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Chris made the trip from Canada with his most ardent supporter and teammate, his dad Michael Boersma, along with fellow R-Division teammates James Houghton and Eric Lavinge. At Buttonwillow they met up with Canadian William Au-Yeung and his PZ Tuning team. James and William were both competing in the highly competitive Unlimited FWD class. Having a great team around for support and encouragement is absolutely outstanding. Chris and James, both R-Division drivers, work together with Michael and Eric to keep their cars in pristine race condition. Friendships at the track defy border lines and no passports are required and, as the times continued to fall with each track session, Chris was possibly the second most watched car of this two day event. Second next to Dai Yoshihara in the Spoon Sport USA Honda that kept us all in suspense by waiting until the final session of Day 2 to break the historic Unlimited FWD record. Congratulations to a Dai and the Spoon Sport USA who are a great team and fought hard for a great win.
With Phil's Hill in the background, Chris is bringing the #33 car into Sunset corner and then onto the front straight. Buttonwillow's 13CW configuration is a complex course.The question you are probably asking yourself is, How did Chris create such a great record breaking Time Attack machine? When you look at into the history of the car, the question becomes even bigger. Chris bought this 1999 SiR in 2001 as his school and cruise around in car. It also was his work horse, as he drove it regularly in his job making deliveries for a local courier company. After dabbling a bit with drag racing, in 2009 Chris – with only a couple of track days under his wheels – got involved with CSCS Time Attack events. From these first events, Chris has had his dad, Michael, at his side supporting him both at the track and also in the garage as they built the car into the machine you see today.
Whether in the garage or on pit row, if Chris is there then most likely his dad is also! This grid line discussion is taking place on the second day of the Super Lap Battle. I don't know what was said, but my guess is Michael is saying 'Okay, Chris. You've got the record. Now go out and show them what you can really do!'Entering Time Attack with a car that was virtually stock and running on six year old street rubber was likely not the best move to cement a career in Time Attack. Having the shift lever break the first time out is likely enough to cause most novices to hang up their racing gloves. That did not happen to the Boersma's. Rather, they were hooked and as a team they have grown into this unbeatable combination. Michael is not only the mechanic of this duo, but he is the visionary who sees and pursues enhancements for the car. For example, the current aero setup. Without any hesitation Chris points out that when they are stuck that it is his dad who finds the solution. Not that it has been an easy road to victory as they have had their share of ups and downs. Chris admits that in his initial time attack years he made the error of assuming that horsepower was the answer – at the expense of handling and driver knowledge. Recognizing his error and his limitations, he retrained himself as a driver and improved the car's handling and braking capabilities. This is how I first met Chris and Michael, as they both attended an Ontario Time Attack High Performance Driving School where I was an instructor. Not Chris's instructor, I cannot take any credit for this man's driving skill.
Chris is not a member of the MotoIQ team (yet) but this is a picture that I couldn't pass up. The R-Division team was in the garage space right beside the MotoIQ garage that housed Clint Boisdeau and Karla Pestotnik. Chris laughed when I asked about his mascot. Sparkie substituted ages ago for Michael at an event that he couldn't attend. Sparkie got a 'Michael' nametag and was the surrogate dad for the day – and hasn't missed an event since.2015 has unquestionably been Chris' favourite season. Not only has his ability caught up to the car, but he has vastly improved the car after the 2014 season to make it the track beast that it is. The car is both realiable and powerful – more powerful than it has ever been. Even so, Chris says that the car is now far easier to drive because it is so well-balanced. It literally inspires confidence and urges Chris to push it harder. This 1999 Civic has a bolt in Kirk Roll Bar. Under the GTA ruleset, the rear seasts, carpeting, and sunroof have all been deleted. It still has power windows and power door locks. The front interior is still in place. This car is built for Global Time Attack!
