[Fot] Race Report - VARAC Vintage Grand Prix

[John Styduhar]

Thanks Henry for the nice write-up.  All the TR cars performed very well
throughout the weekend.  A testament to the durability of the marque.  Like
Kas said, "never be beaten by equipment".   It really showed up in my run
group.

On Wed, Jun 21, 2023 at 8:50 AM yellow04 via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:

> Following up from yesterday's report on the TR-MG challenge race, the
> rest of the weekend was just as much fun. Two things really pop out at
> you, VARAC has got the "festival event" concept nailed down. The drivers
> and crew had dinner provided Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, with
> free beer every night, lots of socializing and live music. The local
> brewery did 4 special labeled beers, 3 of which I sampled and can say
> they were all quite good. Tons of spectators camping all around the
> track, walking through the paddock, lots of interaction with both
> racers/crews and spectators. Plus, the hospitality shown by VARAC to
> everybody continues to be the top notch. Second, how does 222 miles of
> timed track time at one of the premiere road courses in North America
> for an entry fee of US$508.52 sound? That is not a typo, I was scored
> for 89 timed laps and the entry fee was Canadian$675, my credit card was
> charged US$508.52. My entry fee worked out to $2.29 per mile of track
> time, that is really hard to beat at any track, let alone a bucket list
> track that hosted F1 back in the day!
>
> A word about how the event runs for our cars, VARAC runs two run groups
> of Vintage Historic leading up to the Sunday afternoon feature race, at
> which time the two run groups get combined so we run all Vintage
> Historic cars together. The two groups are divided by classes that are
> set by lap times, you get to chose what class you run! It's all about
> car and driver potential, not displacement.
>
> VH1 runs under 1.35
> VH2 runs between 1.35 to 1.40
> VH3 runs between 1.40 to 1.45
> VH4 runs between 1.45 to 1.50
> VH5 runs between 1.50 to 1.55
> VH6 runs over 1.55
>
> You say that sounds like bracket racing? It is bracket racing! If you go
> faster than your bogey time during the feature race you are disqualified
> from the podium. Also, VARAC rules state your starting position for the
> next race is determined by your finishing position of the last race, so
> if you have an issue you start from where you end up on the results
> sheet and have to work your way back up through the field. The Canadian
> racers are quite competitive, and the vast majority are good, clean
> drivers. Many of them have lots of laps at Mosport, and track knowledge
> is critical here. To run well here, you need to be a quick study as the
> track has very fast blind corners, and realize that middle pedal doesn't
> get a whole lot of use!
>
> As heard from around the paddock, "Those American Triumphs are taking
> all our trophies." Well, we did take home quite the pile of the big
> First Place trophies! In addition to taking the TR-MG Challenge top
> award...
>
> VH3 - Henry Frye, 1st place
> VH4 - John Styduhar, 1st place
> VH6 - Tim Slater, 1st place
>
> I would be remiss to not do a shout-out to John Styduhar. John qualified
> on the pole for his run group, VH4, 5 and 6. It looked like his main
> competition was going to be a very fast Canadian Midget, the two of them
> trading fast laps during qualifying. As the races progressed over the
> weekend, the Midget had an issue and started the next race from the
> back, so John had at least one race without that guy to worry about, but
> a Cortina and a Lotus 7 were all over him until the Midget caught back
> up to the front. In that final race before VH4, 5 and 6 got combined
> with the faster group, John fell back to as far as 5th place early on,
> then worked his way back to the front to take the overall win! For those
> of you keeping track, John's first race wins came last time out at
> Summit Point, so he continues to show what a well prepared and driven
> Triumph is capable of. Well done, John!
>
> Until next time...
>
> Henry Frye
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