Harold Seagle, a Wilmington attorney, finished third recently in the Daytona Beach, Fla. Bike Week's Supersport race.  Seagle overcame a crash in practice and some mechanical difficulty to outrun many of the world's top riders.
Sea Eagle Racing and Time Warner Cable Bring Home Victory From Targa Newfoundland Race/Rally September 8 through 16, 2007
Photo credit: Darlington Media Works

On behalf of Sea Eagle Racing, Harold Seagle and Stan Pendergraft, driver and navigator, just ran the Time Warner Cable sponsored Porsche 911SC in the Targa Newfoundland Race/Rally, completing the week long endurance race with a first place finish in their racing class and, in the process, also winning the coveted Targa Plate for finishing all competition stages in under Trophy time. In addition, Sea Eagle Racing, together with two other Porsche teams, competed for and won the “Kenzie Cup”, racing against teams representing other automobile manufacturers competing in the race.

Targa Newfoundland is a grueling 2200 kilometer race/rally, run each year around the rugged shoreline and across the beautiful island of Newfoundland, Canada. The Targa is truly an international rally, with competing race teams coming from Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and the United States. Sometimes called the “Iron Man” of motorsports competition, the race is a genuine test of the performance and endurance of cars, drivers, navigators and service crews.

Seagle and Pendergraft had their share of problems, starting the week with the break down of the truck pulling the trailer carrying the race car. The truck broke down in Sydney, Novia Scotia, approximately 30 minutes from the ferry to Newfoundland. Bob and Nadine Saville, who also had their race car on the trailer, were with the truck when it broke down. In an amazing display of determination, Bob and Nadine removed the race cars from the trailer, had other race teams on the way to Newfoundland carry our tools and spares, and they then drove the race cars to the ferry. When the ferry arrived in Newfoundland, they drove the cars 9 hours across Newfoundland to the starting point of the race.

Having finally managed to get the cars onto the island, electrical problems hounded the Sea Eagle team throughout the week, resulting in the car failing to start on several occasions. Somehow, by push starting and continually working with the electrical system and fuel air mixture for the engine, they managed to complete the first two days. On the third day, the battery was replaced and on the forth day, the starter finally failed and had to be replaced. Other than electrical and mechanical problems, the car basically handled well, except for the body and suspension damage caused by heavy impact when the car hit the ground after jumps and from extremely rough roads. In any event, the car finished the week in one piece, although some of the parts were bent, a rather severe oil leak had developed and some parts of the car were no longer operable. Seagle and Pendergraft have learned that this is the essence of endurance racing. Just driving the car over the finish line is, indeed, an accomplishment.

Seagle says that, although the week long test of endurance was quite demanding, it has also been greatly satisfying and rewarding. The beauty of the wonderful secluded island, the hospitality of the people of Newfoundland and the genuine wonderful fellowship shared by the race organizers and all those who compete makes for a truly rare and wonderful experience. More importantly, the race is run for the support of the Easter Seal Kids throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. This year, the racers and their sponsors raised more that $50,000.00 for these wonderful kids, and entertained many of them at car shows during the event.

The race is to be covered in the near future in an hour long documentary on the SPEED channel. For more information on Sea Eagle Racing, Time Warner Cable, Road Runner High Speed Online and the other fine sponsors of this effort, go on the web to SeaEagleRacing.com. For information on Targa Newfoundland, go to TargaNewfoundland.com.