Going to vintage races -Mosport

I will be tenting at the Mosport VARAC races on June 21 and 22. I will drive there from Ottawa with my brother in his green Pininfarina Spider.
Drop by and say hello if you see us.

Cheers Ron from Oklahoma

Ditto.

I hope to have the GT6 ready to run.

A.

Well just days from leaving.

2nite I will be working away on the GT6 to make sure it is ready to roll :)

A.

Have fun!

I had hoped to enter with my Spridget (I even called and talked to one of the officials). Part of that event will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sprite.

But a family conflict will keep me home.

Hope to get there next year (I still have 6 other races remaining in '08, so it's not all bad).

RAIN RAIN RAIN RAIN

God, I can't stand this stuff.

Wrenched and wrenched yesterday into the night.

She's ready to rock.

Waiting on the rest of the group to see if they are brave. I'm the only one driving a vintage :)

I had hoped to make the run down - but other priorities have forced me to miss the event.

Hope everybody has a great time...

Please regal us with the stories.

Environment Canada forecast for Peterborough is: Saturday:A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of showers. Low 8. High 23. Sunday:A mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of showers. Low 11. High 22.

(take an extra blanket for those cool nights)

Enjoy... GWGarrard Osgoode, ON

Yeah we are delaying leaving till Friday now.

Which is ok I guess.

Its stopped raining for the time being.

I took the opportunity to steal my son from day care and spend some time with him.

Oh while at Crappy Tire I found an ipod holder/fm/charger unit for $10.00

I'm going to make a cig lighter cable and connect that to my speaker power. Now my ipod will have juice for the entire trip. Yeah.

A.

This is just an FYI and I am guessing that those of you who attended already know this.

But for those who do not know...they lost a driver at the VARAC Mosport event this past weekend. He was apparently a regular at Waterford Hills.

Here's part of a note (below the line) posted by one of my friends on another forum who ran in the event.

"His name was Dino Crescentini and he was driving a Walter Wolf Can-Am car--he apparently got airborne near turn seven, a slight kink on the back straight, and went end-over-end.

The Provincial Police were soon on the scene and their forsensics unit were measuring and documenting the incident--more than two hours after the crash the car was still on the track and at 1:00 PM they called us in for a drivers' meeting and briefly announced his death and that the remainder of the event was cancelled. The announcement was chilling to say the least and we all departed in a somber mood, this after a wonderful weekend where predicted rain materialized only once.

This was the first death in the history of the VARAC festival which will hopefully celebrate the 30th holding of this great event next year."

We witnessed the accident. Our camp site is in the clearing opposite side of the tower. From what we could tell, the car lost some body parts and bounced off the wall flipping through the air before landing on its wheels upright.

It happened too fast and I do not want to speculate.

The car was the one Gilles Villeneuve used at Mosport in 1977.

Certainly curbed my ideas about getting into racing.

Regardless of the class.

I'm still wrestling with I saw.

Talked to a few racer friends who were indeed somber and apologetic.

No one wanted to see the event closed, but the proper thing had to be done. There were also relieved it was just one car and no spectators were hurt.

I have a shot few picts of the aftermath, but will never post it out of respect.

I talked to a few scrutinizers who were at the site near the end of the day, they told me the racers were complaining about them being too strict. Clearly things will change for next year.

So I've taken today off to spend with my son and reflect a little. I can only imagine how tough the news was for Mr. Crescentini team and family. I know his wife was connected right away and she was flying to Canada.

Sorry for the jumbled thoughts... I'll be more focused on Tuesday.

On a positive side, it was a nice weekend and the GT6 was well received at the show. Which was a suitable distraction from the morning events.

A.

Very unfortunate that you were so near to it.

I was at the US Grand Prix in '73 when Francois Cevert died. I still remember it.

And a few years ago, I was in a race at Lime Rock when a driver died in a Radical sports racer after he hit another car. I was about the third car to go by after the crash and it was already obvious that things were grim. They brought out red flags and all us racers pulled over and sat on the track for over a half hour as the ambulance crew did their best. One of my brothers had brought his two young children to this event (it was his first time at Lime Rock). He took the kids and left as soon as he found out what happened.

It can be a cruel pastime....

Yeah I think that is what I'm struggling so much with.

Naturally I feel for the families loss, but now suddenly I'm having to realize a dream of mine, to be a vintage racer is all but shattered.

Lots to reflect and ponder about.

A.

Andre - Becoming a vintage racer doesn't automatically put you on the short list. I don't want to sound callous, and I certainly feel sorry for the Crescentinis' loss, but in my mind Mr Crescentini's desire to participate in the sport outweighed his concern of any risks.

Just driving to watch the races this weekend increased your risks more than if you had stayed home.

GWGarrard

Not callous at all...

And I agree. I ran 350KM (700KM total) to get to the event. Anyone could have ran into me on the way there.

I still have my desire, but this puts a lot of things into perspective.

Positive stuff... Photos. still sorting out the raw... I was playing with my setting so not a lot of decent shots this yr. I need more practice :)

http://www.gt6.ca/mosport/gallery/08raw/index.html

Andre - Super photos...Thanks so much for providing the link. I'd say you've got the camera settings down pretty good - way better than what I can do...

Do you mind if I send the link to a buddy?? He'd be tickled to see photos of himself on the track (yellow MGB #363) (images 9955, and 0094).

Thank you Gordon Garrard Osgoode, ON

Go for it.

I'll be doing a best of series in a bit.

I normally try to hike up to turn 5, but did not this yr.

Did not feel comfortable parking the GT6 up there :)

The GT6 got a lot of attention at the show.

Which struck me as odd.

I was looking at a race prepped spit :)

Andre - I know where there's a race-prepped GT6+ in Manotick....(I doubt he'd be willing to sell - but you never know)

GWGarrard

Really...

God, that would be so cool.

My wife would kill me hehe.

Specially after this weekend.

Really the racing thing will have to wait a while.

Our townhouse would never support the hobby.

Plus all the other kit needed for a race car.

I'll be 33 this fall, my aim is 45. E36 M3 means I have to wait around almost 15 yrs. Boo

:)

I did not go. A friend from Montreal dropped in on the Saturday. Nice pictures, Andre.

Cheers Ron