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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Gilbert, AZ, United States, 2012/09/14 - Great scenery, reverse runs, and large elevation changes mark this fifth day of the Targa - VividRacing.com.
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Vivid Racing’s Dan Mermelstein and navigator, Matt Lambert, ran their Porsche 997 Turbo S on the fifth day, fourth leg of the Targa Newfoundland Rally. With most of the stages running along quaint little fishing villages against the bay, there were many high speed sections with routes heavily focused on precision driving. Leaving Clarenville, they headed on their Transit Stage of 140 km to Boat Harbour. This stage was a journey of 24 km with super fast elevation changes, banked turns, a wooden bridge crossing, and even some gravel. Speeds of 200 kph became easily obtainable, but their class max speed allowed was only 130 kph, requiring restraint from exceeding it. This stage was run a second time in reverse.
It did claim another Subaru though. This time a full rally prepped WRX wagon went into the guardrail and folded the driver side wheels. Its crew hobbled it into the finish where their service crew met them and went to work to make it road worthy.
Next was a short run in the 2 km stage at Mooring Cove. Since this stage was so short, the team quickly completed it and headed to the next major city stage of the rally. Marystown South was a 6 km run through the city, which had extremely hard 90 degree and 180 degree turns. It featured large elevation changes and is the famous spot where the Ferrari Enzo went into the water during the 2011 rally. Because of its recognition from last year, this stage had tons of spectators lining the bridges and streets to watch the 50 cars tear through the town.
After Marystown, they headed to Garnish which was 14 km of the roughest stage so far. What started off on a flat and quick section soon dove into a small village with brutal rippled roads, potholes, and hairpin turns through one-lane streets in between houses. Coming out of this short technical area, they encountered another super fast section with some crests and easy turns.
After a lunch stop in the Burin Bay with homemade food and desserts, they headed back to run the Garnish stage in reverse, which was equally challenging. Once completed, they then transited back to Marystown to run that stage in reverse as well. Crossing the line at 4:40, the Porsche averaged 70 kph. As the first car to finish, they parked and watched for other teams to arrive. They checked with the next Ford Escort rally car on their speed. It had been driven with an average speed of 89 kph. Light, nimble, and Group N Spec, this showed that horsepower can only take you so far.
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bjmerm[.]vividracing.com 
