[Fot] Mosport Report (VARAC) Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

[Dennis DeLap]

Russ! - A glowing report.
Sounds like Canada won the war.
And what about that Mark Wheatley? Isn't he a Kastner Kup winner - I thought that building your own engine was one of the criteria when being considered for that trophy.

-----Original Message-----
From: "Spitfire Racing via Fot" <fot at autox.team.net>
Sent: ‎6/‎19/‎2018 4:33 PM
To: "'Jerry Van Vlack'" <jerryvv at roadrunner.com>
Cc: "fot at autox.team.net" <fot at autox.team.net>
Subject: [Fot] Mosport Report (VARAC) Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Well it was a weekend of high attrition for Triumphs!
The weather was picture perfect with the exception of high winds on Wednesday and a bit on Thursday which eliminated the desire to erect canopies and open awnings on motorhomes. Temperatures were in the mid seventies and low eighties with a pleasant breeze.
 
Henry Frye and his lightening fast TR-250 is out for the season after his surgery. Mark Wheatley checked on a “noise” in his TR-4 and discovered his valves were engaging his liners. The “builder” hadn’t cut eyebrows for clearance and whoever last decked the block had it just about a polished surface and a coolant leak was also observed. So Mark was on the trailer after the practice day session. Leo Oddi (TR-250) put a window in his block when rod #5(I think) cut loose! So he was on the trailer. Another TR-3, that of Rick McCurdy was put into the wall in turn 10 so he was out of it. There were a handful that had registered and were no shows. There were four Spitfires, Marty Sukey had never been there before so he was learning the course and had a minor mechanical issue or two but his speed was picking up. My engine is suffering and down on power which I knew and the three other Spitfires had a good very close run where there was less than a second separating us. Donny Sopp was in the lead at the checker.
Brian Scharano (GT-6) was suffering with a problematic clutch master. I had him use engine oil in it realizing the higher viscosity would allow him to at least finish his day, which it did. He was running well otherwise and completed his sessions. Bill Rampe’s Spitfire developed a miss after some quick runs and he went on the trailer. There was a TR-8 somewhere out there but we never saw him; also another GT-6. Dean Tetterton didn’t make it with his TR-4 unfortunately. It’s always a pleasure talking with Dean. A true southern gentleman.
 
John Styduhar was awarded the Group 44Inc Trophy at the Saturday night banquet based on speed, preparation, willingness to assist other racers, and car handling. Congrats to John. Well done!
 
There were over sixty cars in both the small and large bore Vintage grids to start with which made things pretty hectic and getting everyone lined up in order was tedious and saw most of us stopped  on an uphill as we waited and inched closer to the grid. Rough on clutches for sure! To further complicate the lining up were a few vehicles blocking access. Sunday in the midst of “the wait” one of the cars burst into flames as it sat in very close proximity to the fueling station. (3 1000 gallon tanks) The car got toasted a bit but the driver got out okay. Could have been far worse. Never a dull moment.
 
On Saturday there was a fatality in the F-5000 group and the entire track was shut down for the investigation to take place. All later sessions were cancelled for that day as RCMP took over the corner which protocol mandates it be investigated as a crime scene. I spoke with Chris Myers, the head MG guy and we both agreed to drop the Triumph MG Challenge race to allow VARAC to try to get sessions in for all. It seemed the right thing to do in light of the circumstances.
 
The last session for vintage small bore was scheduled for Sunday at 4:30 and there were 9 cars that went out, I was not one of them nor were there any other Triumphs and I don’t recall any MG’s either. All in all it was a good event for seeing old friends and some new ones but not for long as the attrition caused departures.
 
It’s still my favorite event and the Friday paddock “crawl” was great and our hosts were gracious as always. Live bands on Friday and Saturday nights.
The “wings; ribs; pulled pork and beer” stop was strategically located next to the Triumph paddock which was convenient. There were also a dozen or more types of subs at one of the other “stops” and of course beer. 
Even though I was down considerably on power I had a good time and it’s always great spending times with friends. We stayed in the paddock Sunday night and departed on Monday morning.
 
I couldn’t help thinking of Jeff Green’s wife who was there and saw the incident that killed her husband. 
I know the hazard is always there but something like this really brings it to the front.
 
 
Russ Moore
 
 
From: Fot [mailto:fot-bounces at autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Jerry Van Vlack via Fot
Sent: Monday, June 18, 2018 7:30 AM
To: FOT
Subject: [Fot] Race Reports please
 
How did the Triumphs do at Mosport and Blackhawk Farms this past weekend?
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