engine, Toyota 5 speed and Falcon diff – 420lb/ft @ 4000rpm in less than a tonne. The driver’s comment was “people don’t give an old Escort a second look until they see the times”