Transaxle Targa & Track Day Car?

[Vne165]

Hi everyone.
It's been a long time since I was in a position to enjoy motorsport as a competitor but happily, I think I'm now able to start the physical work of what has been a long term plan to develop my '79 2L Alfetta sedan. I'm pretty handy on the tools, have built an engine or two and am lucky enough to have most of the equipment I could ask for and a place to prepare the car. I've built race cars before, but not for a long time.

My preference for the car would be to enjoy club days, sprints, hill climbs and eventually to compete in the Targa West tarmac rally and perhaps if funds/time permits, maybe some other interstate events.

So, primary design criteria/preferences are:
-   Maximise enjoyment and participation. I don't have anything to prove and would just like to realise the most I can from myself and the car.
-   I really would like to maintain the car as road registered so it can be rallied and more broadly enjoyed.
-   Develop the handling, braking and overall packaging of the car.
-   Develop the Nord engine within the bounds of budget and transmission/powertrain reliability. Supercharging is high on my list of desirable options.
-   Gain more experience in development of the transaxle platform. I just love them.

I have a fairly good idea of what I think are sensible engineering, design and development options.
However I'm struggling a little to make sense of the choices regards CAMS classification and which class to run the car in.

It seems to me that the car would be eligible for C3 class in Tarmac as a 'Late Classic' car. But that seems to rule out any meaningful development of the engine e.g. supercharging or some other ideas I want to explore regards cylinder head options for the Nord. Based on my reading of the regs, to step outside of a 'modified standard' design puts you in the IPRA or sports sedan classes? So no Targa...

So just wondering if there is anyone currently competing Targa or at club level in an Alfetta platform who can clarify or suggest what is the best class to aim for.
Perhaps I'm missing something in my reading of it all (must be short on brain cells to want to do this anyway...!).

Thanks in advance for any thoughts
Vne

[Vne165]

Anyone?

[Paul Byrne]

G'day Vne,
Like your ideas on participation with the transaxle alfa! I'm a 105 addict but appreciate the better set up of the alfetta.
I do have a fair bit of experience with Targa events (around 18 all up) and also a lot of track time in sprints and hillclimbs etc, but not racing.

For what it is worth, this is the path I stumbled along. First with almost no mods, a bit of sprint work and hillclimbs. Then I thought of supercharging as an economical way to get more grunt. A great experience and essentially not hard to do, but hard to do well. I used a toyota blower and blew though the webers, the devil was in the detail. Next I thought Group S racing and built the car to the spec. Again not hard to do but it's off with the blower and into the usual, expensive, engine mods for power and reliability. Suspension, wheel and brake freedoms are quite limited, the cage is great for rigidity and I'm sure the racing is good...... I never got there because Targa Tas caught my eye in 2004.

Many tarmac events later, I  can't think of any motorsport that has a better combination of challenges and potential achievement (for amateurs). Every aspect, from engine and transmission to brakes, steering and suspension needs to be tackled with an eye to the competing priorities of performance, reliability, weight, and rule compliance. A  never ending quest for improvement and hugely satisfying if you like being on the tools!

You can of course take your tarmac car to the track and do well in club sprints--and you can drive it there because it needs to be registered. Racing might be harder to find a class for but of course the club is now developing its alfa racing series and that looks like fun.

Re tarmac classes: We run in Limited Modified with the 105s. Engine is basically free, but no blower and must run carbs, gearbox and diff are free inside but same number of gears, suspension needs to stick to the basic set up but angles are fairly free as are dampers, steering, brakes. Wheels are relatively free- eg we run 16x7. Only downside for you would be that the 116 would have a higher handicap due to its 'youth' (V6 116 is  competitive though--so much so that it is not allowed to run in Standard Class even if standard!). 'Modified'  and 'Classic GT' offer more freedoms but these do not suit our Alfas very well in terms of competitiveness.
A class option for a starting point is 'GT Sports Trophy', which has a 130Km/h speed limit and less onerous cage/safety requirements.
Just a few thoughts..
Cheers