[Fot] Triumphs at the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix - Mosport

Mon Jun 24 07:55:11 MDT 2024

Great report Henry  ! You were flying!
This was our second visit to Mosport because of all the reasons you stated
, the challenging hairy chested track, a very friendly  race group, and of
course the nightly entertainment , food and beer. Our 1962 1147cc Spitfire
ran well all weekend , handled well  but could use a few more horses up
that long  uphill Andretti straight
The VH4/5 group had two red flagged races unfortunately due to roll overs .
In the fast turn 3  I was on the inside of a GT6 when a Mazda RX3 lost it
and hit the inside wall hard right in front of me , launched into the air
literally feet from my head at one point . See the attached pics on this
code brown moment ! . The driver was not injured but it was a stark
reminder that our sport can be dangerous and never skimp on safety .
Tim Slater
Spitfire #17

Cell: 561-629-3391

On Sun, Jun 23, 2024 at 9:37 AM yellow04 via Fot <fot at autox.team.net> wrote:

> Triumphs invaded the Great White North earlier this month, with many in
> attendance at the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix at Mosport, otherwise known
> as Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. In my opinion, VARAC has turned this
> race into the premier North American Vintage Racing event of the season.
> They have built this event into the most enjoyable, low key festival
> event imaginable.
>
> Can you name another event that puts on a dinner and live music every
> night, including the load-in on Wednesday? Yes, that's 4 nights of food
> and entertainment, which includes free beer every night! Canadian
> hospitality can't be beat, want to load in on Wednesday and not run the
> test day, no problem. Want to stay over Sunday night and get a fresh
> start at your drive home Monday morning? No problem. Mosport is a bucket
> list track that is worth the tow from just about anywhere, and you are
> treated to 8 sessions over 3 days.
>
> Much to the chagrin of the VARAC's race director and MG pilot Dave Good,
> a Triumph won the annual MG/TR Challenge, again. We have a bit of a
> streak going here. I didn't get a qualifying time because of a minor
> suspension snafu, so I started from a grid position of 27th.
> Unfortunately, my good friend and on-track nemesis Nick Pratt broke in
> Practice, so I didn't have the blue Midget to play with. When the green
> flag flew I saw a hole and it felt like I got by half the field before
> turn 1, then on lap 2 I motored by the leaders on the back straight to
> take the lead and run uncontested. Mike Moore took second spot on the
> podium with a great run in his TR4.
>
> In the Porsche vs. the rest of the world "All Comers" race, I did my
> part keeping the podium Porsche-free by running third overall. VARAC
> runs what is best described as bracket racing, you pick the lap time you
> are comfortable with and that is where you are scored. I just happen to
> have a car that runs towards the top of the Over-1:40 bracket, and I
> took the top podium spot for VH3. Yup, a good weekend for the yellow
> TR250.
>
> Mike Deweerd ran the ex-Peter Bulkowski TR8, and with every session more
> and more seconds fell off the lap times. Once Mike gets a handle on this
> beast, watch out! He was two-timing it, with his faithful Green Bean TR4
> running with Vintage Historic grid and the TR8 joining the Classic grid.
> Peter came to offer support and encouragement, and it is always a good
> time when Peter is around!
>
> This was Jason Sukey's first outing at the storied Grand Prix track, and
> he confidently shaved seconds off every session as well, looking awesome
> in his GT6 in the Sunday morning race. Dad Marty's Spitfire didn't fare
> quite as well, but he was all smiles as usual all weekend.
>
> Brian Schirano joined the fun and ran well with his GT6, as did Stewart
> Wigg rounding out the GT6 contingent. Tim Slater towed his Spitfire up
> from rain ravaged South Florida with his dingy strapped on the second
> story of his trailer, (not a joke) and ran as strong as a mortal
> Spitfire can go.
>
> Mark Wheatley didn't have the weekend he had hoped for with his TR4, but
> in the feature race on Sunday afternoon we are pretty confident the
> issue has been identified. The sole sidescreen car at the event was John
> Styduhar with his TR3B, John ran strong all weekend never missing a
> beat.
>
> Mike Moore convinced himself he had enough grip on old tires to not put
> his new ones on, but after spinning in the very high speed turn 8 he
> realized that was not the way to go! No harm, no foul, and hopefully
> lesson learned! Mike ran well when all wheels were pointing the right
> way, he also had a great weekend.
>
> It seems every year we get more Americans to venture north across the
> border to race with us, and every one of them that races this event
> assures me they have put the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix on their permanent
> race schedule! To me, the Mosport experience is what I gauge all other
> tracks by, and to have VARAC put on such an amazing event at a world
> class track, it just doesn't get any better than this!
>
> Cheers
>
> Henry Frye
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