A familiar name in Chatham-Kent's agricultural community is bringing his talents across the country to help revive an iconic motorsport rally.
Wes Thompson of Blenheim recently purchased Targa Newfoundland Motorsports Club Inc. and Newfoundland International Motorsports Limited, the companies that organize the annual Targa Newfoundland Rally.
Thompson is perhaps best known locally for his association with Thompsons Limited, a third-generation family-owned farming company. He was president of the company for over 30 years until it was sold in 2013. Since then, Thompson has been keeping busy with his family's other lifelong passion -- cars.
"I've been horsing around with some cars and fire trucks quite a bit, doing some vintage car rallying," he said.
Targa Newfoundland has been running annually since 2002 under the guidance of Robert Giannou. Participants in the seven-day event drive along 2,200-kilometre of scenic roads across the province. In September, Thompson and a friend had intended to take part in Targa Newfoundland 2019 after spending over a year working on a car for the race. However, the 2019 rally was eventually cancelled because there weren't enough participants. That's when Thompson said he got the idea to step in.
"We finally worked up our nerve to do this thing and it got postponed because there weren't enough entries to really run it," he explained. "We got to speaking with the fellow, Robert Giannou in St. John's, and we thought 'what the heck, let's just dive into this thing.'"
According to Thompson, in previous years the rally has attracted dozens of racing teams from around the globe, adding that it's a legendary event in the world of motorsports. He believes there is a variety of reasons for the decline in participants over the past few years, but said he's looking forward to bringing it back up to speed.
"We think it should be saved and we think we can bring it back to its previous lustre," Thompson exclaimed. "If you've never taken part in it, it can seem a bit intimidating all the rules and regulations, getting yourself out to Newfoundland. I think we can make it much simpler. It's not that complicated."
Thompson said his goal is to revive the excitement associated with the rally. He also said he intends to utilize social media to better promote it.
"I just think it needs a shot of enthusiasm," he said. "It's a wonderful experience. For a lot of people, it's a bucket list thing to do."
Two other Targa events take place annually, one in Australia and one in New Zealand. Thompson said he has already received several phone calls from previous participants who are looking forward to the future of the race.
"They're enthusiastic, they love the event. I think they're relieved that we're going to work on it, brighten it up and bring it back," he said.
Targa Newfoundland 2020 will take place from September 12 to 19. Although the rally takes place over 3,300 kilometres away, Thompson won't be away from home too long -- he plans to split his time between Chatham-Kent and Newfoundland.