Driver/ Co-driver: Wayne Lorenzen
Driver/ Co-driver: Aaron Ayotte
Vehicle: 2002 MINI Cooper S
Division: Targa 2
Country: Canada and United States
Double R Racing is a double threat in Targa 2
Two friends from different parts of North America met on a vacation and bonded over a common love of motorsport. Now, Canadian Wayne Lorenzen and American Aaron Ayotte will run Targa Newfoundland as teammates in Roger Roger Racing (or Double R Racing for short) sharing the driving and co-driving duties in a MINI that is a past rally winner.
Wayne Lorenzen, who lives in Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador, started racing in 2010 with Targa and has since participated in 15 events including the full Targa Newfoundland and Targa Bambina. Roger Roger Racing is his first team where he will be driving and co-driving in a full rally in class Targa 2.
“I started racing Targa Newfoundland in 2010 with Targa veteran Brad Melendy in his Camaro IROC. Brad helped jumpstart my Targa adventure that continues today.”
He’s a retired aviation safety specialist and martial artist. In his spare time he volunteers in his community and hikes with his three dogs. He’s an avid motorcyclist, amateur musician and mediocre pool player.
He is also the registrar for Targa Newfoundland and enjoys recruiting teams for the most amazing and only tarmac rally in North America.
Aaron Ayotte is an American gearhead who met Wayne on a vacation back in 1996. Aaron shares Wayne’s love for Newfoundland and brought his family here once and will again for this year’s Targa Newfoundland.
He got bitten by the Targa bug in 2016 as a crew member for MaxZen Racing. Following a mishap mid-race after which driver Gordon Maxwell couldn’t continue, Aaron stepped up as co-driver while Wayne drove his wife’s Jetta Wolfsburg.
Fast forward to 2024 and Aaron was back as a Course Safety Vehicle driver ensuring each stage was ready before releasing the Targa cars. He had a ball. After the race he and Wayne decided it was time to empty the bucket and buy a car together and do this properly. Aaron and Wayne will be switching roles in the car with both doing driving time.
Aaron is hoping his two sons and wife Katie (also gearheads) come to volunteer themselves for Targa.
Where did the team name come from? Wayne explains…
“Roger Roger Racing was a name that actually originated from Aaron’s son Dylan while on vacation here. We had two cars for traveling and had VHF radios to communicate. Because I spent my whole life in aviation saying ‘Roger Roger’ as the official acknowledgment that a message was received, I used it continually on the radios. Dylan was two and started saying ‘Roger Roger’ from the car seat in back. It stuck in the 20 years after. That’s the story behind the name.”
You can follow the adventures of Roger Roger Racing on Facebook.
