I told myself it wouldn’t be November before I did my Targa update this year, so here it is.

Targa 2009 is on the books and it was a good one. The car numbers were down a bit but the entertainment level was as high as ever. The weather could have been better but the competition was tight and everyone had a good time. Daphne and Brian rolled their Mini into a 3rd place finish in Touring/Equipped, 4th place overall which is an exceptional result considering they’ve never rallied together, they were using a brand new (and complicated) rally computer and their competition zeroed the entire event! Other local teams also did very well with the Halifax Autosport team actually beating the Factory Mini entry!

I was back doing the shooting again this year. I felt a bit more comfortable in the role and was generally happier with my results, particularly at the Awards Gala. I’m not quite ready to take up photography full time but I’m starting to feel like I have some idea of what I’m doing.

Daily galleries of the 2009 event can be found here.

Steve Millen piloted his fire-breathing Nissan GT-R around with very little drama. It was a pleasure to see him do his stuff.

As usual the Newfoundland scenery is stunning in all weather

Frank Sprongl putting on a show at Brigus. The wet weather meant most teams were fairly reserved over the classic jump.

End of week festivities

51 weeks to go until Targa 2010. Wonder which side of the lens I’ll be on…

Great weather, tight competition and top notch organization. ASCC hosted the 2009 Canadian National SoloSprint Championship at Atlantic Motorsport Park on the weekend. Unfortunately I didn’t have much opportunity to be involved in this one since things have been so bust, but I was very impressed to see the show that our club put on. Big name sponsors, great prizes and a well organized event shows what we can do when we all row in the same direction. Hopefully we can apply that momentum to more events in the future!

Photo gallery here.

Testing a new watermark too…

Off to Targa in 3 days… phew!

9 days until the 2009 Targa Newfoundland tarmac rally. We’re headed back for the 6th consecutive year so this is really the usual fall milestone for us. Its a hectic week but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. The social aspect, the scenery, the people of Newfoundland… oh yeah, and the cars!

I did a little Hero Card shoot the other night for the Barbarian Mutter Werks team, of which my wife is now a member. She’ll be taking up the right seat for the event having an entirely new Targa Experience! It’ll definitely be different shooting her from the sidelines.