Scott Giannou of St. John’s won Targa Newfoundland three times but it took several attempts before he pulled off that first victory. Scott and co-driver Ray Felice won the Classic Division in a 1981 Porsche 911 SC in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Scott is the son of Targa owner Robert Giannou with a lifelong passion for motorsport. In addition to Targa, he’s raced many of the most famous tracks across North America in Porsches, Hondas and other cars. Here he shares his wisdom about finding success at Targa.
How do you prepare for a rally such as Targa?
The biggest thing that people have to understand is they underestimate the punishment the car will go through. If you are not a race car driver or involved with motor sports, you have what I call a road mechanic mentality. A road mechanic will look at the car. They’ll look at a piece and go “It looks pretty good. There’s some wear, but it’s good.” A race mechanic will say, “There’s wear so we’re replacing it” whether it’s a $2-part or a $8000-part.
This is a marathon, not a sprint. The cars are under tremendous load and punishment and a $2-part can ruin your whole event. If you want an example, we were going to the start line and the car died. What had happened on the 911, there’s a coil on the fan. It had actually come out of the bracket and it was dangling. The wire had let go. If Stewart Hoo hadn’t been there, we would have been screwed because he opened the hood, took a look, and put the wire back on so the next time we went back, the coil had tape around it and a zip tie.
So, what happens is you get burnt by stupid things in your first years. You have to have someone that knows what you need in a rally. I think you need a true rally prep guy. We used to send our car to Peter Riley in Toronto. Peter would spend hundreds and hundreds of hours taking the car apart. Suspension, bolts, etc. You need heavy everything. If you think it can break, you should protect it.
What advice do you have about tire choice?
A lot of people make the mistake that they don’t pick the right tires. They go with too soft of a compound. When you prepare your car for Targa, you need to prepare it for rain. A dry set up will not work for you. You’ve got to set it up for 50% rain.
You need to have the right ride height. People make a big mistake when they go with too low profile tires. And we’ve had situations where people have been driving out the highway on a transit and hit a rut and flatten all four tires. You need sidewall. You need meat.
You have to have a good, durable, all-purpose tire that’s good in the wet and dry. I used to run Dunlops all the time.
What about suspension set up?
The prep is the most important thing. You have to prepare the car for 40-44 gruelling stages. The setup needs to be somewhere between a track car and a road car. So, not too stiff that you’re going to shake the fillings out of your teeth. But not too loose that you just can’t handle it. It’s all over the place. So, I always say in between.
You need a couple extra inches of ride height for sure. Your suspension is everything you need to go. There’s some really good suspension companies, for example HotBits’ Peter Riley. I had a full suspension built for my car by him. He understands Targa. He’s been here. He’s a rally guy himself and he understands what you need.
Suspension is the most important thing in this whole thing. If you’re going down the road and you come off a jump and you land and then you’ve got rebound. If you don’t have that set up right, you are just going to bounce right into the side of the road and that’s not going to be good. And it happens all the time. Suspension is key. If you don’t have good suspension, you’re going nowhere in Targa.
How does driving a tarmac rally differ than a racetrack?
When we go to Mosport, I’ll do the same turn 200 times. At Targa, we get one chance to do the turn. A lot of our road race drivers that come here underestimate that. They underestimate how much stuff (e.g. gravel and other debris) is going to be on the road especially when you’re running at the back and dozens of cars already came through and kicked up gravel. They take the racing line but because of the marbles they underestimate it and go too fast.
The biggest thing you need to do is when you’ve got time in the bank, you save the car. You get nothing for being 30 seconds quicker in the stage as long as you’re not taking penalty. Ease it back. The co-driver has to manage the driver to conserve the car.
We’ve had guys spend $80,000 to build a car to come here and they don’t make it through prologue. They get it balled up in a ditch. That’s not good for anyone. And well, it happens all the time. They over drive.
I’ve mentored lots of people and I was mentored by people who tell you what’s going to happen. You’re going to get red mist and you’re going to over drive your car but it’s 46 stages and you have to finish all of them to win.
How do you cope with the gruelling schedule of six days and 40 plus stages?
People underestimate the long hours and the mental capacity you need to have. You need your sleep. You’re going to have sleepless nights. And towards the end you’ll feel bagged especially if you’re running hard. We were racing against the best in the world, for God’s sake. We had the rally champions from all over the world like guys that won Targa Tasmania and Targa New Zealand. These were serious guys.
What about the dynamic of driver and co-driver?
That’s key. The driver’s got to listen to the co-driver and the co-driver has to be 100% organized. The co-driver’s job is to be prepared for the next day and to manage the driver’s emotions so he doesn’t over drive the car. The co-driver is the leader of the team. The guy who has everything prepared.
What’s going to happen in the day? Where do we need to be? What time do we need to be there? He’s the organiser and he also has to be the guy who calls the shots in the car. “We’ve got to pick it up” or “you’ve got to slow down like you’re going way too fast. We don’t need to do this. This is like day two. We’ve got it in the bank. We need to save the car.” I personally think the co-driver is the most important person on the team.
What advice do you have about team organization?
The other thing that I would say to someone who is coming is don’t over complicate things. What people don’t understand is that when s#!t’s going to happen, it’s probably going to be on a transit. You’re going to get a flat or something. Mechanical breakdowns are going to happen. If your crew’s gone ahead of you, they’re useless.
So, when we went in the stage, the support team was behind us and when we came out of the stage, they were waiting for us. We never moved without them behind us. They never got ahead. I beat Bob Yuille one year by two seconds because his crew went ahead of him on the stage before Brigus and his fuel pump gave up and he never finished the event and we won. So, pick the right crew.
Your crew has to realize there are long hours. They can be tearing the car down all night. And they’ve got to be up and at ’em the next day. The crew is as important as the driver and co-driver. You’ve got to have guys that know what they’re doing if you want to be competitive.
I don’t think there’s a person who comes and does the full Targa who doesn’t think they can win. It’s not reality, but they think they can, right? You got to don’t take chances with a car that’s half prepared. And if a part is half worn, whether it’s a dollar or 500, you replace it. It’ll bite you. I’ve crashed. I’ve broke. It took me nine tries to win the first one. Then we got three.
What finally clicked after nine tries at Targa that you nailed it?
Prep. I sent the car to Peter Riley and I spent thousands and thousands of dollars to make sure that we had a vehicle that was well prepared. I got rid of all the clutter. I had two fabulous guys who have been with us for years. I’m very focused on the car and focused on the event.
You don’t need to go fast. If you’ve got it in the bank, you’re not getting a prize for being 30 seconds quicker than the posted time.
And did you change anything in your driving?
Well, I got more mature. I was doing a lot of racing. I’ve raced that car (Porsche 911) all over North America. I got rid of all the extra stuff that I was trying to manage. And Ray Felice (co-driver) and I were just on. We nailed it. I don’t know if we have the record, but I think we’re maybe second for the lowest penalty points of the whole event. Ever.
What would be your key advice to someone who has never done a tarmac rally before?
Don’t over drive the road. You need to be very aware. Don’t get overconfident. Red mist is easy for people to get.
You need to drive what you can see. If you don’t have the experience, you need to drive what you can see and never over drive the car. That happens with a lot of people because we don’t use pace notes. If the driver starts to over drive the co-driver that’s where the danger comes in because he’s thinking he knows where he’s going. And then he comes into a 90° turn and he’s going straight because he’s out driving his co-driver. The co-driver is the most important person in the car.
What kind of car do you need to win Targa?
I know people talk about horsepower all the time but you need reliability. You need a car that will get you to the end through all conditions because inevitably you’re going to end up in the wet. And I raced a rear-wheel drive 911.
The best car is the car that you feel comfortable in. For me, safety is a big thing.
You don’t need more horsepower. You need reliability.
What do you say to people considering Targa but have yet to commit?
You need to come do this. I used to say to people if they’ve never rallied before, you need to come and do Grand Touring because it will give you an idea of what’s going to happen in the week. It’ll give you an idea of the way the stages are going to be. It’ll give you time to work with your co-driver, and then if you like it, come back and do the full Targa. Some people will say “that’s not for me; I just want to come and enjoy the scenery.” That’s fine too. It’s an experience unlike any other.