[Lawrence Partington]

Two days - two rallies. On Saturday, John Buffum could take great pride in Antoine's victory at Defi in the Hyundai Tiburon built and serviced by Libra Racing. He had to miss the post-rally celebrations in Duhamel in order to fly to St. John's for Targa Newfoundland. According to his very excited co-driver, JB posted the fastest time in Sunday's Prologue stages which will set the running order for the week-long tarmac rally. It's nice to see Subaru Rally Team Canada back in action, if only for this one event.

 

[John Cassidy]

Spank it JB!

Cheers! John

 

[Jason_Grahn]

John is currently 36th overall according to the current info?

http://www.rallyscoring.com/results/2005/Targa/Targa2005DetailUS0.htm

 

[Lancia037Rally]

>John is currently 36th overall according to the current info?

He is driving the TV car with TV cameraman codriver and some fixed TV cameras and is stopping on the stage and waiting for following cars and then lets them pass him, passes them back, side by side if there is room so that the TV production company gets great action photage. Should be interesting to watch the TV show.
He is not interested in the score.

 

[JTree]

uh, great shots perhaps, but not really safe if he's deliberatly passing people for t.v. but I guess if someones going to do it, might as well be someone with his skill. still seems like prescripted drama. yech.

 

[rightseat]

>
>seems like prescripted drama. yech.


Welcome to the real world of TV production. JB and his producers need to get what they need to get, and that isn't necessarily "how it really happened." What really counts is how the shots come out in the finished product.

Dave G
Co-Pilote and TV Producer In A Former Life
www.lastditchracing.net


"...Embrace loose gravel, beware big trees..."

 

[John Cassidy]

I remember seeing a Legend of Motorsports segment on Speed that was an Irish Tarmac rally. A champion driver did a very similar thing by staying on the tail of a competitor. It was awesome to see and hear the commentary.

Targa involves passing at times at very high rates of speed. It's part of the reason it's one of the most awesome events in North America!

I have onboard video of a Mustang from Australia passing me at 150mph. I was going about 115mph and felt like I was standing still! ;-)

Cheers! John

 

[Lancia037Rally]

The plan was that before the rally started, teams would declare if they minded have the TV car film them or if they'd oppose to it. Am not there so don't know the percentage of teams that were willing to participate. On one hand, if you were seriously competing, you may not want the possibility of being interfered with. On the other hand, if you agreed to be filmed, you could get coverage for sponsors and a cool film momento to show your friends and potential sponsors.

 

[craig]

>I remember seeing a Legend of Motorsports segment on Speed
>that was an Irish Tarmac rally. A champion driver did a very
>similar thing by staying on the tail of a competitor. It was
>awesome to see and hear the commentary.

>Cheers! John

Paddy Hopkirk. Great episode.

 

[cam1]

Hi this is my first post but I have been an avid reader. I was the guy in the right seat with JB. For those of you worried about the safety regarding what we did , well you don't have too. Before every stage I would pick the subject car and JB would discuss in detail what the plan would be whith the driver and co-driver . As an example we would take the time before the subject car , go a few corners ahead and wait for them ,then we would lead them through a few corners , move over at a pre determined spot in the route book , let them pass us and then follow them . It would be made very clear that we would NOT pass them again . The last thing we wanted was to be a factor in the results. If a team did not want us around well we didn't do any shooting of their car and we would go on to another competitor. I hope you enjoy the show when it airs.
Claude Gariepy
Co-driver(for a week) / cameraman
CAR 926 TARGA 2005

That's right ,it was that much fun.

 

[Easy Rider]

Please make sure you come back here and let us Canuck's know when it will air!

 

[Lawrence Partington]

They don't come any more Canadian than Les Frères Gariépy. André and Claude have been shooting CARS (and now Rally America) since '93. I'd like to congratulate my old friend Claude on keeping his cookies down for an entire week. Don't think I could have managed that! The show will debut on the Global network on January 28 at 7PM. NTV wll air the show in Newfoundland at the same time. Speed will run it in the spring of 2006. I've seen some of the footage from the Buffum/Gariepy team and it's awesome. Who needs a helicopter when you can go that fast on the ground? Big thanks to Subaru Canada, Cathy, Stewart and the whole CanJam crew for making this opportunity available to TV2GO.

 

[John Cassidy]

Way to go Claude! I can't wait to see the show! I bet it was a ride of a lifetime. ;-)

Cheers! John

 

[cam1]

It was so good I almost had to have security follow me to my room cause to many people wanted my seat.I know I never have and most probably will never have a week like this again. I feel sorry for the people who wagered that I wouldn't make the week, suckers, did you really think I would miss out on this!!!!. One of the best if not the best car in North America, same with the team and what can I say about JB( my hero before Targa), only one of the nicest man I ever met, I won't bother talking about his driving because I'm still trying to figure out how he did some of the stuff he did (WOW), he did not only drive the camera car HE was the camera.My only problem is what's next , maybe do this with Loeb (I don't think so ) but then again a few months ago this experience wasn't even on my fantasy list . I could keep going for a long time but the wife says I got to have dinner NOW. WOMEN !!!.
Claude

That's right I'm still smiling and I wish everybody to be as lucky as me.

 

[Mek41]

Claude was smiling ALL week. No one could wipe the silly grin from his face. We were all jealous, but I we also know he worked really hard to get the perfect shot...every time.

Way to go Claude!

Andrew

 

[Rich W]

More Targa photos posted here :

http://www.speedjunkie.ca/targa2005/Data/thumbs.htm?0,0

 

[John Cassidy]

That car is soooo awesome! I'll take one in blue! ;-)

Cheers! John

 

[Jason_Grahn]

Casey Holzman?

So what the heck happened that tore the rear end off the Porsche?? Based on other pictures in the series, it looks like he was acting as a "chasee" car for Buffam.

http://www.speedjunkie.ca/targa2005//IMG_0984_resize.jpg

 

[Steve McKelvie]

RE: Casey Holzman?

Some of our crew saw the accident. The stage crossed a road at a four-way intersection. Apparently the crossing was not level and Casey had the Porsche humming. Casey caught about 2 feet of air. Perhaps because of the rear engine location, when the car landed the rear suspension was crushed, the car got turned around and ran into a rock wall, arse first.

The stage was eventually cancelled. Our crew contacted us over the radio and had warned me to add a triple caution note to the book for that road crossing. I could tell by the sound of his voice that it was quite an accident. Casey is OK.

Steve McKelvie
Co-Driver TN Car # 903