CACC Race #6, Last of the season.

[bertvorgon]

As Title says, last race of the season and weather so far looks to be perfect.

Matt and I will be out on Saturday, Matt is recording sound for the
"Women in Motorsport" video.

Sure socked in here right now, a taste of the winter rains to come.

Not ready for dark days and cold......

[bertvorgon]

Well, this is the final report for the season, everybody survived for the most part. A few cars got tore up and
some very un-sportsman like behavior demonstrated by another driver. I have always found the club level racing here a mix of good and bad, I will leave it at that.

I sure missed driving my 510 this year and will make sure I get some good seat time next year, car shows drives, out to the races.

The trees appeared to be on fire as the sun’s rays broke over Mnt. Baker and the Cascades, as I drove down Zero Avenue.

Golden orange and yellow red colours just painted the road ahead of me. Even my G35 seemed to be running so smooth in the morning light, ready to be unleashed on the corners.

Arriving at the track presented the usual quiet of the morning,
half the people not up or arrived yet. The Specialty crew was there, fresh coffee ready and I brought a box of donuts and Timbits, a last blast of a sugar hit to end the season.

As I approached the Specialty pit, my eye could not miss this BMW, starting to glow in the morning sun, which as it turned out is owned by Wouter Bouman. This will be the first time for him to drive the car, having imported it from the Czech Republic. This is a real deal Factory BMW M3 GTR, of which this run came from only 30 made. In looking on the Net, in theory only 10 were made, but, there are so many variations for different homologations in Europe for the different Series. I thought, for a “factory” car, that the construction was quite rough. I am spoiled by Andy’s cars I guess. We also really wondered about the fuel cell right next to the driver.

It has a wonderful history, which I will not go into here. It makes around 450+ HP out of the straight six and WOW, does it ever sound nice going down the front straight. Cool to see a race car that has run at the Nurburgring.

Also out was a GM Players car, a Series for Camaro and Trans-Am cars run in Canada from 1986 – 1992. It also was an insanely competitive race pitting those from the East to the West. Some of the eastern drivers, who I will not name, drove like it was a NASCAR race, thinking nothing of spinning someone out at 130 MPH. One funny story…kind of…was when one of our local boys, who used to wear cowboy boots all the time, stood up on a barrel during the drivers meeting. This was after a season of bumping and banging, mostly from the Eastern drivers. He stood there quietly for a moment, not a sound from the crowd, and then calmly said….: “If anyone takes me out, I will not be mad, or upset…I will just be waiting for you on the next lap!!” No one got taken our during that race!

During Sundays race the Camaro took out two cars that might be close to write off’s according to Andy, and the crazy part, the organizers did not bring him in, with major damage to the right side of the nose of his car.

The morning process began after consuming great quantities of coffee, donuts…And..some homemade cinnamon buns that caused a massive blood sugar spike..YUMMMM.

At 9:15 it was time to warm the car, I got to sit in it and keep the rpm at 2,000, to get the oil warm. Talk about a sensitive throttle!

Practice was just that, laps to make sure all was well.

Tracey’s field of cars was to be quite large, having the faster cars there this weekend.

We put on a fresh set of tires for qualifying, nothing like sticker tires to put down some good times.

By this time the temperature had ramped up, for an October day, to around 28C, prompting me to put the shorts on as it was HOT.

Tracey got a warning flag…..for so called “speeding in the pits”, so she came in, not realizing it was just that, a warning, so actually did not have to come in. This kinda screwed things up as traffic was quite bad, trying to work through from the back.

Her race was got held up majorly due do a BMW hatching something on the main straight, putting down some good oil.

Speaking of BMW’s, Wouter came in suddenly, saying his brakes went away suddenly! It turned out one of the reservoirs had failed. It also had a rear end link fail on the rear anti-roll bar! He did not run on Sunday and said to Andy he was not actually impressed with the performance of the car. Tracey in the Miata was basically with him. This is from the guy with the 900 HP 3 Rotor Mazda, so that maybe speaks for itself. Talk was made of selling the car in the States. It Sounds like he could make some money on it. Wouter did listen to Andy’s suggestion of a Trans-Am car, buy a top dollar one and go from there, and then there is a good series up the Pacific coast to actually use it and have some competition. Mission is such a crappy course for truly fast cars.

Then in the next race, 3 Formula Fords left trails of oil ALL around the track, thus causing a major delay in starting. This has Tracey sitting in the car in pre-grid for almost 45 minutes, and then, at the point the race was to start, it was announced it would be a single file start! Andy made the decision it was NOT worth the risk, what with so much oil/Absorball ALL around the track, to risk the drive. So Tracey came back to the pits, frustrated, but at the same time……The car is still shiny!

I was not there for the Sunday race, but, Tracey qualified on the pole.

As an issue of NON sportsman like behavior, which has been demonstrated over and over again, by a person driving an electric car, which is FAST at the start, BUT the battery drain then kills its speed after about 5 laps, this person does everything to BLOCK who is behind them, which is actually against the rules. I was taken to task back in my race days for waiting for a few friends, so I could race with them…it’s a no-no.

So, that being said, Tracey finally got past that person, when, the transmission had an issue going into fourth gear and she had to coast off the track and wait for a tow after the race.

(I stopped into the shop today and fix was quite simple, the top of the trans and a clevis type pin welded back up on the shifter)

Not a great way to finish the season!

The issue with that driver hopefully will be dealt with next season, as they have also done some very dangerous moves that are outside of the racing norm.

My drive back was virtually a reverse of the morning; the trees alight with the late afternoon sun, and now laying very low on the horizon, as the hold up went past 5 o’clock in the afternoon.

I enjoyed my summer of helping at the track, the camaraderie, the sights and sounds of race cars, the whole experience really!

And, last but not least….the Specialty spread of the lunch buffet did not get any better than that.

Keith law
Sept 10, 2023

[bertvorgon]

I started with the BMW, kinda keep that together. My son Matt was out with me again, getting sound recordings for the video to be produced.

[bertvorgon]

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[bertvorgon]

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[bertvorgon]

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[bertvorgon]

More. Tim Brown brought his Ford GT out for the day, had a VERY interesting time listening to him talk about the race projects that ford is working on and some of the cars. Just bring a very large amount of money...

[bertvorgon]

And...my self portrait #2.....

Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

[icehouse]

racecars are the best. Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!!

[gooned]

Thanks for posting up a great report Keith, shame about the contact issues and the blocking too, some parts of racing I do not miss dealing with.

[bigjim5551212]

The red 240Z is Wynn Hollingshead, the president of the SCCBC. The camaro is Duncan Andersons car. The black Porsche 911 has a 6.2 LS chevy in it.

[Byron510]

Thanks, Keith, for the update back in October. I had hoped to catch you at the 510 Christmas party. Wouter's new toy is interesting. Thanks for the photos as always.
I was ready to race the 510 this last October weekend of the year; the car was loaded on the trailer, and spares and tools were all packed in the truck. My pit crew, Glen, was all ready to go. I was feeling a bit off the night before, not too bad, but a little lightheaded, which is not normal. At 5 am on Saturday morning, I took a covid test and tested positive. I was bummed, as I really wanted to run this last race of the season. But I had to bow out and pack the race car safely in the garage; in fact, the spare tires are still in it.

I did learn a few things this year, but I did not improve on lap times over the previous season, which was disappointing. I did have a pile of fun. But tires were an issue all year. and by September I had all but destroyed my tires that should have easily made a season and a half. Car setup and driving are the main factors the bad tire wear. The highlight of the year was having the Scouts Canada Day in September. I thank the SCCBC for supporting this, as I feel the 150+ youth who attended had a really good time. And I really have to give a big shout-out to my good friend Glen (childhood toy). Without his massive amount of assistance in preparation before the races and at the track, the season would not have happened for me in such an enjoyable way.

Now that the new season is upon us, I have started the race license renewal process. I look forward to my second full season in the 510 this year, running the VRCBC series again (Vintage Racing). This year, our Historic Race Weekend (BCMHR - www.bchmr.ca) will be on August 10 & 11th. Always a good time for us old car farts!

Byron