The weather threatened to soak us all day, but other than an occasional
sprinkle that didn't slow anybody down, the rain held off until the last
race of the day. As the Triumphs and MGs made their way to the grid, the
sky started to look a little threatening, but nothing to tip us off to
the unbelievable deluge that was to come. As the grid marshal held up
the one minute to go sign, a little sprinkle appears. The pace car is in
position, the lights come on, and suddenly the rain starts bucketing. It
was a downpour of incredible volume, but nothing stops the grid marshal
from giving the signal, itâ??s time to go! More than half the cars lined
up either don't go out or follow the pace car back to the pits and never
take the green flag.
The competitors are for the most part in open cars, and by turn two on
the pace lap those of us exposed to the elements are completely soaked.
Nobody to my knowledge is on rain tires, and grip is as expected for
conditions, good luck finding any!
As the field takes the green flag, the rain continues to pour down. The
TR250 starts on the pole, with Canadian Nick Pratt in his uber-fast
Midget on the outside. Knowing visibility will be key, I stomp the go
pedal when the green drops, and keep my eyes up and on the Midget. Nick
can't put the power down and falls in behind in P2. I can't comment on
anything further back in the field, visibility in the mirrors during the
downpour was negligible!
As the field slogs around the Mosport's 2.5 mile track, it is your
typical go as fast as you dare on the straights, get 'er whoa'ed up and
try to find grip around the turns. Great fun... The Midget disappears
into the misty cloud in the rear-view mirror on the straights, only to
reappear on the corners, Nick is doing an amazing job outbreaking me
with tires barely suitable for the dry, but nobody expected these
conditions!
Talking to others, the rain stopped as abruptly as it started after
about 8 minutes. But it came down so hard and fast that we had rivers
crossing in places nobody expects unless you have inherent track
knowledge. Enter Stefan Wiesen, Elva Courier Coupe driver
extraordinaire, and Mosport expert. Those paying attention are going
"Wait, how can an Elva gets to run in the TR-MG Challenge race???"
Stefan's coupe runs an MGB engine, he asked to join the fun, and
naturally the Race Director says yes!
After a couple laps and the rain had moved off the track and I could
actually see more than 50 feet in the mirrors. I see the Midget,
rain-meister Mark Wheatley's TR4 and the Elva. There is not a chance the
track will get anything that resembles decent grip in the remaining
laps, and we continue to contend with the aforementioned river crossings
and a track that, in theory at least, is drying. Stefan is just tearing
it up, having started from the back he has already passed all the
runners and has the caught up with the lead group of cars. He has gotten
around Wheatley's TR4, but I glance in the rear-view mirror to see the
side of Stefan's car, he is spinning. I think to myself oh boy, Stefan
is done. I continue my task, and two corners later Stefan is back! He
has gathered it up and is back in the hunt working on the Midget, he
didnâ??t even lose his position to Mark!
By this point, Nick realizes the Midget does not have the tires to make
a pass for the lead and he backs off a bit. As Stefan working to get
into position to pass Nick, I glance in the rear view to see the Elva
going around a second time! But sure enough, a couple corners later, my
gaze in the rear-view shows Stefan is passing Nick and I realize I'm
going to have to deal with Stefan after all! The next lap Stefan is on
my tail and trying to figure out his move to get around me. He makes two
good attempts to get by in the corners, but just does not have what he
needs to pull it off. As I work my best to hold off Stefan, we get the
one to go sign. I glance in the rear view going up the back straight for
the last time to see Mark has passed the Midget and is motoring past
Stefan who apparently lost a cylinder! It looks like we were heading for
a Triumph One/Two finish! Then, I bobble turn 9 and find myself out of
sorts for the last corner leading to the checkers. Mark is there, got a
much better line through 10, and it was the drag race to the finish.
Mark almost catches me, we finish side by side with a gap of .097
seconds!
Epic Triumph finish!
Nick shared a link to some great pictures of the battle in the rain from
Moss Corner, take a look!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/evangcan/sets/72177720309161059
Henry Frye
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