TARGA 2022 / Mazda RX-8 SP - Our Personal Story

[@adamclark-lynch6068]

I competed this year, feeling nostalgic and a bit emotional watching this. Man I hope we can do it again.

[@timeddington1546]

WOW great video guys! I've been in the Co drivers seat for 30 years and been lucky enough to have done many gravel rallys and many Targas with many talented drivers. I think you absolutely captured the energy, excitement, and comradary of the situation, with great humour. Know how much goes into videoing the goings on, whilst still doing a very stressful and important job, so big thumbs up to you and the crew for sharing your personal story...... Always thought what a great thing it would be ,if every entrant in a rally, were able to share their respective experience like that. Same Rally but so many different stories to be told! - Loved it!

[@inCARnationAustralia]

Thanks Tim. You can tell I enjoy the story-telling process as much as I do the job itself. I do appreciate your comments. Cheers Stu.

[@jakethesnake1503]

I saw Targa and subscribed

[@offtopic6610]

Thoroughly enjoyed this, well put together Stu. I once owned an RX7 built for targa wondered about its former life. Now as an RX8 owner, I got to see how fun the event really is, despite the tragic circumstances surrounding this one. Thanks again.

[@inCARnationAustralia]

Thanks Joel

[@markedwards4879]

Great video Stu. Brilliant footage and really shows what it’s like to be there. Hopefully we will see you in another Targa.

[@freakyfriday9370]

great video bro thanks for sharing, you guys really make good content

[@warrenstroud3772]

This car still around?

[@Gavin-oq5tt]

Thank you for sharing - you really provided a sense of what it was like to be there (albeit without the fear that comes from being in the passenger seat). It is such a shame it ended in tragic circumstances - let’s hope a solution is found that keeps the event alive for next year.

[@The888Redlich]

Thank you Stu, typically excellent work, I hope Targa Tas continues for many years to come

[@inCARnationAustralia]

I hope so too

[@anthonygenovese7578]

Would love to do a targa rally in an rx8. As a former owner (and someone who will surely own one again) and someone who lives near the hills along toodyay rd in wa, i know how these cars are king around bends, and hug the road so amazingly. Fantastic car i love them to bits

[@samjones778]

Great Targa video for 2022, best on KZbin so far excellent guys. The Mazda sounded awsome in Georgetown where I was watching from ,

[@inCARnationAustralia]

Thanks Sam. It was thrilling in the passenger seat.

[@samjones778]

@@inCARnationAustralia I could only Imagine,is this one of the original sp's campaigned in Targa by Mazda all them years back ?

[@inCARnationAustralia]

@@samjones778 No it's not. It's a replica car built by Ric Shaw and Andrew. I believe they know the whereabouts of the original (and $$$ collectible) cars. Just 2 of them, I believe?

[@followtheciaence]

It would be amazing if you posted a pure onboard-- no overlays or pace notes, just exhaust note. Just like Climb Dance or that iconic film of the Ferrari running around Paris, its just another great way to experience the driving. Great to hear your story though, you are living a dream.

[@inCARnationAustralia]

You know Stephen, I think that'd be a great idea. After 30 years it looks like Targa might never be the same again, so why don't I do exactly that. How about I do two stages - the short Georgetown Street stage where Andrew went 'full send' and ended up 16th outright and first in class (out of 150+ vehicles, and faster as I remember than every Porsche except the GT2RS). And/Or I could do the iconic Mt Roland stage from day two, a 26.5km epic. We had just fixed the ABS problem and Andrew was regaining confidence in the car with every kilometre. How about I put pace notes on the LEFT channel audio and pure car audio on the RIGHT. That way people can pan L or R as they please. There will be two camera views - forward and cabin, so I'll do it as Picture-in-picture. I'll make that a project for tomorrow. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@followtheciaence]

@@inCARnationAustralia That would be amazing. I'm just a rally fan from the US but Ive been really impressed by Targa events for several reasons: Totally new (to me) racing format, combined with some amazing classes of cars, amateur ambition and finally the unparalleled NZ/AUS scenery/roads. I found your channel while specifically going down the rabbit hole of RX8 rally cars, I am really tempted to set one up for the dirt.

[@inCARnationAustralia]

You asked and here it is. Hot off the presses. 26km in 14 minutes on the iconic Mount Roland stage. If you don't want to listen to my voice, it's only on the RIGHT channel. Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/mIXPoqmtlLasm6s

[@followtheciaence]

@@inCARnationAustralia That was epic, thank you!

[@bonesykid]

Great Video, top driving, love the sideways action here and there!

[@inCARnationAustralia]

Thanks a lot!

[@leksasdf]

Amazing video. Never heard of this event, and always horrible to hear about what happened, condolences to his wife. Amazing choice of car you've got there btw.

[@inCARnationAustralia]

What surprises me is that there aren't hordes of international drivers coming down each year to do it. Where else in the world can you drive, at reasonable cost, over 2000 kilometres of roads (600 of which completely closed) at warp speed, in magnificent scenery, legally, with the full support of police, etc. It's an amazing event.

[@ClintonLovell]

Excellent video thank you. I was gripping the arms of my chair watching those parts where you had lousy brakes. Great driving and an excellent insight into what goes on in car at an event like this. Keeping your voice calm with everything going on is a skill. Sad to hear of the tragedy but I hope the event continues.

[@inCARnationAustralia]

Thanks Clinton. Once the brakes were sorted, the more we carried on the more I was relaxing into the task. And the easier it became. I didn't like it when the intercom went off and it took me a few seconds to figure out what had happened.

[@123-t4j]

Nice video mate. Awesome to see this perspective of Targa

[@AJZulu]

For the application the lower revs and boost is warranted. Don't need the Renesis to blow up on the road.

[@RETMTM]

I've been a targa enthusiast for decades. Adelaide Classic was fantastic until it... Enjoyable video. Well edited and narrated. That turbo combination is very modest and proves that you don't need 500hp to do business. The RX-8 chassis (whilst not as pretty as an FD RX-7) has proven itself as an underrated RX-7 killer with a turbo strapped on. Interesting situation with the brakes. I'll bank that info should I ever encounter the symptoms. Thankfully I learnt how to drive without abs and tcs. It seems like my childhood dream to drive rotary's my whole life might become difficult in the coming years and decades. Enjoy these quirky motors whilst you can. Should anyone who hasn't owned one and always wanted to. Do it now before RX-8s become even harder to find and prices become ridiculous. My FD has tripled in value over the last decade. A sub $30k RX-8 in unmodified and log booked history is almost impossible to find. Fingers crossed these events can continue despite the known and accepted risks. {∆}

[@inCARnationAustralia]

Thanks for the great feedback. The brake fault turned out to be caused by the steering wheel position sensor, which I understand needs to give sensible values for the ABS to work properly. Luckily Ric Shaw was on hand to diagnose and repair it during the lunch break.

[@JeffMortonRacing]

Great video, lots of time spent to put this together. Well done 👍. I ended up bring my wife down and finished the event with her and I sharing the driving / navigating.

[@inCARnationAustralia]

So nice to get some praise from the really fast guys!

[@JeffMortonRacing]

@@inCARnationAustralia heading to Snowy River Sprint at the end of the month - might catch you there!

[@inCARnationAustralia]

@@JeffMortonRacing Jeff, you'll see Andrew and the RX8 there but I have another commitment so he'll have a different nav.

[@wadewootton4428]

Good to see some Australia rx8 footage, is there a break down of the build somewhere? Totally understandable if there’s trade secrets, but just after the build specs any porting, manifold design , etc.

[@inCARnationAustralia]

Not being very Rotary savvy myself, best to ask the man himself, Ric Shaw @ Ric Shaw Racing. (Stu)

[@soarersan1]

Great work guys ! It's also a testament to the brilliant chassis in the RX8. As an owner of the exact same model , I was intrigued to hear how critical the ABS is in rally stages . I know from laps at Lakeside , the feeling of security when the computer with the use of ABS saves the car ( and driver) from an embarrassing off track experience. Do you disable the traction control for the rally stages ?. Also what rear wheel power do you get with the turbo set up ?

[@inCARnationAustralia]

From the passenger seat I would say that AB has traction control disabled. Certainly on the George Town street stage. Flywheel horsepower is about 350 I'm told but not sure what wheel hp that would be. 14psi boost only. And a very modest 7000 rpm redline for longevity. Car has plenty of torque and spins up there very easily.

[@Gooie69]

Great footage, would have been nice to watch you guys finish. Unfortunately I think Targa has been dying a slow death. I grew up in george town and watched it from the very start but it's just been getting progressively worse over the years. And calling it off after two days due to someone losing their life as tragic as it is will put people off from entering. As you know it's not cheap to compete and some people might only get to do it once because of the cost. So i don't think they're going to risk laying out that sort of cash only to end up doing a Sunday drive if something bad happens. After all it is motorsport and people know exactly what they're signing up for and they know what the risk is.

[@inCARnationAustralia]

Yes, understood. We'll all just wait and see what happens now. Thanks for your feedback.

[@trentmarlowe7655]

Excellent vid! 👍👌🍺

[@Towsmalls]

Is the engine a true renesis or is it a 13b rew ? Which gear box does he run ?

[@777MAV]

Great video!! Is it REW swap or turbo Renesis? Watched till the end... It's sad to see the event ending like that.

[@inCARnationAustralia]

I actually don't know anything about the power plant. Probably a question for Ric. Sorry to confess my ignorance (Stu)

[@777MAV]

@@inCARnationAustralia no problem! I saw an engine shot later in the video and pretty sure it's a Renesis. I also watched your video about the car and preparation to the event... Quite interesting as they were not really known for being reliable with turbo.. at the same time horsepower is not very high and you said RPMs were limited.. I use similar platform in time attack and it's limited by engine right now.

[@dehechenka]

RIP megane 23:03

[@babisotonggg]

awesome..

[@BruceWayne-zt7mb]

how much power were u making ?

[@inCARnationAustralia]

About 350hp at just 7000rpm. A long event, so not a lot of boost

[@farqueue]

Having minimal dents or damage to your vehicle after any event is always a podium finish

[@Josh-is8it]

Very sad but truth be told if we let death depict every single decision we make we will all end up inside under the blankets :(

[@markstclair6426]

I just stumbled upon this 7 months later and looked forward to it but soon realised that all you are entertaining is yourself and maybe the characters featured in the video. It isn’t ‘hey hey it’s Saturday’ drop the silly toy and the self indulgent good old boy (and gal) cheerios and it would have not been such a waste of 13 minutes. (that’s all I could handle). Stick to what you do best, informative car videos.