Michael’s Blog

There are many definitions of “handicapping” but Wikipedia states:
Handicapping, in sport and games, is the practice of assigning advantage through scoring compensation or other advantage given to different contestants to equalize the chances of winning.

I’m sure with the best of intentions the organizers of The Targa Newfoundland have, for the last 7 years, used a system of “Targa Factors” or handicaps in an effort to give every entrant a chance of winning the coveted Christos Targa Award, which is presented to the overall winner

Obviously in the early days of the event assigning appropriate handicaps, or for that matter even establishing classes, was by necessity a very “hit and miss” exercise. I understand that the organizers based their system on that in use in Targa Tasmania and applied “local content” as required but exactly how these factors are calculated is something of a mystery.

It seems to me, that with seven events now completed sufficient data has been accumulated to assign handicaps based upon actual performances and by so doing the real aim of a handicapping system could be achieved.

There are several sports which use handicapping but the best known is golf wherein handicaps are assigned by calculating an individual competitors playing ability from his recent history of rounds with the intention of giving every competitor an equal chance of winning. I thought I would try to apply this method of handicapping to Targa.
The results are very interesting and go a long way toward explaining why there have only ever been three Modern Division cars in the top three placings at Targa Newfoundland in seven years of competition.

The method that I used to establish the “results based” handicap is explained below***.

In the five days of competition the fastest cars take around 180 minutes to traverse all the stages and the following list shows the difference between the two handicapping systems expressed in minutes in 180 minutes.

Just to be clear this list shows the disadvantage that the current system applies to each class of car.

Class 3 Standard Large Capacity 0.0 minutes

Class 4 Modified Large Capacity 3.3 minutes

Class 6 Modified Large Capacity 5.8 minutes

Class 4 Modified Small Capacity 6.7 minutes

Class 9 Standard large Capacity 7.2 minutes

Calss 3 Modified Small Capacity 8.6 minutes

Class 8 Modified Large Capacity 11.0 minutes

Class 5 Modified Large Capacity 11.0 minutes

Class 7 Standard Large Capacity 11.3 minutes

Class 9 Standard Small Capacity 11.6 minutes

Class 5 Modified small Capacity 12.1 minutes

Class 5 Standard large Capacity 12.1 minutes

Class 2 Standard large Capacity 12.1 minutes

Class 9 Modified Large Capacity 13.9 minutes

Class 4 Standard Large Capacity 14.1 minutes

Class 8 Standard large Capacity 14.8 minutes

Class 2 Modified Small Capacity 16.1 minutes

Class 1 Unlimited 16.5 minutes

Class 5 Standard Small Capacity 16.7 minutes

Class 7 Modified Small Capacity 17.3 minutes

Class 2 Modified Large Capacity 22.2 minutes

Class 7 Modified Large Capacity 28.7 minutes

Class 8 modified Small Capacity 37.4 minutes

Class 9 Modified Small Capacity 44.6 minutes

Class 6 Standard Small Capacity 47.0 minutes

As I mentioned above, the results are very interesting.

For example, under the current Targa Factor system, the minimum Modern Class disadvantage is 7 minutes and 12 seconds  when compared to a Class 3 Standard Large Capacity car. It is hardly surprising that in seven years of competition Modern Class cars have only ever placed 2nd once and 3rd twice.

*** Methodology

In my study I have used stages for 2005, 06, 07, and 08 where 10 or less competing cars “cleaned” the stage to minimize situations where a competing team “backs off” to save their car when they have plenty of time in hand.

From those stages I have taken the fastest car in each of the competing classes and compared its time to that of the fastest car through the stage. By dividing the competitor’s time by that of the fastest car I was able to establish a factor for each car for each of these stages.

Once all these factors were calculated I eliminated the fastest (smallest factor numerically) and the 3 slowest (largest factors numerically) for each car (to eradicate miracles and “screw-up’s’) and then averaged the remaining factors.

Using this method establishes a factor for each class within which there has been a competitor since 2005 and from this a true “Results Based” handicap system can be developed.

Targa Newfoundland Forum discussion on this subject can be found here:

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So Judy and I have decided that the time has come to sell the old homestead and move to the sticks. We have pretty well had it with the traffic and the way our neighborhood is changing. We are only about 150 meters from Yonge St in the middle of North York which is one of the suburbs of Toronto.

I just went out to the street and took these two photos of the signs on the first buildings I came upon.

I must say I have a better understanding of why the French in Quebec have their “French Only” sign law although, I vehemently disagree with that. However…I digress….

As we have only ever owned one house and therefore never sold a house this is all a new experience.

The GMDS has commanded that the house has to be emptied out and all the junk disposed of so the house can be “staged” for sale. Of course by “all the junk” she really means all my stuff. Now I admit I do have a tendency to be a little bit of a “pack rat” but hey, when someone needs something I’ve probably got several, in various colours, in fact several in each colour but, if you need it,  …….. I’ve got it.

This of course means I have to sort through all my “stuff” and I have a lot of pretty neat stuff.

For example I’ve got a little cannon that someone gave me which is actually a pencil sharpener; now I don’t actually use pencils any more but ….. well….it just to good to throw out.

I’ve got a tin whistle,

I always wanted to learn to play the tin whistle, but ….well…..frankly I’ve got a tin ear and it doesn’t work with the tin whistle I guess. 

I’ve got some old tobacco tins,

and a piece of Cherub MkIV log

, I’ll bet you don’t even know what a Cherub MkIV Log is… well you can find out here: I’ve got another piece of the log as well but I’m not quite sure where that is. My Dad was the commander of some mine sweepers around New Zealand during WWII and he scored this log when a Panamanian freighter tried to cut across their bows out in the Hauraki Gulf. I can’t throw that out!!

I’ve got a pivot pin from the clutch in AHX12, my good friend Ian mounted it on a block of wood and presented it to me because this little part cost us a class win on the 2003 Targa Newfoundland.

I’ve got a “KING OF THE ROAD” car lamp, in fact I have 2 of those

and there is my Durant hub cap,

and that phone jack adaptor that I meant to take to New Zealand this winter to give to my brother in law Ian who lives in Abingdon U.K. because I’m pretty sure it fits a U.K. phone jack…he must need it.

Did I mention the genuine NOS Wipac reverse lamp from a Mini

or the wooden Yogi I bought on the beach for less than 1 cent on my first trip to Bali,

and then there is the spare battery for my first video camera.

The camera is long gone so I suppose the battery should go too but …you see….. you aren’t meant to put them in the garbage so I haven’t quite figured out what you are meant to do with them.

And then of course there are the heater valves. ….. Oh yes; the heater valves…

These are genuine Smiths heater valves, I have about 3 dozen of them……but I’m not actually sure what they fit.

Fortunately I found a solution on where else…. eBay …yes, I found and bought an old Smiths catalogue which, I should mention, is so big it almost takes up more room than the heater valves, so that I can identify the heater valves, then sell them on eBay, and then sell the catalogue and be RICH!!!!

Well, one of the types of heater valves was in the catalogue and I actually sold the one I had; another was in there as well but, it only fits a Commer Cob II, if you don’t know what that is don’t worry, you aren’t alone, and there aren’t a lot of people out there restoring Commer Cobs, let alone the Mk II version which, by the way, uses a different heater valve from the MkI and the MkIII. Mind you I did find a picture of a Commer Cob in my Dumpty Book of Motors which is on my bookcase.Whoooo …37 HP…I think I know why no one is restoring one!!!

Unfortunately the other types of heater valves, each of which I have about 30 weren’t in the book!!

Now all this stuff was just on one corner of my desk, and I’ve got the rest of my office, the store room, my workshop and the garage to clear out.

Better get on with it!!!!    Fortunately it is only a single car garage…which is another reason why we are selling the house…  

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Upon the arrival of winter the GMDS* required that the wheels with snow tires be fitted to her 1997 Dodge Stratus. In the past I have run the car up to Precision Sportscar and done the job on a hoist in the warmth of the shop. This year I thought I would save some time and do it right here in the driveway.
Of course I don’t have an impact wrench or a floor jack here but the car comes with both a wheel wrench and a jack so how hard could this be?
Turns out that changing the wheels over wasn’t a problem at all. The problem was getting the jack back into its stowage position in the trunk after the job was done. Definitely one of the worst pieces of design I have ever come across.
With the jack removed this is the scene with which one is presented when attempting this task”

Quite obvious is the keyhole shaped slot in the jack mounting bracket welded to the trunk floor. The head of the huge carriage bolt slips into the keyhole slot providing an anchored thread to hold everything down. The instructions are glued to the underside of the trunk floor panel. Doesn’t look too tough eh?

Position the carriage bolt, slip the jack into position and lock it there by extending the jack a little, then drop the wheel and other bits on top after which everything is held down with the big wing nut, which by the way has to be run down about three inches of poorly cut thread to achieve its purpose.
Well there is a problem. The position of the head of the jack is determined by the two little tabs which engage into cutouts in the jack’s base. When installed the head of the jack prevents the carriage bolt from sliding into the slot of the keyhole.

In the picture above I have done my best, by flipping the jack over and then skewing the head to the left, to make things fit, but as you can see the carriage bolt won’t even start to enter the slot of the keyhole.
I had noticed that the jack was loose in the trunk when I went to get it out and I don’t think it has ever been used or for that matter correctly installed. My first conclusion was, as usual, that I was doing something wrong and, against my better judgment, I decided to refer to the instruction sheet (real men don’t do instructions). After reading them several times, as far as I could figure, the instructions suggested that I do exactly what I was attempting to do which was proving to be impossible. By this time I was getting bloody cold in the windy -2C weather and I wanted to suggest that the person who designed this system do something to him or her self which is probably physically impossible and definitely very painful.
So I got out the handbook and took it inside to see if it was any more informative.  It wasn’t.
I thought that maybe I had the wrong type of jack, but it is the same as the one in the instructions.
So what is the problem here?  If I can’t figure out how secure the jack how is my dear wife going to manage on the side of the highway and furthermore page 122 of the handbook features this big warning.
 

My guess is that the individual who designed this installation was just too damn lazy to get off his ass and actually try to install the jack into its mount when the first cars came off the assembly line and I’m betting that there are thousands of Stratus’s and Cirrus’s out there with their jacks loose in the trunk.
I thought, just for comparative purposes I would check the jack stowage arrangement in my winter beater 1996 Subaru Outback Wagon. I had the jack out and back in correctly secured in its stowage inside 30 seconds, no carriage bolts, no wing nuts, no plates, no cover supports, you just couldn’t do it wrong.
So what does this all mean…really?
I think it is a very good illustration of why the U.S. car makers can’t sell their cars outside of North America and why they can’t compete with the imports inside.  If they can’t design a satisfactory jack stowage system then how are they doing on the rest of the car; what about the steering linkage and those brake hoses. Has anyone actually checked them in service or, like the jack stowage, do they move on to the next project and hope that any faults get picked up in a recall.
My wife’s next car won’t be a domestic.
* General Manager Domestic Services
        

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I suppose that now winter is upon us and there is a decline in road repairs we will notice that one group of the drivers, the “late mergers” or LMs will go into hibernation. These are the drivers who, when a lane ahead is closed, insist on driving right up to where the witch’s hats close their lane before trying to merge into the open lane. You know the ones; they sit there with their signal on holding up the complete line while they wait for some kind soul to let them in.

The courteous and thoughtful people, like me and all my friends, who have been respectful enough to merge into the correct lane when they passed the “LANE CLOSED AHEAD” sign 2 km back are faced with a social quandary when they come across the stopped LM. Their “good” side, often reinforced by a pitiable smile over the shoulder of the LM, says  “let the poor waif in”, whereas their “BAD” side says “let the bastard rot in hell. “ 

In this case I always let the really rotten corner of the bad side of my brain take prescience and pack up so close that I can catch the movie showing on the onboard DVD player of the SUV in front, with sound. It strikes me that there is a pretty simple solution to this traffic problem. I’ll give you the outline to my solution and ask that you submit any enhancements in the comments section below.

Here’s the plan…….. About 2 km before the merge point a sign is posted  “LANE CLOSED AHEAD MERGE LEFT NOW”. These signs are posted two or three times before a line of witches hats start appearing on the lane divider. The witch’s hats would be placed such that no car could drive into the moving lane through a gap between them and they would be solid enough that even a Hummer driver couldn’t knock one down without inflicting serious damage to his ride (my kids tell me that’s the term to be used these days).  The witch’s hats could morf into concrete barriers if necessary. In some instances the line of witches hats would then just peter out and the old system of “stupidest first” would remain but, and here’s the trick, once in a while the cars in the “you should have merged left” lane would be confronted with the welcoming face of Trevor Plod the local constable and a couple of his buddies who would issue them with a preprinted ticket for failing to merge. Once the LMs had had a couple hours to reconsider their actions and watch the nice guys whistle on by Trev would take it upon himself to direct them into the correct lane and on their way during a lull in the left lane traffic flow .

Now I understand that this might take a bit of manpower to set up and operate but, when the number of man-hours (person-hours I suppose that should be) wasted as a result of the actions of these no hopers are considered, there could be a substantial net gain, not to mention a lot less really mad drivers in traffic jams.  

The great thing about this system is that it would quickly educate the LMs that there was a significant chance that their preferred method of inflicting their “me first” attitude on the rest of us is likely to result in “me last” and, like Skinner’s mice, they would quickly get the idea.

Anybody got worthwhile enhancements to recommend before I pass this on to the appropiate authorities for ignoring?

   

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