There will be plenty of familiar faces at Targa this fall including several past winners who are returning in September plus more previous competitors who just can’t get enough of this epic rally.
Professional racing legend Randy “The Rocket” Pobst of Georgia has twice claimed the Targa 1 title with different co-drivers and different cars. Pobst won the Targa 1 division title in 2023 with Craig MacMullen and John Hume Sr. in a 2013 MINI John Cooper Works GP. In 2024, he teamed up with Paul Abbott of St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, also a previous winner, in Paul’s 1989 Porsche 911 Targa to win the division again. This fall, he and co-driver Paul return to race in Hume’s MINI GP as the Mini Maxi Rally Team.
Targa 2018 winner Mark Rittenhouse is back as DBM Racing in Targa 2 in hopes of repeating that success in a well prepared Mitsubishi EVO. In addition to running many years at Targa, Mark raced the Chihuahua Express Rally for five years, finishing first in class in 2017, 2018 and 2019. His team also won the Rally Historico Transpeninsular held in Baja Mexico in 2018.
Veteran ralliers Marinus and Renee Damm are coming back to Newfoundland for the first time in years. The husband and wife team from Oregon, racing as Dammralliers, are no strangers to the top step of podiums at various rallies. They claimed the Grand Touring (GT) division title in 2015 and again in 2016.
This year will also see the reunion of the winning duo of John Hume Jr. and Justin Crant as Team Hume Media in Targa 1. They’ve won the Modern Division twice together in 2017 and 2018. John and Justin will run an Audi S4 this fall. John and his father have been Targa regulars for over a decade. Justin, who lives in Paradise, Newfoundland & Labrador, has done 14 Targas, including several with his wife, Erin, and can’t get enough.
The island of Newfoundland will be well represented by two teams of young and talented enthusiasts from the west coast: WSP and Knight Motorsports. Cameron Combdon and Andrew Keeping of WSP tried their hand at Targa Bambina and loved it so much they decided they had to experience the full event. The same goes for Devon Knight and co-driver Logan King-Gaudon. Devon had been dreaming of Targa since he was a kid. He and Logan were hooked after racing through Gander.
Local Newfoundland competitors, Maxzen Racing, emerged as a grassroots motorsports team in 2015, when Gordon Maxwell and Wayne Lorenzen joined forces. Gordon ran again with co-driver Justin Gatehouse and they claimed triumph in the Modern Open Targa 2 Bambina AWD division in previous events. They are eager to awaken their mighty 2008 Mitsubishi Evolution GSR, affectionately nicknamed “Leo,” from its slumber.
Edison “The Faster Pastor” Wiltshire of Newfoundland has also been with Targa as a competitor and official chaplain since the very beginning 23 years ago. First with his wife Marg-o and now his granddaughter Olivia as co-driver, he’s driven a variety of rides including classic Citroens, a Porsche 911, Saab, and Subaru.
Mark Williams of Maryland, an expert rally co-driver, was the first entrant to register for Targa back in 2002 and he’s raced or volunteered ever since. As well as being the steward for the rally, Mark and his wife Donna will run their fast and elegant Bentley Continental GT in Targa Tour as Team Motoring Event Services.
John Hume has been a fixture at Targa since he started competing in 2009. He won the Grand Touring division three times with co-drivers Craig MacMullen and Christina Kroner and his team also won Targa 1 in 2023. He’s been a loyal sponsor and supporter of the rally for years. This time he’s back behind the wheel of his winged 2021 MINI GP with his granddaughter Katelyn handling navigating duties for Team Hume Media in Targa Tour.
Kurt Penner and wife Luona, Team Jellybean, drove their classic ‘65 Beaumont convertible all the way from British Columbia to run the Targa Tour in 2024. Kurt is coming back with buddy James Murphy in the co-driver seat but this time to compete in Targa 1. And he’s beefed up the suspension to make the old car more competitive.
Targa got into the blood of father and son team of John and Brett Hueston of Aylmer, Ontario too. It wasn’t just their first Targa, it was their first time rallying. As John said, “I spent six months leading up to Targa dreading it, but once it began, I spent six days dreading it would end. This is an incredible event.” Watch Aylmer Express tear up the course in their Subaru BRZ.
The 2024 event was also Keir Pollard’s first Targa Newfoundland but he brought a car that has run the rally so many times it might know the way itself – co-founder Doug Mepham’s rally-prepped MINI. Keir and co-driver Lance Campbell – calling themselves Spud Performance – went home to PEI with the Targa 2 plate. He’s coming back with a new co-driver to defend the title against some stiff competition.
Another returning team is M2 Strategies made up of the Florida brothers of Sam and Rick Marshall. They discovered Targa while exploring their family ties to Newfoundland. Their grandfather was born in Newfoundland and moved to the United States. This will mark their third Targa in a row with their fast Subaru STI. For them, this is as much about the friends they’ve made as the excitement of the rally.
Corey Finkelstein from Wasaga Beach, Ontario entered Targa in 2018 and was instantly hooked. He brought his friend Tom Pokorny along a few years later and they raced in a … rental car (shh, keep that to yourself). Newfoundland has rubbed off on them as this time they are running as the Good Ole B’ys in Targa 1. They aren’t only competitors, they are also volunteers helping to promote the rally throughout the year.
Don Bray from Prince Edward Island got his first taste of Targa Bambina with his brother Frank last fall. He said running the streets of Gander was one of the best driving experiences he’s ever had. Don is bringing his Porsche Cayman S and Nova Scotian friend Jim Pentecost as Rock the Croc, which plays on the names of the place and the car.
Read profiles of these teams and more on the Targa website.