BOWMANVILLE, ON – On Saturday August 22nd, TAC (Toronto Autosport Club) hosted a Tune & Test/Lapping Day on the bigMosport Grand Prix track.  From 9 AM to 5 PM it was non-stop and what we learned about the track and car was invaluable to the success we had the next day.  The weather was perfect for a weekend at the track, and we were glad as Mosport in the rain would have been REALLY scary.

For the lapping day on Saturday, we ran with the Hoosier scrubs from the Koni Challenge series instead of wasting the competition rubber.

The first session we took it easy considering the track was still a little damp from the morning dew.  For the 2nd session, we pushed it a little harder to find that these Hoosiers really had nice grip.  From the stop watch, it looked like we were turning 1:37 laps which is over 3 seconds faster than the July 5th Solosprint competition time of 1:40.3.  The remaining 2 session we worked on different lines for different corners trying to find the optimal line for the car.  Overall, it was a great learning day which transfered to next day’s competition.

We began the day with some morning lapping to check tire temps & pressures, and what we found is that the Saturday lapping/practice gave us more confidence in the car, and handling of the track.  The Toyo R888s were not as sticky, but still felt great overall.

The competition start at around 10:30 AM and we were part of the 1st run group.  We were one of the first cars on the track.  Our first session felt great; car handled great and it felt like we turned a good lap time.  We later found out that we did a 1:38.129 which was over 2 seconds faster than our best time of 1:40.3 in July.  Fantastic news!  When our 2nd timed session came along, confidence was at an all time high and shooting for 1:37s was a definitely possibility.  Unfortunately, it was not so.  We started experiencing clutch slip in 5th gear of the backstraight severely cramping our top end speed, and losing time.  Our fastest lap of session 2 was only 1:38.612.  There was also a bad vibration that developed under braking which meant a warped rotor.  This did not help things at all.

For the 3rd timed session, we weren’t expecting to get much better with an ill car.  The clutch was getting worse, now slipping in 4th & 5th gear, and the brake vibration was also worse.  Our best lap of that session was a 1:38.604, again slower than our 1st session.

Weekend results are as follows;

• 2nd in SGT3 Class (out of 6 class competitors)
• 8th Overall Fastest (out of 55 competitors)
• 5th in Novice division (out of 14 competitors)

Weekend results can be seen HERE.

Overall results HERE.  These will change once the last 2 events are completed, and the best of 6 events is calculated.  Let’s hope we can manage a Top 10 overall.

Even with the car problems for the 2nd half of the day, it was still a great weekend overall.  The experienced we gained of the track & car was worth it.

We’re looking forward to the final 2 events Sept 12-13th at Shannonville Motorsports Park.  The Fabi & Long configurations will be used which again favors HP.

Of all the tracks, this is the one I was anticipating the most.  The Mosport Grand Prix track is world renowned for a reason.  It’s scary, but exhilarating & fun all at the same time.  As expected, it did not fail in this regard.

We left MDR headquarters at 5:45 AM to make the 8 AM registration deadline at the track.  The trip there was uneventful, and smooth, although tiring.  the predicted weather was suppose to be great, and it was.  It turned out to be sunny, and warm at 25C.

We arrived at the track at 7:20 AM and already a bunch of cars were there and ready to roll.  Some had camped there from the school that was on the previous day.

Morning Lapping - 95 MPH on the front straight.

Immediately after arriving, we went ahead and registered, then unloaded all the gear & car.  After 15-20 mins of getting the car ready for some morning lapping, we walked around the paddock taking pictures & talking to fellow competitors.

Morning lapping/warmups began around 9 AM & scheduled to run for 1 hour.  Being this was my first time driving this track, I had nasty butterflies in the pit of my stomach.  After all, PEOPLE HAVE BEEN KILLED ON THIS TRACK! I lined up in the pits, and within minutes I was off down pit road onto the track….gut wrenching feeling.  My first few laps I took it easy, but after 5-6 laps, I was starting to get comfortable & started pushing things a little harder.  After approx. 10 laps, I pulled into the paddock to check tire temps &

Passing on the Front Straight

pressures.  Everything looked perfect.  After a quick drink & snack, I proceed to do another 4-5 laps before the session was over.

After a drivers meeting, competition started and my group was up first.

I completed my first time trial and felt pretty good.  My goal for my first time was to get into the 1:40 range, and I found out my best lap of my first session was a 1:40.4.  I couldn’t have been happier and couldn’t wait for my next session to improve this time.

Some were not so lucky.

Unfortunately, there were a few incidences that delayed things, and we lost one of our proposed time runs.  Later that afternoon, I had my 2nd timed session.  When I was done, I felt I had significantly improved my time, but found out later, I only managed a 1:40.3 which is not a big improvement.  The good thing is, I know where I’m loosing time and where I can improve.  For the next event, I’m shooting for 1:38s.  I know the car is capable, and then some.

Final results:
My SGT3 class got merged once again with GT1.  Within this merge, I ended up 4th our of 15 cars.  In the Novice points, I finished 4th there also out of the 25 Novices competing that day.

The next event in the CASC SoloSprint Series is again at Mosport GP track on August 23rd, which also has a full day of lapping the day before which I plan on taking FULL ADVANTAGE of with the Hoosier Cup tires.

Next scheduled event is the ATT Series – Time Trial at Mosport DDT track on July 26th.  I think we’ll do great at this event.

Hey everyone…quick update on the last event held at the Barrie Molson Centre.  This was a “Gymkhana” or a more open autoslalom.  Bottom line, Black Betty isn’t setup to run those very effeciently.  Although I had a great time, we got annihilated.  Results in my Open Modified class below;

Black Betty in action

As you can see, I finished 10th out of 19 entries in the class which isn’t that bad I guess, considering the remaining 3 events I should do ALOT better.

Also worth noting from all the results, all the bigger RWD cars (Mustangs, Camaros, etc), none broke the 58 sec barrier, so it gives me some comfort that it wasn’t all the drivers fault.

For more pictures, CLICK HERE.  There’s also a video of my timed lapped which can be found by CLICKING HERE.

Final results from all classes can be found by CLICKING HERE.

Next event is at Mosport DDT on July 26th.  Looking forward to this event…should be a blast.