Targa Newfoundland

09/02/2026

A year ago at Targa 2025…

The Rally Brothers raced the Rock in their classic Volvo Amazon and left with an armload of hardware.

🏆 Targa 2 2nd place
🏆 Grace Cup award for Rookies of the Year
🏆 Winners of Targa 2 Classic
🏆 Spirit of the Targa Crew Award

They posted some great photos on their site. https://www.drivinglacarrera.com/targa-newfoundland-2025-gallery

09/01/2026

Black Flag Sarcoma Racing will soon be on their way to Targa with two cars. The roads of the Rock beckon.

https://targanfld.com/team-black-flag-sarcoma/

09/01/2026

Meet the Targa team - Scott Thistle, Incident Response Manager.

Scott describes himself as a guy who likes to stay busy. He is a proud father and grandfather, a retired RCMP Officer, a long-standing St. John Ambulance volunteer, a part-time longarm quilter, amateur rock star in a band, an artist, photographer, gamer, mixologist, and geocacher. In Targa, he's the calm and steady presence leading our Incident Response Team. This team deals with any competitor vehicle excursions off the stage course.

Born in Winnipeg but growing up in Ottawa, he joined the RCMP in 1986 and, over his 35 years of service, spent 3 years stationed in Ottawa followed by 32 years in several places throughout Newfoundland & Labrador. He was awarded Commander in the Order of St. John, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal, the RCMP Long Service Medal, and the St. John Ambulance Service Medal.

Since retiring from the RCMP in 2021, Scott worked for three years decommissioning expired RCMP vehicles, working alongside Targa Competition Director Joe Dowden who outfits the new RCMP vehicles. It’s during this time that Scott heard more about Targa and decided to volunteer. He has been with Targa for three years now. He has always dreamed of owning a Corvette but hasn’t accomplished his dream (yet!). For now, he enjoys seeing them in car shows or watching them being raced in Targa.

When he's not volunteering with Targa, you'll find him spending time with his family, working with St. John Ambulance at a wide variety of public events, or performing keyboards with his rock band “YYT”, among many other activities.

Photo: Scott behind the wheel with Bill O'Leary and Vince Chaulk at the door.

Targa Newfoundland, Sept. 10-18, 2026

www.targanfld.com

09/01/2026

Great to have this team back this year! The action starts soon.

Picked these up tonight! Can’t wait to pass out a few at the upcoming Targa Newfoundland car shows! Won’t be long now….

08/31/2026

Team profile: Zero Delta Racing

Zero Delta Racing will bring a special sports car to Targa Newfoundland all the way from Texas this fall – a Porsche 911 Dakar.

The Porsche 911 Dakar “Roughroads” is a limited-edition, off-road-ready sports car featuring a 473-horsepower twin-turbo flat-six engine, raised suspension, and a classic rally livery. Only 2,500 units were built worldwide as a modern tribute to the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally winner.

Zero Delta Racing TX is a real-world and sim-racing motorsports team founded by Texas-based architects and drivers Eric Smith and Ian Powell. The team competes in prominent open-road and endurance events using Porsche machinery.

This is how they describe their approach to racing and rallying:

“Speed. Precision. No margin for error — and we wouldn’t have it any other way. From the garage to the grid, we’re built on one obsession: closing the gap to zero.”

Newfoundland roads may be rough in some places but not off-road rough so this special car will have no trouble racing the Rock. We can’t wait to see it at speed this fall.

https://targanfld.com/team-zero-delta-racing/

Targa Newfoundland returns Sept. 10-18, 2026.

www.targanfld.com

08/30/2026

Meet the Targa team - Mark Williams, Steward.

Targa Newfoundland’s steward wrote the book on rally co-driving.

After competing in several historic stage rallies across Europe, the UK, and Scandinavia, Mark Williams was drawn to the inaugural Targa Newfoundland in 2002—one of the few North American events with a historic class that welcomed his 1964 Ford Falcon Sprint. Despite an embarrassing rollover during a pre-event demonstration run around Confederation Hill in St. John’s, he went on to finish second overall.

“I fell in love with the unparalleled hospitality and warmth of Newfoundlanders,” he says, “and the stunning scenery sealed it—I knew I had to come back.”

Over the years, Mark has been an integral part of the Targa Newfoundland organizing team, serving in roles including Advisor, Competition Director, Route Book author, Scoring official, Course Car driver, and most recently, Steward.

His rallying expertise is grounded in more than four decades of stage rally competition across six countries and three manufacturer teams—Subaru, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai.

Much of the wisdom gained from that experience is shared in his book, A Guide to Rally Co-driving in North America.

Mark remains deeply involved in the organizational side of rallying, serving as an international Steward for the FIA, American Rally Association, NASA RallySport, and the Comisión Nacional de Rallies México.

Targa Newfoundland, Sept. 10-18, 2026

www.targanfld.com

08/29/2026

Meet the Targa team - Veer Patel, Event Scheduler and Scorer.

Veer Patel prefers the thrill of two wheels to four but he's taken quickly to Targa Newfoundland and tarmac rallying. This is his second year with Targa after signing up as a volunteer last year. He currently works for the family business in Kenya dealing with fast moving consumer goods. This fall he'll put his organizational and logistical expertise to work as Event Scheduler and Scorer.

Born and raised in Kenya, Veer grew up watching safari rallies and other rally raids in his home country.

"I have always been passionate about motorsports. Having joined the family business at a very young age I had to find ways to cope with the mental pressure. The way I found was dirt bikes, riding long stretches of single tracks at obnoxious speeds in the savannah was my way of letting loose."

Eventually, he brought friends along for the adventure. "I started inviting close buddies of mine who also appreciated the need for speed and I would organise small tour rallies. We would explore the never-ending beautiful landscapes and end the days with a nice camping spot and tasty dinners for the night then get back in the morning to rinse repeat."

What machines do you own?
"I have owned and ridden fast road bikes but the adrenaline that riding at 130 kph on a dirt road where at the next corner a sheep or goat is crossing the road or the last rains made deep ruts is yet to be matched."

2008 Toyota RAV4 V6
2006 Yamaha WR450 - weapon of choice
1999 KTM LC4 640 Dakar - the tractor
2008 Kawasaki KLR - the pig
2004 Suzuki SV1000 - the reason I stopped riding road bikes
2010 GT650
2003 Honda CRF 250x
2001 Yamaha DT 175- the bush whacker
1987 Yamaha Banshee - insanity

How would you describe your Targa experience?
"Targa Hangover is a thing. Going home after having such an amazing experience at Targa everything else feels mundane."

Targa Newfoundland returns Sept. 10-18, 2026
www.targanfld.com

Want to volunteer? Apply here:

https://targanfld.com/apply-to-volunteer/

08/28/2026

Targa Newfoundland memories - 2014.

Photos: Ralph Saulnier
https://targanfld.com/galleries/

08/27/2026

Meet the Targa team - Darryl Kendell, Operations Manager.

Darryl got involved with Targa in 2025 when he responded to a Facebook ad about two weeks before the event. It didn't take long for him to get fully immersed. "This year, I'm back as Operations Manager with my fingers in just about every aspect to pull this event off.”

Born in Gander and raised in Springdale, Darryl was a pharmacist for nearly 40 years. He owned a pharmacy that specialized in treating addictions. He is now retired and enjoys going to his cabin, riding ATVs and Seadooing. He's still involved with addiction therapy part-time.

Though he's fairly new to Targa, Darryl is no stranger to fast cars. "I have had some great cars over the years, a 2002 911 C4S, 2006 Viper SRT-10, 2010 Camaro SS, 2010 Challenger SRT-8, 2019 Corvette Z06 and a 2012 Miata. I currently drive a Porsche Cayenne e-Hybrid, a 2004 BMW Z4 and a Tesla Model S Performance."

Targa Newfoundland returns Sept. 10-18, 2026.

We need a few more volunteers for Targa including the Gander stage. Reach out if you’d like to be part of this legendary event. https://targanfld.com/apply-to-volunteer/