JULY 26, 2009 – BOWMANVILLE ON — The 2nd event in the Attack Time Trial Series (ATTS) was held at the Mosport DDT facility located in Bowmanville Ontario.  The threat of weather was around all morning, skys’ opened up during the lunch break, and the afternoon brought beautiful sunshine.

I arrived at the track around 8:20 AM, and registered before doing anything else.  Unloaded, checked tire pressures, and fluid levels.  Following the driver’s meeting at 9:30 AM, the track opened up for morning practice for the D Mod class which we run in.  The track was extremely slippery;  traction was non-existant.  The back of the car could not stay straight even when I wasn’t on the throttle.  This did not look promising.

Black Betty after Practice Session #2

After my first practice session, I checked tire pressures & temperatures and dropped the rear pressures by 1 psi, and adjusted wedge.  In the 2nd practice at approx. 11:00 AM, the car felt a little better, but still very loose.  Upon checking tire pressures & temperatures, everything seemed optimal so I did not change anything.  Other were complaining of the slippery conditions, so I felt a little better that it was more of the track surface issue, than a car handling issue.

For the 3rd practice session, the track was still wet from the downpour we had from 12:30 to 1:30.  Needless to say, it was stupid crazy slippery and all I could do is try the wet line and hope it stuck for my timed lap.

The timed session came along around 3 PM, and it worked out beautifully.  The track was completely dry for my run, and the track seemed like it had “washed” itself as grip was at an all time high.  I pushed the car hard, and it handled beautifully.  I did have trouble getting into 3rd gear (again) after the kink right before the long straight, which I’m sure cost me 3-4 tenths.  Overall, I felt confident the run was good.  After checking the time sheet, I nailed a 62.59 sec lap, which was 1.4 secs slower than the leader.  I placed me 6th out of the 13 competitors in the class.  If I wouldn’t have missed the 2-3 shift, I feel I could have been in the Top 3.

Overall, it was another fantastic day at the track, and the car once again, ran flawlessly, except for the trans shifter.

With the combined results of Event 1 & 2, the #73 NiagaraSynthetic.com AMSOIL Trans Am sits in 9th place.

The next scheduled event is at the Dunnville Autodrome on Aug 29th, which is a Touge, or a cat & mouse setup.