Start your engines race fans! Targa Newfoundland is back on the road this September. From September 12-19, one of only three internationally recognized Targa motorsports events in the world and the only tarmac rally in North America will hit the province, visiting two dozen communities from St. John’s to Leading Tickles.
With competitors past and present ranging from 15 different countries as far as Turkey, Japan and Australia, racers will cover over 2000 km, including 500 km on closed courses on public roads, navigating spectacular terrain, breathtaking scenery, and immersing drivers and crew in the uniqueness that is outport Newfoundland and Labrador.
“I believe we are now the last major support of outport life in Newfoundland,” shares Robert Giannaou, Targa Newfoundland co-founder and inductee into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Class of 2022 as a competitor, builder and significant contributor. “We’re there for these communities and we work with these communities.”
Kickstarting in 2002, Targa NL has attracted hundreds of professional racers from across the globe, serving as an economic boom for local tourism, bringing in an estimated $100 million of economic activity into the island portion of the province (according to a formula from the MUN School of Business and ACOA).
Robert, who has been involved in motorsports within the province and beyond for over six decades, emphasizes the importance of retaining the heart and tradition of Targa NL while embracing the duel philosophy of creating a symbiotic family-like atmosphere between the competitors and the communities that become their canvas.
“We are alive and well. We’re doing well. We understood that it was going to be two tough years to get back on the road (following the COVID-19 pandemic). And what we have done as a result of what happened last year and before, is we were taking up to 80 and 90 entries. Now we’re limiting it to 40 to 50, because when you go about that, you lose the gathering, so to speak, that the bonding of the competitors and the bonding with the Newfoundlanders,” he explains.
“We are continuing to, for example, expand the number of times for the lunch stops and service stops, which we used to, in the past, run right through. Now we give them a chance to experience the communities, and that’s what I love about the event.”
High octane thrills under the backdrop of picturesque Newfoundland and Labrador have made Taraga NL a can’t-miss event for twenty years and counting.
For all things Targa NL visit targanfld.com.
