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WELCOME TO THE 43RD VARAC VINTAGE GRAND PRIX PRESENTED BY EBAY MOTORS
Welcomegals and guys and thank you for joining us for the 43rd running of the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix Presented by eBay Motors, one of the largest vintage race weekends in Canada. The Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada [VARAC) was founded back in 1976 and is still going strong in 2023. Now that COVID is in the rearview mirror, we can get back to what we do best, and that’s racing, and meeting old friends we race with, and lying about how fast and good we are. So, let’s go racing.
This year we have race groups comprised of Vintage Historics, including cars built before 1973, Classic group cars that were built before 1999, a new Modern Classic group comprised of production cars built up to 2006, and Formula Classic also known as Monoposto. We are also happy to welcome back the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship series.
New for 2023, we are also pleased to welcome – for the first time – the Vintage Sports 2000 racers who primarily race in the US and have ventured north to Canada to participate in this year’s Grand Prix. VARAC would like to welcome them to our event, this year, and for years to come.
We have with us again Mini Meet North who will be on the grass at Corner 2, and also on track Saturday for parade laps during the lunch break. Please take a walk and see these beautiful cars.
Sunday morning, the ‘Field of Dreams’ car show will take place at Corner 8. And at noon, these amazing vintage cars – including the Mazdas – will be doing parade laps, on the track.
We couldn’t hold this event without our partners at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP). The VARAC Vintage Grand Prix is run as a joint effort by VARAC and CTMP. Without their expertise and efforts, as well as access to their world class facilities, we would be hard-pressed to make this event as large and successful as it has become.
We would also like to thank eBay Motors for their participation in this year’s event, as the new presenting sponsor of the VVGP.
On behalf of VARAC, we’d like to thank the staff at CTMP for making this a world class event. We would also like to thank the hundreds of volunteers who are working on our behalf, thereby allowing us to do something we love to do ... go racing! VVGP
PETER LAMBRINOS
VARAC VINTAGE GRAND PRIX DIRECTOR
by
John Hawkes President
Dave Good Race Director
Tammy Moore Secretary
Gavin Ivory Treasurer
Ed Luce Membership
Del Bruce Vice President, Classic
Doug Switzer | Vice President, Formula Classic
Brian Thomas | Vice President, Vintage/Historic
Ivan Samila Conduct Chair
Chris Rupnik Eastern Director, Rules & Regulations
Martino Beretta Communications & IT Director
Peter Lambrinos VGP Director
Gord Ballantine Deputy Conduct Chair
Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada, 10539 Community Centre Rd, Baltimore, ON KOK 1CO
The 2023 VARAC Vintage Grand Prix program was produced by Inside Track Communications Inc.
P.O. Box 370 Brights Grove ON N0N 1C0
Phone: 416-962-7223 Fax: 416-962-7208
Website: www.insidetracknews.com
Publishers: Greg MacPherson, David Weber
Sales Manager: Mike Galipeau
Sales: Brad Hulton, Taylor Thring
Production/Editorial: James Neilson, Elisa Ward
Contributors: Jeremy Sale, Bryce Turner, Dave Wood
Photographer: Richard Coburn
All rights reserved. Reproduction without prior written permission of Inside Track Communications Inc. is strictly prohibited. VVGP
By Dave Wood / VARAC
The 2023 VARAC Vintage Grand Prix Presented by eBay Motors is a worldclass celebration of vintage car racing that traces its history to VARAC’s first event, in 1979, at Shannonville Motorsport Park. Forty-four years later, the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix has grown to the largest event of its kind in Canada. With the support of our event partner, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, VARAC has successfully operated the Vintage Grand Prix on the facility’s historic Mosport Grand Prix Circuit. For Canadian racers ad fans, this is truly hallowed ground. Founded in 1976, VARAC was created to provide a friendly, competitive environment to people who love racing vintage cars. The club currently boasts well over 200 members and is one of the founding clubs of the Vintage Motor Council, a collection of vintage racing organizations from across North America. To present period-correct grids, VARAC’s racing vehicles are divided into the following classes.
This class includes classic pre-war, single-seat, sports cars, and post-war T-series MG race cars.
This is the most popular vintage class and is widely considered the most affordable to get on track. This class consists of cars like the Austin Healey Sprite and 3000, Lotus Seven, Triumph TR3/4, MGA, Porsche 356, and other mass-produced street cars. Cut cut-off date for this car is Dec. 31, 1961.
Later than Vintage Production and featuring Sprite/Midget, MGB, Lotus Elan, Shelby GT350, as well as various sports cars and Trans-Am cars. Mini Cooper S race cars are plentiful and fast in this class. Volvos, Cortinas and Escorts are popular, too. The class cut-off date is December 31, 1972.
The Classic grid, previously known as Group 70+ and Group 90, includes production-based and purpose-built race cars that were designed to race in IMSA, Trans-Am, SCCA and CASC GT. An exciting mix of style and speed, these grids feature Corvettes, Mustangs, Camaros, Ferraris, BMWs, Porsches and similar. Classic vehicles are from the years 1973 through 1997. This grid now includes Modern Classic, an extension of the Classic division for cars from 2000 - nominally 2005.
Formula Classic is VARAC’s open-wheel or Formula Car grid and can include a wide range and mix of special-built, open-wheel cars, including Formula Juniors, Formula Fords, Formula Vee’s and 1200s, and Indy cars. As well, the class features F5000 cars and other examples of Formula cars from the iconic series’ that ran from the ‘60s through the ‘90s. This grid showcases great examples of the evolution of race car technology over the last 60 years.
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Also participating in this year’s VARAC Vintage Grand Prix Presented by eBay Motors are the following classes:
Sports 2000 is a restricted-rules class of two-seat, mid-engine, open-cockpit, full-bodied sports-prototype racecars. The key attributes of the class are a body design reminiscent of two-liter Group 6 sportscars, but with an ultra-reliable and inexpensive drivetrain comprised of a 2-liter ‘Pinto’ overhead camshaft engine (with very limited modifications allowed), coupled to either the Hewland Mk 9 transaxle or the Staffs gearbox, using Hewland internals.
The prevalent marques in this class include Lola, Swift, Reynard, Van Diemen, Shrike, Royale, Tiga and March.
F1600 is an entry-level class of single-seat, open-wheel formula race cars. A global class, it has been the gateway to stardom for several prominent Canadian and international
(Above) The Toyo Tires F1600 Championship is returning to compete for the Clubine Cup at the 2023 VARAC Vintage GP.
racers, including Josef Newgarden, Conor Daly, James Hinchcliffe and Kyle Marcelli. More recently, Canadians Zacharie Robichon and Mac Clark have honed their craft in the Toyo Tires F1600 Championship. This class features aspiring young races starting their careers, as well as veterans who crave competitive, open-wheel racing. VVGP
Group 1 Vintage Historic A, 1, 2, and 3 (VH < 1:45 lap times)
Group 2 Vintage Historic 4
Group 3 Vintage Historic 5 & 6. VH6 recognized for VVGP only Group 2 & 3 Combined-designation VH > 1:45
Group 4 Classic/Modern Classic 3, 4 & 5 (CL/MC > 1:40)
Group 5 VH over 2500,Classic B, A, 1, 2; Modern CL B, A, 1, 2 (VH (Hvy) CL/MC <1:40)
Group 6 Formula Classic All (FC)
Group 7 Toyo F1600 Championship
Group 8 NA Vintage S2000
FRIDAY, JUNE 16
7:45 a.m. Mandatory Drivers’ Meeting at CTMP Podium. New VARAC Drivers to Vintage Grid for a discussion immediately following this meeting
8:30
Group 1 kicks off the event in the early morning on Friday.
party on the
NOTE: There is a slight change in the running order, on Saturday, compared to the Friday schedule.
SUNDAY, JUNE 18
6:00 p.m.
7:30 p.m. ‘Fun Comes Fast’ party in the Lower Paddock
SATURDAY, JUNE
7:45
This race will recognize FC Class winners as well as Open-Wheel Mazda-powered winners 2:08 p.m. FR23 Group 4 CL/MC > 1:40 22 2:40 p.m. FR24 Group 7 Toyo F1600 22 3:12 p.m. FR 25 Group 5 VH (Hvy) CL/MC <1:40 22 3:44 p.m. SpR3 Ludwig Heimrath Open Wheel Challenge
4:15 p.m. SpR4 Rudy Bartling Nation’s Cup 20 End Of Event. Safe travels! Thanks to all the volunteers! VVGP
Story by Bryce Turner / Inside Track Motorsport News
The43rd annual VARAC Vintage Grand Prix presented by eBay Motors, one of five major events on the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) calendar, will once again feature a packed schedule of activities both on and off the track.
The VARAC racing itself will be split into three divisions –Vintage Historic (VH), Classic and Formula Classic (FC), all of which have multiple classes. VH features cars from pre-1972, such as Mazda, Ginetta, Lola, Mini, Triumph, MG, Volvo, Porsche, and Austin-Healey.
The Classic division has an assortment of cars that you’re more likely to see on the streets, with models from 1973 to 2006, including makes such as Porsche, Mazda, BMW, Audi, Ford, Honda, Toyota, Mercedes and Chevrolet. Worth noting is the addition of Modern Classic vehicles this year, allowing cars up to the more recent 2006 date to be included.
While those two divisions have full-bodied, closed-wheel machines, FC will provide a taste of open-wheel cars that ran competitively in their day and time, between 1966 and 2000. Van Diemen, Crosslé, Lola, BRD and Lotus are among the manufacturers found in FC.
The VH division will split its car count into six classes, based on lap times, where the faster classes will make up one grid and the slower classes will make up a second grid. VH5 covers lap times over 1:50, VH4 has 1:45-1:50, VH3 has
1:40-1:45 and VH2, VH1 and VHA classes have cars lapping CTMP in under 1:40.
Classic will also be split into two grids/six classes, with classes separated at the same intervals, while FC will be split into seven classes, grouped by vehicle year and type.
In addition to the three VARAC divisions, a pair of touring series will make stops at the Vintage Grand Prix. The Toyo Tires F1600 Championship will be the one exception to the vintage rule for on-track competition, with the entry-level series campaigning modern-day open-wheel cars. F1600 is a step on the racing ladder, with some aspiring talent found on its roster.
The other touring series is S2000, which is made up of vintage entries largely from the United States. S2000 was originally invited to take part pre-pandemic and will now get their opportunity to tackle the 11-turn circuit.
“Come out and watch cars that your parents drove you in, that’s basically what it is,” said Vintage Grand Prix director Peter Lambrinos. “Vintage racing is special. It’s about the comradery; you meet a lot of people at vintage racing, we’ve made a lot of friends. VARAC is one of the largest, if not the largest, vintage racing organizations in Canada. We have 250 to 300 members who like to race.”
Overall, there are 190 to 200 cars expected to take part in competition during the Vintage Grand Prix.
Mazda is the featured marque at this year’s event and will
get the honour of being centre stage in a pair of specialty races. The Rudy Bartling Nation’s Cup Challenge will feature ‘Mazda versus the World,’ where the manufacturer will be pitted against rival brands, while the ‘All-Mazda’ race will see the cars pitted against each other.
There will also be the MG Triumph race, with the fastest MG and fastest Triumph finishing on top, plus the Ludwig Heimrath Open-Wheel Challenge. Races will be anywhere from 20 to 25 minutes in length, being held between 8:30 a.m. and 5 or 5:30 p.m. (depending on breakdowns and issues on-track) on both Saturday and Sunday.
All grids will have four races, with two on each day. Practice and qualifying will take place Friday, with an orientation day on Thursday for drivers new to the track, so they can familiarize themselves and get their cars in tune. The Friday to Sunday action will be open to the public, which came out in strong numbers last year.
“You see a lot of racing when you come to our Vintage Grand Prix…and it’s fun to watch,” said Lambrinos. “We invite spectators to come; a lot of spectators come and camp over the weekend, it’s a family event where you can bring your kids and have a wonderful time.”
There will be no shortage of off-track activities as well, to keep fans and participants entertained when the track goes silent. Starting on Thursday evening, following orientation day, there will be a BBQ and live music, with the band ‘Who Stole the Cookies?’ performing. Publican House Brewery from Peterborough, ON will provide beer for the weekend.
On Friday, VARAC will hold a reception at the end of the day, with the ‘John Greenwood Awards Banquet’ being named in honour of an original VARAC member. More live music will follow, with ‘Fun Comes Fast,’ a band made up of racers; the group has performed at the Vintage Grand Prix for the last few years.
Saturday will feature Mini Meet North, a meet-up of car clubs, with Austin Minis, Mini Cooper and Cooper S models. The group will have track time during the lunch break.
On Saturday evening, the ‘CPS Paddock Crawl’ will have food stations set up in the paddock, with BBQ ribs and wings at one stand and submarine sandwiches at another. Publican House will provide refreshments and the band ‘Mudmen’ will perform at the top of the hill. This event is sponsored by CPS Flooring.
The off-track activities will conclude with the ‘Field of Dreams’ car show on Sunday morning, featuring a variety of performance vehicles at turn eight. The vehicles from the car show will then embark on parade laps around CTMP during the lunch break. VVGP
Story by Bryce Turner / Inside Track Motorsport News
Eachyear, the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix presented by eBay Motors celebrates a manufacturer as its featured marque. With a wide array of brands represented in VARAC competition, there is no shortage of options to choose from for this distinction and it’s a relative newcomer in Mazda that gets the honours for 2023.
The decision-making process started when driver Russ Bond approached Vintage Grand Prix director Peter Lambrinos with the idea to have Mazda become a featured marque. Bond races Mazda’s across two VARAC divisions and hosts a segment on TSN’s Motoring TV .
“It rotated for years, it seemed to be MG and then Triumph…then Peter brought up Volvo a couple of years ago and that worked out good, so I just put up (the idea) that maybe we can try to get enough Mazda’s to come out,” said Bond. “It’s good to see something new, (something) other than the traditional vintage brands.”
son; he was the only driver representing the brand in Vintage Historic. For 2023, Bond will now have a fellow Mazda driver in that class too, after selling an RX3 to Bert Dupuis.
Bond races a 1972 Mazda RX3 in the VH2 class of Vintage Historic, where he finished third in the drivers challenge standings last year and races a 1998 Mazda RX3 in the Classic division. His first experience with Mazda came in the 1970s before he returned to the brand when he started vintage racing several years ago.
Bond says the RX3 is not the greatest race car; he says it’s a lot noisier than other cars, has a live axle at the back (instead of independent rear suspension) and is kind of like a box aerodynamically, but he credits the rotary engine for keeping it competitive.
“Because of the rotary, it makes really good power for its size; that can sort of offset a lot of the things,” said Bond. “I think Mazda had the power advantage over the other (sedans), whereas maybe the BMW 2002 and the (Datsun) 510 had the handling and braking advantage. So, I think that’s the difference, the Mazda relies more on power than it does on handling and brakes to get the job done.”
Mazda is represented across all three VARAC divisions. In Formula Classic, Paul Subject topped the points in last year’s F90 class aboard his 1998 Star Mazda. Lewis MacKenzie, Steve McCamus and Kimm MacKenzie all drove Formula Mazdas in the division.
In the Classic division, Bond was joined by Ted Michalos, Steve Gidman, Stephen DiCesare and Christie Marks last sea-
This group will be competing against each other throughout the year but will have the unique opportunity to work together at the Vintage Grand Prix, thanks to Mazda being the featured marque. The Rudy Bartling Nation’s Cup Challenge is an annual tradition where drivers running the featured marque attempt to outrun other manufacturers.
“It’s a team race, where one side of the grid is all Mazdas and the other side of the grid is all other brands,” said Bond. “Then we have a race and whichever team gets five or six cars across the line first ends up winning the team championship. It’s good, we all have to kind of work together and just try to get to the front as quick as we can.”
The role of Mazda as featured marque is also notable since the manufacturer has not been historically prominent in VARAC, particularly in the Vintage Historic class. Bond says that it’s hard to find a lot of cars with the old rotary engines around and that attracting Mazda’s for this year’s Vintage Grand Prix has been a challenge.
“There’s not that many racing anymore and some of the ones that are racing, like the Miatas and the MX5s, they’re a little too new for VARAC competition,” said Bond. “It’s been tough trying to find RX2s, RX3s, RX4s, Cosmos, to get those to come out; also (due to) the options in the United States with a lot of different series down there. It’s been a little bit of a struggle, but I think we’ll have a good turnout.”
Off the track, there will also be an increased presence for Mazda when it comes to one of Sunday’s regular events.
“Stephen DiCesare, one of our Mazda racers, has been working with the Mazda clubs of Ontario and Canada to attract Mazda clubs to come to our event this year, and Mazda will be in the Field of Dreams parade,” said Lambrinos. “So, we’re hoping to have 20 or 30 streetcar Mazdas at our event.”
The ‘Field of Dreams’ car show will take place in the morning, at turn eight, before the vehicles circle the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park circuit for parade laps during the lunch break.
In professional racing series, the focus is on winning races with the latest modern machinery. Mazda has experienced its share of success over the years in IMSA, the Road to Indy and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but in vintage racing, the emphasis is on more than just victories – it’s also the sentimental connection between racers and their cars.
“I like the shape of the RX3, I had one back when I was in high school, so that’s sort of the thing for me,” said Bond. “Most people who I know that race vintage cars had those cars back in the day, when they were younger, and they now have a chance to go vintage racing, so they try to find the
Story by Bryce Turner
The 44th annual VARAC Vintage Grand Prix will take place in 2024 and, despite there being more than a year to go, preparations are already underway for the event.
The featured marque will be Porsche, a brand that’s well-represented in VARAC competition and popular amongst sports car enthusiasts. Vintage Grand Prix director Peter Lambrinos says that the manufacturer was the featured marque about 8 to 10 years ago and their presence in the series was part of the reason to feature them again.
“They’re very prominent,” said Lambrinos. “In terms of the Porsche vehicles themselves, in VH3 we have the 914 Porsche and 911 Porsche. They’re more prominent in the Classic series, (where) we have 944s, 911s, 924s, 924Ss, 911SC.”
Lambrinos says there are about 20 to 25 Porsches running this year, across seven classes. The idea to bring them back as featured marque for 2024 came from a long-time Porsche racer.
In addition to their representation in VARAC, Porsches have remained competitive as well. Tim Sanderson (1982 Porsche 911SC), Michael Sylvestre (1987 Porsche 944), Del Bruce (1972 Porsche 914) and Robert Offley (1972 Porsche 911)
same kind of car.”
With a range of Mazda’s from the 1970s to the 1990s competing on-track and the street-driven Mazdas, belonging to car club members, taking part in off-track activities, the Vintage Grand Prix will provide an opportunity for Mazda enthusiasts to get their fix of nostalgia, both in the driver’s seat and in the stands. VVGP
combined for nine podium finishes in last year’s Vintage Grand Prix. Sanderson led the way with four of those results.
Most Porsches can be found in the Classic division, featuring cars from 1973 to 2006. Offley finished runner-up in the fastest ‘A’ class last season, while Porsche made up second through sixth place in the next-fastest ‘1’ class drivers challenge standings.
Looking ahead to next year’s event, Lambrinos hopes to attract more racers from outside of Canada. That number saw a boost this year with borders re-opened to non-essential travel, allowing the S2000 series to make its Vintage Grand Prix debut after initially being invited pre-pandemic. The S2000 field at this year’s event is slated to include 20 entries from the United States compared to just two from Canada.
“Porsche is going to be the feature, so we’re hoping to get a lot of cars from the United States,” said Lambrinos. “This year, we have about 50 to 75 race cars coming from across the border to Canada, so we’re looking to grow that and have a lot of the American Porsches come up to Canada to race in our event.”
Next year’s Vintage Grand Prix is tentatively scheduled for the traditional Father’s Day weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, which will land on June 13-16, 2024. VVGP
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In2008, brothers Marty and Mike Laskaris co-founded Publican House Brewery located at 300 Charlotte St. in Peterborough, Ontario. The business includes the brewery, a retail store and the Publican House Brew Pub that is housed in a historical building that dates to the 1860’s.
Over the years, Publican House Brewery’s unique brands of beer have won awards at both the Canadian and Ontario Brewing Awards and has grown into an important part of Peterborough and the Kawarthas community.
“Marty was inspired while living on the west coast, decided to open a brewery and partnered with a local Brew Master to open Publican House,” said Publican House Brewery Sales Manager, Scot Curry. “Marty has a real passion for craft beer.”
And thanks to a long-time connection to VARAC Vintage Grand Prix Director, Peter Lambrinos, Publican House Brewery will be available at the 2023 edition of the popular vintage event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
“Peter reached out to us,” said Curry. ‘Peter, Marty, and Mike went to high school together and Peter was looking to work with a local brewery for the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix. We are excited to be a part of this event, and it will be great to introduce the brands to a new audience as we are only 30 minutes away from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.”
Publican House Brewery will be crafting a unique beer specifically for the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix. Everyone who registers for the event will receive two tickets and one free beer per ticket to the Paddock Crawl on Friday night, which will feature food stations and live music.
“The beer is a unique, light, four-percent lager with a custom can,” said Curry.
Publican House Brewery is tied to the Publican House Brewpub. The Brewpub, founded in 2017, features a wood-fired pizza oven, beer pairing options and daily specials, all with a focus on locally sourced products.
The Brewpub features Publican House Brewery beers, crafted on site, along with specialty brews developed monthly and available exclusively at The Publican House, along with locally produced craft beer, wine and spirits.
“Our focus with the restaurant is to provide a wonderful dining experience,” said Curry. In addition to food and drink, the Brewpub also hosts live music events featuring local artists on Thursday and Friday evenings from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
More recently, Publican House Brewery expanded with the purchase of the Kawartha Lakes Brewing Company brand in 2019. The original Kawartha Lakes Brewing Company launched in 1996 and produced the award-winning KLB
Raspberry Wheat. The brands were purchased by Amsterdam Brewery in the early 2000s and were brought back to Peterborough in 2019. Publican House continues to produce the KLB Raspberry Wheat beer and are now building on the Kawartha Lakes Brewing Company brand with new recipes as well as some of their classics.
(Top) The Publican House Brewery was founded in 2008 and since grown to include an on-site pub, and the Kawartha Lakes Brewing Company Brand. Photos Courtesy Publican House Brewery
Publican House Brewery is community focused and is giving back by supporting several community-based organizations, including The Peterborough Human Society and the Canadian Canoe Museum. A portion of the sales from their Pet Pilsner and Paddlers Ale are donated directly to these organizations.
For more information about Publican House Brewery, Publican House Brewpub and Kawartha Lakes Brewing Company and their selection of unique craft beers or to shop online, please visit www.publicanhouse.com. The Publican House and KLB brands are also available at The Beer Store, LCBO, select grocers and restaurants. VVGP
St-Constant, QC Levac Brothers
South Woodslee, ON
Chatham, ON
ON
Austin Mini Saskatoon, SK
Triumph TR4 Woodstock, ON
& 6
Mirco Peretto VH-5 1963 MG Midget Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu,
Sponsor(s)
GROUP 4: CLASSIC & MODERN CLASSIC: 3, 4 & 5, CONT’D
Sponsor(s)
Caledon, ON Westowne Mazda/Red Line Oil
Porsche 924S
Loretto, ON Mason’s Ridge Vintage
Scarborough, ON
Mercury Cougar Belleville, ON NAPA Napanee/ Pringle Ford Napanee
Graphics
CPA
No. Name Class Vehicle
12
Hometown
Sponsor(s)
Keith Lobban F1600A 1994 Van Diemen RF94\Honda Caledon, ON Deep Thought
35 James Lindsay F1600A 2012 Mygale Sj2012H Waterford, ON Precision Hydration
42 ...... Graham Lobban........... F1600A ... 1998 Van Diemen RF98\Honda............ Cambridge, ON ............................ Jaftrman’s Garage
44 Conner Janeteas F1600A 2021 Spectrum 015\Honda Toronto, ON CC Motorsports / SOYER
45 Cole Janeteas F1600A 2021 Spectrum 015\Honda Toronto, ON CC Motorsports / Group 4
54 Byron Leis F1600A 1998 Van Diemen RF98\Ford Waterloo, ON SPH Engineering Inc.
55 Jonathan Brooks F1600A 2000 Van Diemen RF00\Ford Carleton Place, ON
21 ...... Jeff Bateman ................ F1600B ... 1984 Citation 84F\Ford ............................ Midland, ON ...........................................................................
24 Mike Dodd F1600B 1994 Van Diemen RF94\Ford Milton, ON John Dodd Motorsports
25 Mike Lee F1600B 1992 Van Diemen RF92\Ford East York, ON Blue Gates Productions
27 Dylan McPherson F1600B 1993 Van Diemen RF93\Ford Quinte West, ON McPherson Racing
32 Andrew Mason F1600B 1990 Van Diemen RF90\Ford Oakville, ON Mason Racing
Kari Salo F1600B 1990 Van Diemen RF90\Ford Gormley, ON KTS Racing
...... Percy Adler .................... F1600B ... 1989 Adler P14 FF........................................ Consecon, ON .............................. Adler Metal Works
Michael Stewart F1600B 1993 Van Diemen RF93\Ford Fenwick, ON Stonehenge AG
Bill Tebbutt F1600B 1990 Van Diemen RF90\Ford Mississauga, ON Blue Dread Racing
Jason Sharpe F1600B 1990 Van Diemen RF90\Ford Scotland, ON Britain West Motorsport
Story by Jeremy Sale / VARAC
If you are checking this out, I’m guessing that you have an interest in knowing more about vintage racing! So why not take the next step? All the people you see racing this weekend started off not knowing how to get started. We all found a group of people in VARAC who wanted to help us get the most from the vintage racing experience.
The cars we race range from as recently as 1999 back to pre-war machines. Somewhere in that range of years is likely a car that you have a fondness for. Maybe you have even thought about getting onto a racetrack and living your dream.
Well, VARAC is here to help you have the most fun you can have in a car without getting a ticket! In Canada, VARAC (Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada) is the representative body for vintage racing.
We would like you to join us out on the track!
Here are a few tips:
The first thing to do is get a membership. You will then find yourself in the company of a great bunch of very helpful people who will help get you onto the track in the right car. Please don’t assume that whatever car you may own, or be interested in buying or restoring, is appropriate or legal. It might not be. So please don’t spend a nickel until you have talked to us and done the research. You can buy a race-ready car for anywhere from about $10,000 up to lottery winner dollars.
Second, buy a car that has been raced and has at least been deemed legal by VARAC. You will avoid any problems that way. However, should you already have a street legal or race car that you want to race, get in touch with the VARAC
Eligibility Chairman first to see what you can and cannot do to your car. Why? Well, there’s nothing more frustrating than having a keen new member show up with a car that’s not eligible to race. You will save time and money by asking the right questions and getting advice before you do unnecessary work.
Third, there are many VARAC members ready to help you. People with a similar car to yours (MGBs, Alfa Romeos, Porsches, etc.) are happy to share tips, where to get spare parts or find mechanics to race prepare cars. After all, the more cars we can get out on the track, the happier we are.
If we can get you out on the track, you will be happy too!
To summarize, get a membership, then join the VARAC chat group and start asking questions, including how to get a race licence and last, but not least, decide on what car you want to race (check the VARAC classified ads for cars. It’s less expensive to have a car that’s strictly for the track than to try to race a street legal car.
Are you ready to be a racer? And is this really racing? The first question only you can answer. The answer to the second question is most definitely yes! When you’re at the wheel of your race car, going into Turn 8 on the Mosport Grand Prix Circuit – and there’s another driver going for the same corner – believe me, it’s racing!
Remember, there will be no fender rubbing or you will get a visit from the race stewards! Bottom line? If you do have the right attitude, you will meet a great bunch of people and have a ball racing with fellow motorsport enthusiasts.
Check us out at VARAC.ca! Ask some questions. We are ready to help you! VVGP
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