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Sunday's change to the East Track brought in this very fast right turn that was a test of machinery and driver skill.Our line was to stay to the inside of Quarry One and then to the outside of Watts Up, staying tight to the curbing of Wicked. With the Miata we could mix that up in many ways if an opportunity to pass presented itself. Drifting was the name of the game through Watts Up, Wicked and Wilson’s. Two right handers followed by a left. Power sliding the Miata (that may not sound logical, but in the heat and at speed, you had to work the throttle to avoid powering into a spin) through the rights and then drifting through the left. Saturday the Miata was on BFG Rivals on 15×8 949 Racing Wheels and Sunday on Dunlop Direzzas with 15×6.5 wheels. Then we were dreaming of more power as we entered the amazing front straight. On Sunday ChumpCar moved us to the East Track (Stadium Track) and that gave us another fast right hand corner. It was amazing to watch cars fly through here. The marshals had to be on their toes and briefly hold cars at pit out to ensure that they did not get caught up in an incident caused by someone coming off the straight. They kept us all safe and secure.
The Front Straight is 2000 feet long. You can build some great speed through here. In case you were wondering, there were a few BMWs in this race!
The #8 car was not allowed to have it's working roof light on. Good thing too, because in Ontario a flashing blue light means snow removal equipment. With both days being humid 28 degrees Celcius we may have wanted a snow cone, but none of us wanted snow!Have you ever wanted to turn the tables and, rather than being chased by the police, chase them instead? It happened during ChumpCar as we were either chasing or being chased by the Polizei. During the race the local constabulary dropped in to ensure that everyone was behaving plus to observe a bit of the racing. The Officer also took the time to allow some children to sit in the driver’s seat of the police car – even at a race track with lots of race cars to sit in this is always a highlight! Thanks to the Ontario Provincial Police for taking the time to make this happen.
The Bogie Men, from Calabogie, fielded two Honda Civics on their home track where they absolutely held an advantage regarding track knowledge. That helped here when the door was closed as they sought to pull off an inside pass. At speed in fourth gear, I worried about the outcome, however, in the inset you can see all is well and I believe the pass was completed.
Here our Miata had just passed one of the Bogie Men but they finished ahead of us in the standings. I think we placed well at 14th overall considering we started six laps down.
After the race the top five finishers are impounded, up on jack stands, and open for all competitors and spectators to view. The two pictures above are Saturday's top five.
