Ducktailing it to the Targa

[23e Heure]

8pm and they start sending the cars off at half minute intervals.

30 secs to our start:






We got sent around Palermo's fancy buildings and squares, to let the local press get their snaps:

[23e Heure]

We navigated the palermo maze, and wound out and up into the coastal roads, and then were encouraged to blast through hilltop towns:

[Darren65]

Cool thread Guys, keep it coming

[KS]

Very atmospheric!

[Goodwood]

Huge fan of a road trip, look forward to the next instalment

[Tony]

This gets my vote for 'thread of the year' - fabulous!

Btw l enjoyed Mr Tiplers Careers Pan-American book - am I going to get chance to enjoy his Targa one?

Tony

[Goodwood]

This gets my vote for 'thread of the year' - fabulous!

I would echo that! Anyone who wants to explore the history of the event further could do a lot worse than trying to source a copy of Ten Days in Sicily, its a visual delight.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ten-days-Sicil ... 9080119709

The price on Amazon is a little steep, they do come up at auction from time to time, i believe one was available at the last Auktion Ladenberg event

[Tony]

Will save the pennies for that, already have some good Targa books including WF Bradley's 'Targa Florio' which is great on the early years but limited Porsche content as it only goes up to '54!

Tony

[23e Heure]

Thanks for the kind comments, guys. If we can impart even some of the enjoyment we had, then we are happy. I will try and post another couple of instalments tonight....

In terms of the library recommendations, I have about 20 books on the Targa (in various langs).
For English readers, and avoiding the completely unobtanium books for practicality reasons, I would recommend:

- The Owen book from 79: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Targa-Florio-S ... 0854292357

- The book released to coincide wit the centenary in 06: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Legendary-Targ ... rga+florio

- And for BD fans (hello Russ), this is good fun, albeit en francais: https://www.amazon.co.uk/derni%C3%A8re- ... rga+florio

[23e Heure]

We finished the night stage in one piece, somehow not having got lost in the dark on a seriously complex route, using just the road book, a small torch and some good humour.

(Johnny's photo)


We then had a fast 30km transfer to our hotel in the company of the leader at the close of day 1, a sicilian 2.2E.



We rocked up to a beautiful palazzo. They lined all the cars up around the premises, it was already past 1am, so we headed to bed pretty sharpish.

(Johnny's photo)

[23e Heure]

GIRO - 2 TAPPE

Today was going to be hot, and some competitors were leaving on the transfer leg to the start before we'd even got dressed:





After breakfast it was impossible to count, but of the 166 starters, surely only a handful had dropped out on day one.





From the sublime...



...to the scooby-diculous:

[23e Heure]

(Johnny's photo)


(Johnny's photo)

[23e Heure]

With detours, double backs (hopefully few!) and transfer legs, in total we were going to cover about 850km over the 4 days - made up of 2 half days and 2 full ones.




Day one set the rhythm for the remainder of the event: Inter town sprints on windswept A roads:

(Johnny's photo)


(Johnny's photo)


Check points at photogenic spots:

(Johnny's photo)


(Johnny's photo)

[23e Heure]

...hilltop climbs to lunches in old towns

(Johnny's photo)




(Johnny's photo)


...runs on local race circuits....

[rhd racer]

Great photos James.

Love the company you were keeping - from the sublime to the Fiat X19!

Amazing trip, brilliantly documented

Cheers
Wayne