St. John’s, NL – The Grand Touring division returns to Targa Newfoundland this fall after a one-year hiatus.
“We’re bringing Grand Touring back due to popular demand from competitors who want to prove their skills in a time, speed, and distance rally,” said Targa owner Robert Giannou.
Grand Touring, or GT for short, follows the same stages as the other competitive divisions, Targa 1 and Targa 2, but focuses more on precision driving and navigating skills than all-out speed.
In a time, speed and distance (TSD) rally, also known as a navigational rally, competitors are given a set of instructions describing the route, including the expected speed. The goal is to follow the instructions as closely as possible and arrive at the checkpoints as close as possible to the target time.
“It’s the most challenging event in Targa,” said Wayne Lorenzen, Targa registrar. “If you have four minutes to get through a stage, you have to cross the finish at exactly four minutes to avoid penalties. It takes teamwork to succeed. The driver must be precise and the co-driver has a tremendous amount of work to keep track of the time and speed.”
The team of Satish Gopalkrishnan and Savera D’Souza from New Jersey claimed the title in 2023. They competed in Targa 1 last year. This year, two-time GT champions Marinus and Renee Damm from Oregon return for another run at the podium.
The 2025 rally runs from Sep. 11-18, 2025. Twenty-five teams from across Canada and the United States are already registered for the rally in Grand Touring, Targa 1, Targa 2 and Targa Tour. Competitors will cover over 2000 km (about 1240 miles) across the island of Newfoundland, including hundreds of kilometres of closed stages on public roads. Information on all of the stages is posted on the Targa website.
return for another run this year. CREDIT: Ralph Saulnier
Past winners of GT:
2023 – Satish Gopalkrishnan/Savera D’Souza – 2023 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLA 45
2018 – Darren Brake/Herb Johnson – 2017 Subaru WRX STI
2017 – John Hume Sr./Cristina Kroner – 2013 Mini GT
2016 – Marinus Damm/Renee Damm – 2011 Porsche 911 Carrera 4
2015 – Marinus Damm/Renee Damm – 2012 BMW 328 xiT Wagon
2014 – John Hume Sr./Craig MacMullen – 2013 MINI GP
2013 – Jon Riddell/Briar DeLange – 2008 BMW 135i
2012 – John Hume Sr./Craig MacMullen – 2011 BMW 335is
2011 – Justin Crant/Justin Russell – 1997 VW Golf Trek
2010 – Alan Townsley/David Fuhrmann – 2003 Acura RSX
2009 – Ferdinand Trauttmansdorff/Christoph Trauttmansdorff – 1990 BMW 325i
2008 – John Vandemierden/Stu Lehmann – 2008 Lotus Elise
2007 – Alan Kearley/Greg Martin – 2004 Mazda 3 Sport GT
2006 – Bruce Terris/Andy Proudfoot – 1991 Subaru Legacy Turbo
2005 – Brian Crockatt/Gail Walker – 1987 BMW 535i
2004 – Jean-Francois Drolet/Rejean Beaulieu – 2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe
2003 – Jean-Francois Drolet/Rejean Beaulieu – 2004 Infiniti G35 Coupe
2002 – Alan Ryall/Corolyn Ryall – 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX
About Targa Newfoundland
Owned and operated by Newfoundland International Motorsports Limited, Targa Newfoundland hits the twisty, challenging roads of Newfoundland (a.k.a. the Rock) September 11-18, 2025. Targa Newfoundland is the ultimate tarmac rally and the only internationally recognized targa event in North America. Since 2002, we’ve attracted hundreds of rally and motorsports enthusiasts from around the globe and showed them the best that Newfoundland and Labrador has to offer.
The eight-day Targa Duemila tarmac rally covers about 2000 km across this ruggedly beautiful island. That includes about 500 km of closed courses on real public roads through towns, outports, and the scenic countryside along the coastline. Targa Rotoura is a six-day event and Targa Tour is a motorsport adventure for those who just want to have fun in their cars without the competition.
- From Targa Newfoundland
