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from theEDITOR’S

by NEAL JONES I EXECUTIVE EDITOR

DESK

A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER A

s a motorsports fan who grew up during the explosion of corporate sponsorships and big money contracts, it can be difficult to look back to the era when drivers were more accessible and personalities shined.

Luckily, I got a chance to experience this at this year’s Canadian Grand Prix when F1 Correspondent Dan Knutson and I sat down to chat with Sir Jackie Stewart. Sitting with the three-time World Champion illustrated how much the world of motorsports has changed since Stewart was winning championships and races.

The Scottish champion was open, honest and above all else, personable throughout our time in the AT&T Williams hospitality area. Stewart currently acts as a global ambassador for the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), an associate sponsor of the Williams team, and travels to each Grand Prix to represent the company’s interests.

In Montreal PRN reminisced with one of the great personalities of the sport and while there were few revelations in our short interview, it did make me feel like I missed something by being a few years late to witness his era of racing first hand.

“Today is always better than in the past,” Stewart said about his era versus the current one. “I am not a person who looks back. I can remember good times and the characters were fantastic. But everybody says, of course, it was much better in your day, the good old days, but really they were the bad old days.

Safety was terrible. I have no regrets. I have been very blessed in this sport. I am here in one piece and I have had great times. But the sport is bigger and better today than when I was there. But it was pretty damned impressive when I was there. I wouldn’t want to change it, but it was just unfortunate that so many good people lost their lives.

Being in Montreal, his experience racing in Canada was something that was of great interest and brought back great memories for the Scotsman.

“Mosport I enjoyed very much,” he said. “I was there in 1967, 40 years ago. I enjoyed St. Jovite, a lovely circuit, probably one of the best backdrops of any circuit in the world. Take out Monaco and then you look at where else there is. Fantastic mountains 12

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

“I am not a person who looks back. I can remember good times and the characters were fantastic. But everybody says, of course, it was much better in your day, the good old days, but really they were the bad old days. Safety was terrible. I have no regrets.

I have been very blessed in this sport. and forests and lakes. I raced Can-Am there as I did in Mosport. Managed to win a couple of Canadian Grands Prix. Montreal is a great destination for a Grand Prix. Melbourne and Montreal are the two favourite Grands Prix with regards to destination, activities surrounding a Grand Prix. And how Montreal adapts to that – every store has a motor racing theme in it – fashions, electronics, sports wear.

Restaurants, hotels. The whole place is good.”

This year marked the 25th Anniversary of Gilles Villeneuve’s death and there were special moments around the circuit to honour Canada’s favourite son.

While Stewart never raced with Villeneuve, he does have fond recollections of the man.

“Many happy memories. He was a friend. And he was always exciting. He was always a guy who, well, the last time I was with him was after the Imola race, the San Marino Grand Prix. I was on the podium. He was very unhappy. That was the time when Pironi went ahead of him. He was supposed to win the race. He was on the podium and I was presenting the champagne, and then he flew me back to Bologna airport in his helicopter, just Joanne, him and myself. And then the next Grand Prix was Zolder, I wasn’t there.”

As we pressed Stewart for more information about his rivals, his smile grew bigger with every name we mentioned. One driver in particular struck a chord with him.

When asked about racing Jack Brabham and his ability to drop a wheel and send gravel at his following competitors, Stewart was quick to recall the difficulty he had with his rival. “Ohhh! Jesus! He could do it with precision! There was nobody more difficult to pass than Jack Brabham. He took up a lot of road.”

As we finished our time with Sir Jackie Stewart I could only imagine what it would have been like to be around Formula One back in his day. The glamour, the personalities that hadn’t been stripped away by corporate double-talk… oh to have been there when the world was open and you could really get to know the drivers.

However, that era is gone and now we have to see fit to try and glean whatever we can from the few drivers who refuse to let politically correct attitudes diminish their feelings. It’s just unfortunate that men like Sir Jackie Stewart are few and far between, even in his own era.

See you at the races!

PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

Editorial 19.04.indd 1

7/17/07 6:02:53 PM

“Ton clock

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Mastehead 19.04.indd 1

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7/17/2007 4:13:49 PM

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

NASCAR

makes its Canadian debut Inside Racing with Todd Lewis

T

hey’re off! The new NASCAR Canadian Tire Series and a new era in Canadian Motorsport are underway. Here are some early observations…

A new level of professionalism in the attitude, style and presentation of the series is readily apparent. Not everything was done smoothly or perfectly, but there is clearly a higher level of expectation by the series of the competitors.

Skepticism is still high by teams, and some so-called fans. This is being driven by dollars.

Wanting to know exactly how much money is coming in makes people nervous. If you’ve got a week stomach about uncertain fiscal matters you shouldn’t be involved in racing. The NCATS is no different. Will there be more money available in purse and contingencies this year? Yes. Please try and relax.

Some race procedures have changed and will require some getting used to. There will be no white flag prior to the green on restarts, double file restarts and much tougher technical inspection. It made for 18 caution periods in the first race. It will make for even better racing in the future and this will be the hardest adjustment for some competitors.

14

We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto. The casual approach by some teams to the top touring stock car series in Canada will no longer work.

What to watch for next: After a reasonable period of adjustment, the attitude will be if you don’t like it, go play somewhere else. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

If you think the three week summer holiday break in the Formula One season is a bit much, you must also feel like I do that that Champ Car has taken a sabbatical. Things will roll along nicely now with nine races, including three Canadian stops backto-back-to-back in July taking us through Labour Day when another lengthy break occurs.

I kept waiting for some kind of series news about sponsors, the future, or anything of significance during this hiatus. I’m still waiting. That’s symbolic of Champ Car isn’t it? Build some momentum with three races and then shut it down.

The Indianapolis 500 was run again this year.

Anyone… Anyone… Bueller?

Actually the only observation I’ll throw in is that I’m thrilled for Dario Franchitti. He is a very likable guy, with a great sense of the history of the sport and a deserving champion.

The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series made it first stop at Cayuga Speedway and you could definitely feel the difference around the paddock

Ashley Judd is also a lovely woman. And for those who could control their hormones after seeing her in a soaking wet sundress also noted how genuinely happy and proud she was for her husband and his victory.

As always, Formula One provides interesting topics to ponder. How can you basically run a high speed parade like they do at Monaco every year and have a controversy over the finishing order? Glad this was disposed of quickly.

I’m not sure if I’m more impressed with Lewis Hamilton as a driver or as a person. I have great respect for both. Yes, he has top flight equipment which has helped his finishing positions, but he is the one with the physical and mental skills necessary to handle the car.

He is also extremely articulate and respectful of his opportunity with the McLaren team as the caretaker of one of the best cars in the series.

Hamilton clearly recognizes that with a two-time World Champion as his teammate he has the chance to learn a great deal as the number two driver on the depth chart.

I’m with Bernie. I’d love to see a French Grand Prix run through the streets of Paris. No doubt he wants it run at night too.

Performance Racing News

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Performance Racing News

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7/17/2007 4:46:20 PM

Photo by Phil Abbott/LAT

THE DECISION

IS MADE Can Dale Junior find happiness with Rick Hendrick? George Webster ponders this question as he examines how NASCAR’s most popular driver ended up at Hendrick Motorsports.

Performance Racing News

Dale Earnhardt.indd 3

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7/17/2007 4:47:51 PM

THE DECISION IS MADE

I

n the NASCAR world, Dale Earnhardt Junior is always big news. So when the much anticipated announcement that he was leaving the “family firm,” Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI), at the end of 2007 this was automatically the biggest story of the year.

In the one-month interval between the first announcement and the second – which revealed where he was going – the pundits and the fans had a field day speculating on where he was going. Would it be Childress, or Gibbs, or Ginn, or

maybe his own JR Motorsports stepping up as a satellite team of one of the big Chevrolet teams?

In the end, Hendrick Motorsports made a kind of logic – the biggest star to the most dominant team. The only question was how the alignment of the two top stars and arch-rivals (at least in the Dale Jr. fans’ fantasies) – Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon – would work out.

At the end of the 2006 season Junior went going into negotiations to extend his deal with DEI, the team once owned by his father Dale Sr.

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

The decision to leave the only team he has ever raced for in NASCAR wasn’t an easy one for Dale Earnhardt Jr., but it was one he made for the best interests of his driving career

Photo by Reobert LeSieur/LAT

Since Dale Sr.’s death in 2001 there has been differences between Junior and his stepmom/owner Teresa, so it wasn’t surprising when Teresa balked at Junior’s contract demands and left the DEI namesake as a free agent

18

Performance Racing News

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THE DECISION IS MADE

I know my dad would trust Rick. They had a great amount of respect for each other for a long time.”

and now owned by his stepmother Teresa Earnhardt. It was predictable that the negotiations would be rocky.

“This decision is ... based solely on my driving career ...”

Ever since Dale Sr. was killed at Daytona in 2001, Teresa has owned and run DEI. Her stewardship of the company has been strange to say the least. She has maintained her grieving widow persona to the present day, managing the company like a recluse, rarely making public appearances – and then only in the most scripted, formal way. Meanwhile it seemed apparent that the organization was in disarray, with key players from the Dale Senior days, such as general manager Ty Norris, leaving.

Tough Negotiations In negotiations, Junior made it clear he would settle for nothing less than majority control of DEI. 20

That may seem like an amazingly high demand, but DEI was his father’s company and without Junior as its star driver DEI’s value is decimated.

The Earnhardt brand is the most valuable brand in NASCAR; today that value lies in Junior as the living embodiment of the legacy. No matter what the will says, Junior’s expectation was reasonable. It seems that Junior’s goal was not so much monetary as it was to gain control of his career to ensure that he had the best team to support him and to give him the freedom to make his own decisions. “This decision is ... based solely on my driving career ...”said Earnhardt Teresa seemed bent on sticking with her vision of DEI – with her maintaining full control and Junior continuing in the subservient stepson-employee role. No wonder they failed to make a deal.

“We weren’t really close with what we both had in mind.” Junior said after it was over.

This set off a flurry of speculation on where he would go. Two things seemed certain: He would stay with Chevrolet, and he would stay with Budweiser. So going with Joe Gibbs, who said he

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Even though Junior joined the “enemy” at Hendrick Motorsports, most of his fans will still follow the Chevy driver forever

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THE DECISION IS MADE

Photo by Phil Abbott/LAT

He doesn’t need to match or beat his teammate rivals — he only needs to put up a credible “top 12” performance consistently to maintain his status as the darling of the NASCAR fans and the top NASCAR celebrity with mainstream sports fans.

22

would never have a beer sponsor, seemed pretty far out. When Childress announced an alliance with DEI to build engines in common, that sounded like a no-go for Junior. Also Earnhardt Jr. seemed to be uncomfortable with the idea of driving a No. 3 car – and that expectation would have been there if he chose Childress.

When Junior signed on with Hendrick, there was a kind of logic to it. Up to that point, Hendrick cars had been dominant – thanks to them getting a jump on the competition with the new “Car of Tomorrow”, but in the larger picture this team has been pretty consistently one of the super-teams in NASCAR for several years now. If resources – drivers, engineering, sponsorships – lead to success in racing, then Junior can count on Hendrick to continue to be one of the dominant teams.

Beyond that, there seemed to be a genuine good feeling between Earnhardt and Hendrick.

Hendrick may be a ruthless business magnate when it comes to his car dealership but as a car owner to Junior, he seems top be more like a benevolent father figure. It must come as a welcome change after the strained relationship Earnhardt has with his stepmother.

“I know my dad would trust Rick,” said Earnhardt. “They had a great amount of respect for each other for a long time.”

New Look for 2008 After that, things took a surprising turn. Contrary to conventional expectations, it turns out that there will be no Budweiser. At least on a sponsorship basis – he has affirmed his personal loyalty to the beer.

Hendrick said, “We have agreements in place with sponsors for the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup season, which prevent us from having a relationship with Budweiser.”

Given that, he and Earnhardt would have known before they signed their deal that this obstacle existed. So the Gibbs objection to a beer sponsor was no more of a deal breaker than it was at Hendrick.

Presumably. Pepsi is the current Hendrick sponsor that creates the conflict with Budweiser – and presumably it is the better choice for Hendrick and Earnhardt to go with Pepsi over Bud. The France-owned International Speedway Corporation announced after this year’s Pepsi 400

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Earnhardt

VS. GORDON

the rivalry continues

that their long-term deal with Pepsi had ended and they were switching to Coca-Cola. This left Pepsi looking for a new marketing venue and with money to spend. Voila! Earnhardt and Hendrick. In retrospect you have to believe that all the players in this deal know how these cards were going to play out before Earnhardt signed.

Of course, Earnhardt’s personal sponsorship from Budweiser will also end when he goes to Hendrick. The Budweiser deal had to be one of the most valuable in the industry. If Earnhardt and Hendrick are passing on Bud, Pepsi has to be putting even more money into the pot.

Jeff Gordon has had a long-standing association with Pepsi, driving a car in Pepsi livery on occasion. Assuming that Gordon’s Pepsi relationship continues, perhaps Earnhardt’s deal will feature other Pepsi brands such as Mountain Dew or Gatorade — but, given the big bucks this deal must represent, expect to see the main brand Pepsi associated with Earnhardt as well.

Good as the beer deal was, it was also a limiting factor. Budweiser was after the 18-15 yearold demographic – and anything else aimed at kids was out. Now, he can hook up with associate sponsors who target the whole spectrum of age groups and interests. And, don’t you think that diehard Earnhardt fans will continue to be loyal to

Budweiser just as their hero will in private life? Already we have heard of new side deals between Earnhardt and Sony and Adidas.

The crystal ball less clear on the No. 8. DEI would have to agree to transfer the number to Hendrick.

Once Junior leaves, the No. 8 is pretty much worthless to DEI. If they don’t let Hendrick have it, this will be seen by Junior’s fans as spite on Teresa’s part. Any driver who drove a No. 8 car for DEI in the future might risk the wrath of the Junior fans. And what sponsor wants to risk that?

So far there have been no sign that Junior’s fans are going to abandon him. Immediately after the announcement his souvenir sales took a jump after the announcement. New sponsor? New colours?

New number? No problem (except, perhaps, for those loyalists who have red No. 8 tattoos).

Now that Junior is joining arguably the best team in NASCAR does he have to be a race winner? Yes, if he fails to win some races and if he fails to qualify for the Chase most years, his fans will be disappointed. But his popularity transcends his performance. He doesn’t need to match or beat his teammate rivals – he only needs to put up a credible “top 12” performance consistently to maintain his status as the darling of the NASCAR fans and the top NASCAR celebrity with mainstream sports fans.

Photo by Phil Abbott/LAT

Perhaps the most intriguing part of Dale Earnhardt’s move to Hendrick, is that this makes him a teammate of his biggest rival Jeff Gordon.

How many times has the “red army” littered the track at Talladega or elsewhere in protest that Gordon won the race and not their hero Earnhardt? Can this intense rivalry continue under the new alignment?

In the press conference, Earnhardt first said, “Jeff has always been a good friend of mine. Him and dad were business partners on several things. Dad helped him a lot coming into the sport, so Jeff has always tried to repay that favour...”

Later, no doubt realizing that the image of Gordon and the two Earnhardts as good buddies might not play so well with his fans, Earnhardt changed tack.

“We do have a personal competition — if you want to call it a rivalry, fine. I like to outrun Jeff,” he said. “I think I’ll

THE DECISION IS MADE

Photo by LAT Photographic

still have that in me, just as an Earnhardt, to beat Jeff Gordon. I think we can have that kind of rivalry within Rick’s (Hendrick’s) program and it would still be healthy” So, Earnhardt fans relax. The colours may change, the number may change but the rivalry between these two will continue even if they both drive for the same owner.

-George Webster

24

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Bill France: 1933-2007

N

ASCAR Vice Chairman William C. France, whose leadership helped turn a family-owned company into a national phenomenon, passed away on June 4, 2007 at his home in Daytona Beach, FL at the age of 74.

France served as NASCAR’s president from 19722000, taking over from his father, NASCAR founder William H.G. “Big Bill” France.

“He had a remarkable career and an evenmore remarkable life,” said his son Brian France.

“Words cannot express how much he’ll be missed by myself and the rest of our family and by the NASCAR industry overall.”

Mike Helton became NASCAR’s president in 2000. He was the third president in the sport’s history and the first not named France.

“Coming in, I had two big pairs of shoes to fill,” Helton said, talking about Bill Sr. and Bill Jr. “I was more familiar with Bill Jr.’s way of doing business but that didn’t make it any easier. He blazed so many trails for our sport. He was determined to follow the vision of his father while also expanding on that vision. Over nearly four decades, he did a masterful job.”

When news spread of France’s passing, the NASCAR community was quick to respond with numerous tributes to the man who guided NASCAR to its unprecedented success in North American motorsports. Here are a few of the statements that show how much Bill France meant to members of the racing community: “Simply stated, Bill France Jr. was one of the greatest visionaries of our sport.

“Bill France Jr. took our sport to the next level.

He continued his father’s vision and guided our sport through a period of tremendous growth. His 26

vision built relationships with corporate sponsors and television partners. That helped build our fan base that reaches far beyond just the southeast.

These are his greatest accomplishments.”

- Richard Petty, 7-time NASCAR Cup Champion “There will never be another Bill France Jr. This sport lost a great leader. He’s been in this sport ever since I have. He started in 1972 in this sport as the leader of NASCAR. I started my career in 1972. He’s been the only leader in this sport that I’ve really ever known. He’s going to be dearly missed. People like myself, not only consider him to be a friend, but to be someone they cared about and someone they loved.”

-Darrell Waltrip, 3-time NASCAR Cup Champion “His steady hand and analytical mind were exactly what was needed at the time, and that firm hand guided stock car racing through explosive growth and success. He will go down as one of the great leaders of American sport in the 20th century and his contribution to motorsports is immeasurable.”

- H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler, President, COO, Speedway Motorsports Inc.

“Bill France Jr. was not only a leader in our sport but he was also a very good friend. Not only did he teach me a lot about our sport but he taught me numerous lessons about life. Over the last several years, NASCAR has grown to an unprecedented level of popularity. None of that would have been possible without the vision and leadership Mr. France provided. My thoughts and prayers go out to Betty Jane, Brian, Lesa and the entire France family.”

- Richard Childress, NASCAR Team Owner

“I knew this day was coming, I just hoped it never would. Mr. France was definitely old school just like I was. I considered him a great personal friend and mentor who gave me a lot of advice on things on and off the track…

“Without him creating NASCAR and making this wonderful sport for many thousands of people, I would have still been a newspaper delivery boy and vacuum cleaner repairman living in St. Louis.”

- Rusty Wallace, 1989 NASCAR Cup Champion

Performance Racing News

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Photo by LAT Photographic

The Car of Tomorrow was supposed to lead NASCAR’s Season of Change, but the result has been domination

by Chevrolet, specifically Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon

T Rome wasn’t built in a day

Trading Paint with Monte Dutton

28

his was supposedly the “Season of Change” in NASCAR, complete with a Car of Tomorrow and the Competition of Yesterday. Supporting roles have been played by a new manufacturer and a driver line-up that includes both Columbia (Missouri) and Colombia (South America).

Change, yes. Change, however, is by its very connotation difficult in nature to predict and monitor. The change of the 2007 Nextel Cup season has been characterized by both the unexpected and the ironic.

On the one hand, the gradual advent of the Car of Tomorrow — which, by the way, is about as futuristic as a push-button automatic transmission — has produced races that have been exciting and marked by razor-close finishes. On the other, not only were the next-generation design’s first five races won by the same manufacturer; they were won by the same team, Hendrick Motorsports.

In short, for 20 years, NASCAR officials, pushing the edge of the envelope at every opportunity and relentlessly hectoring Ford, GM and eventually Chrysler, managed to succeed in making the shape and a great deal else about all the cars virtually the same. The grand design was to eliminate all the variables in the name of competition.

Then, when the grand propaganda campaign succeeded, the grand design became a grand illusion. Standardization of the cars, which reached its ultimate conclusion with the COT, had the opposite effect. It increased the domination of the few at the expense of the many.

If there is one lesson to be learned from the results of the past two seasons, it is that the difference in teams and drivers is far greater than the difference in bodies and engines. Chevrolet had its greatest season ever last year, and

this year, by winning 11 of the first 12 races, it practically lampooned the competition.

Toyota, the new manufacturer, could not have begun its NASCAR experiment more ingloriously.

Amid rumours that its resources would destroy the quality of competition Toyota’s most visible driver, Michael Waltrip, proceeded to get himself caught in a cheating scandal at Daytona, an embarrassing late-night wreck on the public highways near Charlotte and a position of almost total irrelevance as a competitive force. He failed to scratch the starting field in 11 straight races.

Twelve races into the season, Toyota’s seven drivers had combined to finish in the top 10 a grand total of twice. Ex-champ Dale Jarrett was out of automatic spots in the field, and Champ Car expatriate A.J. Allmendinger’s best finish was a solitary 29th.

Toyota, of course, will eventually do better. How could it not?

Montoya, driving a Dodge, opened impressively but soon began developing a reputation similar to the one he had cultivated internationally: talented, mercurial, impatient, impetuous and, quite often, obstinately in the way. On the first lap of the Nextel Open, he tried a three-wide move on the first turn of the first lap that caused a multi-car pileup that destroyed a half-dozen cars in a race that paid little and meant less.

For all the reasons cited above, the early judgment on the Season of Change is that it has provided little else. It was conceived to stem the leveling off of NASCAR’s popularity, but attendance was still sagging at some tracks — mostly, by the way, the ones in relatively new markets — and TV ratings were generally lower than 2006 and invariably lower than 2005.

Change takes time. That’s the lesson NASCAR should’ve learned from its first 58 years.

Performance Racing News

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7/17/07 11:03:19 AM

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Hindle 19.02 V2.indd 1

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Photos by Ramesh Bayney

sides

Switching

Former Champ Car driver Andrew Ranger is making the transition to stock cars with the new NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Jamie Maudsley speaks with the young French Canadian about the transition and what the future might hold.

M

ay 26 not only marked the dawning of a new adventure for Canada’s racing community, as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series debuted, but it also marked the first race of Andrew Ranger’s full-time stock car racing career.

Ranger is the first former Champ Car driver to ever compete full-time against Canada’s best stock car racers. Actually, he is quite possibly the most accomplished racer to head to full-body race cars in Canada since Jeff Lapcevich joined his brother in CASCAR, or maybe even Earl Ross in the ‘70s, which is quite a distinction.

Ranger, of Roxton Pond, QC, received his first

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taste of stock car racing at the end of the 2006 season, as he competed in the CASCAR Super Series race at Autodrome Ste. Eustache. It was a very rough night for Ranger, whose experience could best be compared to a couple months ago when Juan Montoya first rolled through the corners at Bristol. That night, Ranger roughed up his paint job, bent some fiberglass, and ruffled a few feathers in his first attempt against Gibbons, Whitlock, and the like, but he also showed car owner Dave Jacombs enough to warrant more discussion.

“Ste. Eustache was rough,” Ranger admitted.

“I found out how much I had to learn, and how tough the cars are to drive.”

Performance Racing News

Jamie Maudsley 19.04 V2.indd 1

7/17/07 10:48:18 AM

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“When NASCAR announced that they were coming to Canada with this series, we started looking at it...

We’re hoping that racing this series will give us enough exposure to put together a Busch Series deal for the race in Montreal.”

“Ste. Eustache was rough. I found out how much I had to learn, and how tough the cars are to drive.”

-Andrew Ranger

At Ste. Eustache, Ranger roughed up his paint job, bent some fiberglass, and ruffled a few feathers in his first attempt against Gibbons, Whitlock, and the like, but he also showed car owner Dave Jacombs enough to warrant more discussion.

Jacombs, who had been looking at retiring and moving to a car owner role, worked with Ranger as the duo prepared to team up in 2007. Eight months later, at Cayuga Speedway, it was a much better experience for the 20-year-old Ranger, as he showed patience and raw speed while surviving the rough affair.

With just 20 laps to go, Ranger was forced to pit with a flat tire, but as the laps wore down, he kept moving forward to post a fourth-place finish. Ranger spoke about his second start, “I was a little more prepared tonight than last year at Ste. Eustache. Racing stock cars is just crazy. There were so many yellows tonight, and it was so physical out there.”

After two seasons on the Champ Car trail, the former Champ Car Atlantic Rookie-of-the32

Year was faced with a dilemma in 2007. “I was offered a ride for all three Canadian Champ Car races,” explained Andrew. “But I would rather do a full series. When NASCAR announced that they were coming to Canada with this series, we started looking at it. After speaking with my sponsors, this was a place that Tide, Proctor and Gamble, and Wal-Mart wanted to be. We’re hoping that racing this series will give us enough exposure to put together a Busch Series deal for the race in Montreal.”

Like the flashy Colombian South of the border, Ranger has his work cut out for him, because no matter how fast you are, you must first learn how to work in heavy traffic. At Cayuga, Ranger got a view of some pretty heavy traffic, and came out looking as far from a rookie as you can get.

Performance Racing News

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Peter Gibbons and his crew made several changes during the race, but he was caught on the outside on the new restart policy and dropped to third after the last yellow

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raced into Turns 1 and 2. Micks spun and was clipped by another car, with Dilley being sent to the back of the pack. Micks would strike once more as the pair tangled in traffic, setting the tone for the pair to continue their rivalry during the summer.

Micks retired with five laps to go, while Dilley, who led 59 laps before the first mix up, made a late charge, but came up one position short with a second-place finish.

Peter Gibbons struggled through the early part of the race, but in classic Gibbons mode, his Canadian Tire team went to work on the car...and rising to the top at the end Peter Gibbons struggled through the early part of the race, but in classic Gibbons mode, his Canadian Tire team went to work on the car, throwing a number of adjustments at it, and rising to the top at the end. Gibbons then got jobbed by a NASCAR rule, new to the series competitors.

The new rule calls for double file restarts — but not with lapped cars on the bottom and lead lap cars on the top, but rather, double-wide all the way to the back. Around the track, the fans could be heard cheering, while the bodymen got nervous.

Gibbons had climbed to second during a restart with nine to go, but that placed him outside the leader. He would hold serve on that restart, remaining second, but on the final green with two to go, he was passed and finished third.

Photo by Jamie Maudsley

A

fter much waiting, and even more anticipation, NASCAR finally arrived in Canada in a big way as Cayuga Speedway hosted the inaugural race of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series on May 26, 2007.

The speedway was spiffed up, with a lot of new advertising, and despite threatening skies all day, a tremendous crowd showed up to be able to say they were there ‘the night NASCAR started, and CASCAR ended.’

D.J. Kennington became the answer to the first trivia question of the night: Who won the Bud Pole for the first NCATS? But the night would turn sour for Kennington early, as a trailing arm mount broke two laps into the feature, and he spent most of the first half of the show behind the wall. In the end, a mere nine of the 23 cars that started took the checkered flag, as attrition took its toll. The lap leader board told the story — Don Thomson Jr. led 78 laps, but the pace car led85 to steal the five bonus points.

With just six laps to go, Ron Beauchamp Jr. and Scott Steckly met in Turn 1. The pair climbed from their cars, exchanged recipes and admired each others wrecked race cars while arguing over who actually had the deed to the real estate in the first place.

Both Jeff and Jim Lapcevich wrecked – Jim while running in the top-five with 15 laps left.

For Mark Dilley, and Kerry Micks, it was business as usual. They have a storied history and renewed acquaintances at Cayuga. First Micks roughed up Dilley while taking the lead on lap 99, with Dilley returning the favour as the pair

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

The final bell tolled for the former CASCAR Super Series as the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series kicked off its inaugural season at Cayuga Speedway.

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

NASCAR Heads North

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

SPECIAL FEATURE

Performance Racing News

Mauldsley 19.04.indd 2

7/17/2007 5:11:58 PM

THE OFFICIAL AUTOMOTIVE RETAILER OF NASCAR IN CANADA. The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series marks are used under license by Destination Motorsports LP and Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited. NASCAR® is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.

Bring home the trophy and the dough

F

Ron Beauchamp Jr. gave Don Thomson all he could handle for much of the race, but was forced out of the race after contact with Scott Steckly

Not surprisingly, multi-time CASCAR Champion Don Thomson Jr. opened the NASCAR-era in Canada by taking the victory

Photo by Jamie Maudsley

NASCAR Canadian Tire Series drivers help cut the ribbon on the inaugural season of the new series

or the Fitzpatrick Motorsports Team, 2007 has been a rough road so far.

Earlier in the spring, team owner John Fitzpatrick Sr. was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in Florida. The team was forced to deal with a tragedy on a personal level, while at the same time, trying to prepare the pair of black Chevys driven by Don Thomson Jr. and J.R. Fitzpatrick. All that in an effort to chase a seventh straight National championship trophy to display beside Thomson’s five, and J.R.’s 2006 CASCAR title.

Thomson said after Cayuga, “John told us before we went, ‘I want you to bring home the trophy and the dough.’ Besides all the things that made this so important with it being the first NASCAR race and all, it was just a perfect night for the whole team.”

The day wasn’t totally smooth sailing for the Hamilton driver and his new oval chassis. “I could tell early in the race that we had some work to do on the setup of the race car, because it wasn’t as good as it needed to be. We pitted for left sides at lap 60, and again for right sides on lap 92. We also made a ton of adjustments on the car, and were set until the end.”

As the pit stops cycled through, Thomson found his way back to the head of the pack on lap 122. Thomson led 23 laps before he was joined by Beauchamp at the front, with the Mopar driver striking on lap 146, taking the lead. Over the next 31 laps, the pair would swap the position six times before Thomson got a jump on a late restart.

“That was one heck of a battle with Ron,” explained Thomson.

“That was a lot of fun. I don’t think we touched once, and we were really going at it.”

Thomson seemed on his way to victory until the final yellow of the night, which led to a green-white-checkered finish, with Gibbons on his outside and Dilley on his tail. “I didn’t want to see that last caution for sure.” Thomson continued. “I knew Dilley’s tires were so much fresher than ours, so I couldn’t afford to make a mistake.”

Thomson cruised the final one-plus miles keeping his Chevy on the bottom. “If anyone was going to pass me, I was giving them the outside.”

Performance Racing News

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7/17/2007 5:12:31 PM

Beyond

NASCAR… Beyond Digital steps up its commitment to Canadian racing with the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

Court Armstrong started his own sign company in 1989 and sold it to The Beyond Group in 2001, and stayed on board to develop new ideas and products

Kerry Micks’ No. 02 car gets ‘wrapped’ for the 2007 season

38

A

s the inaugural NASCAR Canadian Tire Series rolls through the summer, new sponsors continue to roll in, including one of Canada’s leading digital printing companies. Beyond Digital Imaging (BDI), of Markham, ON, is one of those companies that signed a longterm deal with NASCAR Canada.

Recently, Performance Racing News got the chance to catch up with Account Executive, Court Armstrong for a tour of the ultra-modern 100,000 square foot facility, to discuss their deals with NASCAR and Micks Motorsports, and how they plan on leveraging their marketing involvement into cubic dollars and exposure.

A fairly new technique for applying graphics to a race car is commonly referred to as ‘wrapping,’ with what amounts to one large decal that is very pliable. This has become a staple for BDI. BDI’s first foray into motorsports was as a sponsor of Blair Morgan’s snowmobile at the X-Games.

In 2004 the company first noticed CASCAR and marketed a product called 3M Control Tack, which is used to ‘wrap’ cars. “We’ve called that line Beyond Race Skins,” Armstrong said. “NASCAR teams have been using them for years because you can do so much with them graphically, and they are so easy to install and take off.”

With the opening of a NASCAR Canada office, and the impending creation of the Canadian Tire Racing Series, BDI reached out and put together a multi-year commitment as an official partner and licensee of NASCAR in Canada.

“We enjoyed our time with CASCAR and we liked the exposure and contacts it got for us,” Armstrong continued. “The deal with NASCAR is five times what our deal with CASCAR was, but we think it’s going to be that much bigger. We jumped in with both feet, but we think the package is pretty awesome. The numbers are there.

There are six million people that watch NASCAR across the country and they are our customers.”

One of BDI’s most recent creations is on display via Kerry Micks as Beyond Digital is on the hood of his #02 machine. “Kerry and I are actually neighbors in Mt. Albert,” Armstrong explained.

“We were just chewing the fat one night and I asked him how much it costs to race. We talked numbers and came up with something very shortly that would allow us to back Kerry for the first three races of the season, and hope that will get him some exposure going forward.”

That deal has since become a full-season sponsorship of Micks Motorsports, as Micks will continue to carry the Beyond Digital colours throughout the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series season.

“We are very happy with the hard work and determination that Micks Motorsports has shown in these first three races of the season,” explained Armstrong. ““Kerry and his group are one of the hardest-working teams in the paddock and that means a lot to us. His hard work and ‘never give up’ attitude is a testament to the team’s excellent performance last season, and with this new funding the team will be poised to hit the podium without having to hunt for sponsors.”

“I’m very excited to continue with our longstanding relationship with Beyond Digital Imaging for the remainder of the 2007 season,” Micks added. “This sponsorship agreement allows our team to commit to running the full NASCAR Canadian Tire schedule. Our first two races were not very successful but our team is determined to take BDI to the winner’s circle before this season is finished.”

A Beyond Race Skin wrap will set a team back about $2,900, which includes a pair of backup panels for the sides of the car.

For Armstrong, BDI is on the right track, and he’s excited about the season. “I think NASCAR has an awesome TV package for the Canadian Tire series, and we’re jumping in with both feet.

We’re confident that this is the place that we have to be, and that it’s really going to put a spotlight on our business.

“Not too bad for a kid that used to race go-karts against Paul Tracy - that was a riot. The biggest difference is that we didn’t roll to the track with our go kart in the back of our Rolls Royce.”

For more information on Beyond Digital Imaging visit www.bdimaging.com.

Performance Racing News

Beyond Digital.indd 2

7/17/2007 6:49:34 PM

JVC.pdf 7/16/2007 3:28:41 PM

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MADE IN CANADA

BY NEAL JONES EXECUTIVE EDITOR

LEWIS HAMILTON BREAKS THROUGH FOR HIS FIRST POLE AND VICTORY IN MONTREAL

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PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

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Alex Wurz stayed out of trouble and used all his skills to put Williams back on the podium with a solid third-place run

Photos by Ramesh Bayney

S

ince its inception, the Canadian Grand Prix has been a launching pad for careers and a place to make history. And the 2007 version of the event lived up to those lofty standards as the Formula One circus left an indelible mark on the Canadian motorsports landscape.

Records were broken at this year’s event and history was made on several fronts. Chief among those historical moments was the explosion of Lewis Hamilton as a new legend in the making.

Hamilton had been on the podium at every Grand Prix in his rookie season coming into Montreal, and the only question was when, not if, he would take a victory in his debut campaign. As the first black man to race in Formula One, Hamilton had already made history, but he was still in search of his first checkered flag and his first pole position.

As the final qualifying session came to a close it was his McLaren Mercedes that would sit on the pole, which was not only his first pole, but also the 50th time a McLaren Mercedes had taken the spot. (Incidentally, McLaren’s first ever pole position also came in Canada, at Mosport International Raceway in 1972, but that was without Mercedes.) Then, the British youngster proceeded to dominate the Gilles Villeneuve circuit to secure his first GP victory.

This season also marks the 25th Anniversary of the death of Gilles Villeneuve, and in recognition of that fact organizers had the start/finish line marked with a “Salut Gilles” insignia to honour the man they named the track after. It was fitting tribute to Canada’s most famous and arguably most talented driver ever.

Nick Heidfeld drove a steady race in Montreal to secure second on the podium

PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

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7/17/07 6:34:26 PM

It was an eventful day for Fernando Alonso as the two-time champion ran wide on the opening lap at Turn 1 and suffered a stop-and-go penalty that relegated him to seventh at the finish

42

Photo by Andrew Ferraro/LAT

This scary crash by Robert Kubica highlighted the safety of F1 cars as the Polish driver suffered just a minor ankle injury and a concussion despite the heavy damage

Takuma Sato gave Super Aguri its best finish as he chased down two-time World Champion Alonso in the closing stages to steal sixth Photo by Ramesh Bayney

The race itself was a massive display of carnage as the Safety Car was deployed no less than five times during the race. That resulted in several miscues by front runners as F1’s new pit rules behind the Safety Car were used.

Caught out by these new rules were two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso and Renault driver Giancarlo Fisichella. As they pitted it became apparent they did so after the car was on the track, and thus had to return for a stop-and-go penalty as cars have to wait until everyone is lined up behind the Safety Car before pitting under yellow.

Another pit lane fiasco also took out a pair of contenders as Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Williams’ Nico Rosberg were black flagged for leaving pit lane when the red light was on. Making it even stranger was the fact that a BMW was waiting at pit exit for the light to turn green and both Massa and Rosberg went by the car to get back on the track.

The scariest incident came when Robert Kubica left the track and hit the wall while in the air and then did a barrel-roll across the track. It was a scary moment as everyone waited for word on his condition and there was relief when initial reports said he was conscious and being taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Surprisingly, Kubica received only a concussion and minor ankle injury, but was forced to sit out the United States GP the next weekend on doctors orders due to the concussion.

He hit the wall with 75 G’s of force, and his minor injuries are a testament to the safety of these cars.

In the end, the field tightened for a final 10-lap sprint to the finish after the Safety Car made its last appearance, but nothing could stop Hamilton and his bid for history. BMW’s Nick Heidfeld was a surprising second and Williams’ Alex Wurz rasied eyebrows in third.

It was not a great day for the tifosi in Montreal as Massa was black flagged and Kimi Raikkonen was never really a contender while finishing fifth

PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

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BY NEAL JONES EXECUTIVE EDITOR

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PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

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7/17/07 6:37:09 PM

RULE I

t’s been over 100 and 200 years since Britain last ruled Canada and the United States, respectively, but in June, a new king emerged and he took control of Formula One by sweeping through North America.

Lewis Hamilton came into F1 this season as part of the powerhouse McLaren Mercedes team and while expectations were high, no one could have predicted the success he would have to open his Grand Prix career. His debut at Australia produced his first podium finish as he followed Kimi Raikkonen and teammate Fernando Alonso home. Four more races produced a string of podium finishes and the first bit of controversy for the young driver. The British press was adamant that McLaren had ruined his chances for his first GP victory at Monaco by forcing him to hold position behind his teammate. Regardless of the bias coming from his home country press horde, everyone knew it was just a matter of time before he was on the top step.

Lewis Hamilton 19.04.indd 3

As the series moved to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix the stage was set for the first black driver in F1 history to make some noise. And he did just that. On Saturday he scored the pole position and was ecstatic to finally be the man everyone else would be chasing off the start.

“It’s obviously a great feeling, it’s another step I’ve taken in my steep learning curve coming into my first season in Formula One,” Hamilton said.

“To be honest, I knew I had it in me but I wasn’t sure when I was going to get a pole. I’d never really been a driver that sticks it on pole if you look at my past years, apart from in Formula 3, I’d always been in the top three and it’s not my strongest area. But today I was really happy with the job I did and it’s a great step forward for me and also for the team.”

Photo by Andrew Ferraro/LAT

LEWIS HAMILTON SPENT TWO WEEKS IN NORTH AMERICA AND MADE HISTORY IN WINNING HIS FIRST TWO GRANDS PRIX IN HIS ROOKIE FORMULA ONE SEASON

7/17/07 6:37:21 PM

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

“I wanted to stop the car and jump out and just do, I don’t know, cartwheels or something! I just had to keep it going and it was just… extremely emotional: to get all way into Formula One and to have my first pole, my first win…”

46

In two weeks Lewis Hamilton secured his first two pole positions and victories, all in all a rather enjoyable trip to North America for the young Brit

scintillating weekend for his fans. Once again, he sat on the pole and came home with his second consecutive victory.

“What a dream! To come to two circuits that I didn’t know, my first time, to really come out with such pace… they’ve (the team) done a fantastic job and I’m really just so thankful to them because it wouldn’t be possible without them. And the guys here, they are a great bunch of guys. They’ve done

Photo by Muriel Brousseau

On race day, he held position into Turn 1 and then pulled away from the field. He was never truly challenged throughout the race and the only time the competition had any chance to sneak ahead was on the restarts. As all the carnage and weird events took place behind, Hamilton simply drove a strong race and built a sizable gap each time the track went green. The final laps were very emotional for the Brit as he knew his first victory was at hand.

“I was just trying to control myself, to be honest,” Hamilton said about the final lap. “I wanted to stop the car and jump out and just do, I don’t know, cartwheels or something! I just had to keep it going and it was just… the fans were fantastic, to come to Canada for my first time, they really have been fantastic supporters, so thank-you to them but it was extremely emotional: to get all way into Formula One and to have my first pole, my first win and… who had fastest lap? Don’t know, I don’t know, it would be great to know if I got it or not.”

As for the fast lap, it went to his teammate Alonso, but at the end of the day there are no points for that and he walked out of Montreal as the World Championship leader.

He did not have much time to rest though as the series was off to Indianapolis the next weekend for the US Grand Prix. There were questions about emotion taking hold of the young driver, but he held firm to his skills and produced yet another

a fantastic job on strategy, setting up the car. So really, it’s a perfect team and I’m really happy I could put the icing on the cake,” Hamilton said.

“What an amazing trip,” he continued. “It’s been extremely intense. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. I’ve been treated very well here… to come to Canada for my first time and here now to Indianapolis for my first time and have the best two races of my life has been really an amazing trip...”

PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

Lewis Hamilton 19.04.indd 4

7/17/07 6:52:59 PM

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LE CIRCUIT FERRARI FESTIVAL JUNE 15-16-17, 2007

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RULE

Lewis Hamilton was grinning from ear to ear after securing his first pole position in Montreal

He came to North America looking for a checkered flag and left with a pair of victories and is the frontrunner in the World Championship as the second-half opens. Not bad for a kid making his debut in the top series in the world. Despite the preseason expectations, Hamilton has surpassed every one of them before the season is half over, and it’s something even the confident driver could not have envisioned.

“Coming into the season you have to be realistic,” Hamilton concluded. “This is, as I always say, the pinnacle of the sport. To come in… I didn’t expect anything, but I hoped to do well and do a solid job and start reasonably well in the season and to build upon it and keep learning on a steep learning curve. But I never expected to… I hoped maybe I would get a podium at some point but I’ve been on the podium for the last seven races.

It’s just insane. I find it very, very hard to come to terms with everything. So I’m not reading stuff that’s going on in the papers, I’m just focusing on trying to enjoy it without any of the other stuff confusing me. But I don’t think anyone expected me to do as well as I’m doing.”

And who knows, more history could be on the way as he now changes his focus to becoming a World Champion.

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COVERAGE BROUGHT TO YOU BY

STRATEGY OR ORDERS? GETTING OF THE MARKS WITH DAN KNUSTON

The results of this year’s Monaco Grand Prix were a part of racing, not orders pre-determining the outcome

M The difference between the 1-2 finish for Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton boiled down to pre-race strategy; unlike the most famous examples of team orders where one driver simply let’s the other one take the point

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ay 2002. Austria. Rubens Barrichello comfortably leads the Grand Prix after starting from the pole. His Ferrari teammate Michael Schumacher trails behind having led only one of 70 laps during the pit stops. At the end of lap 71, the final tour, Barrichello is ahead coming out of the final corner.

Then, following team orders, Barrichello slows and lets Schumacher through to win.

The crowd, feeling cheated, breaks out in a chorus of derision. On the podium an embarrassed Schumacher, who is finally starting to realize that the fans might not be all that sympathetic with Ferrari’s win the championship all costs agenda, pushes Barrichello on to the top step and insists he takes the winner’s trophy.

May 2007. Monaco. McLaren Mercedes orders Lewis Hamilton to hold station behind Fernando Alonso. They cross the line in first and second.

So what’s the difference? A closer look at the facts reveals plenty of differences. In 2002, Ferrari had such a dominant car that the team would win 15 of 17 races. Ferrari would eventually score 221 points in the Constructor’s Championship, more than twice the 92 earned by Williams in second place. Schumacher would finish on the podium in

every single race. Austria was round six that year, so there was plenty of time left for Schumacher to win the title.

Ferrari’s reasoning at the time was that if Schumacher would eventually lose the championship by just a couple of points, then they would have looked pretty silly not making sure he won in Austria. But, with its unrepentant and arrogant attitude, Ferrari severely underestimated and insulted the fans. Barrichello had the race won… although you have to wonder if Schumacher would have been quite so complacent in second place if he knew he wasn’t going to get handed the victory.

In October 2002 the Formula One Commission decided by 23 votes to nil, with three abstentions, that it should be “prohibited to use team orders to interfere with the results of the race.”

Monaco Difference What we saw in Monaco this year was more a case of team strategy than team orders. McLaren gave both Hamilton and Alonso a chance to win, and once the die of the race had been cast, they told them to slow down and hold station to preserve a 1/2 finish. And, after examining

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“I don’t like to slow drivers down... I don’t like to see these things happen because I am an absolute racer.

It’s just the way you have to win the Monaco Grand Prix, which is what we’ve done.”

the evidence, the FIA cleared McLaren of any wrongdoing.

Despite the howls of protest from the British media, Hamilton had a shot at winning. In fact,

“McLaren were able to pursue an optimum team strategy because they had a substantial advantage over all other cars. They did nothing which could be described as interfering with the race result.” you could say that the odds were four out of five that he would win because four times in the last five years the safety car has been deployed in Monaco. McLaren put extra fuel in Hamilton’s car, and if the safety car would have come out in the first third of the race he would have had to pit only once and would have won.

Alonso was on a two-stop strategy, which is the faster plan in Monaco if the safety car is not deployed. Once the race reached the one third mark with no safety car, McLaren switched Hamilton to the faster two-stop plan. He had a brief chance to get ahead of Alonso during the pit stops but failed to do so.

The McLarens were comfortably faster than 52

-Ron Dennis

anyone else in Monaco, so it would have been stupid for them to start fighting for the lead, knock each other out of the race, and hand the victory to Felipe Massa’s Ferrari.

“I don’t like to slow drivers down,” McLaren boss Ron Dennis said afterwards. “I don’t like them to be frustrated. I don’t like to see these things happen because I am an absolute racer.

It’s just the way you have to win the Monaco Grand Prix, which is what we’ve done.”

Having reviewed the evidence the FIA said: “There is… no obligation on them to take this risk in order to overtake their own car. Indeed it would be foolish to do so. It is standard procedure for a team to tell its drivers to slow down when they have a substantial lead. This is in order to minimize the risk of technical or other problems. It is also standard practice and entirely reasonable to ask the drivers not to put each other at risk.

“McLaren were able to pursue an optimum team strategy because they had a substantial advantage over all other cars. They did nothing which could be described as interfering with the race result.”

McLaren indeed did no wrong in Monaco.

This was a perfect case of team orders/strategy insuring a strong team result without insulting the fans.

Team Orders: Always Have Been, Always Will Be

T

eam orders have always been part of F1 and they always will be. Two classic examples are Lotus in 1978 and Ferrari in 1980. Ronnie Peterson was quicker in some races than Mario Andretti in 1978 but adhered to the agreement that Andretti would win if he were in front. Ditto for Gilles Villeneuve and Jody Scheckter in 1980.

McLaren, like Williams, has carried the team order concept to the other extreme, letting its drivers race each other sometimes to the detriment of the championship. Heading into the 1999 Belgian Grand Prix, round 12 of 16, Ferrari’s Eddie Irvine led the championship with 56 points followed by McLaren duo Mika Hakkinen with 54 and David Coulthard with 36. McLaren let Coulthard win because he still had a mathematical shot at the title. Hakkinen finished second and eventually won the championship by a mere two points over Irvine.

Williams lost the championship in 1986 by letting Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet duke it out while Alain Prost and McLaren stealthy racked up the points.

Ferrari’s blatant, haughty use of team orders in the Schumacher era took the whole concept way too far. It wasn’t just a few races or one season. It was constant. Had Austria been the 16th race instead of the sixth in 2002, the fans and the media would have accepted Ferrari switching positions.

So since 2003 the teams have studiously avoided using the phrase “team orders” and said things like “we don’t tell our drivers what to do but they know that they are members of our team and will act accordingly…”

Performance Racing News

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A New Start for Champ Car

By Neal Jones | Executive Editor

Delayed for a few races, the new standing start formation for the Champ Car World Series finally came to be in Portland.

Photo by LAT Photographic

“The thing is we are very much dependent on engine temperatures and we have a window of only about a minute fifteen or a minute and thirty seconds before the engines begin to overheat”

-Tony Cotman

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1

n February of this year, Champ Car World Series drivers attempted several standing starts to ensure things would go properly when the series introduced the new system for this season. But concerns about stalling on the grid and other factors forced officials to postpone the debut of the new starting procedure.

But at Portland in early June, the series finally made its first standing start and the system worked without a hiccup. Justin Wilson had been nervous heading into the Portland race as he sat on pole and it will take some time for he and the rest of the drivers to adjust.

“I saw the lights go out and I thought, ‘I’m meant to do something now,’” he said. “I have to work on my reactions.”

Some of the driver voiced their concerns about eh system, chief among three-time defending champion Sebastien Bourdais. “It’s a fine line between the perfect start and a total disaster,” he said.

Former Formula One driver Robert Doornbos has experience with standing starts, but knows that the system is different for Champ Cars versus the F1 machine she previously raced.

“I saw the lights go out and I thought, ‘I’m meant to do something now.’ I have to work on my reactions.”

-Justin Wilson “In Formula One the computers control the standing start, so the driver has no excuse if he messes up the start,” explained Doornbos.

“Here it is all driver. If you mess up, you stall and have a big problem. I did three or four and it went quite well. It is just finding a strategy that works for you.”

At Portland, every one got away clean off the start and that seemed to alleviate the fears of most drivers and teams.

Performance Racing News

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A New Start for Champ Car

No.100 for

Newman/Haas/Lanigan

S

Photo by Sue Phypers

ince forming in 1983, the NewmanHaas Racing team has been the standard bearer for Champ Car racing. Adding new co-owner Mike Lanigan this year has taken the team to another level yet again. At Portland on June 10, 2007, the team also entered the record books with its 100th win in Champ Car competition as Sebastien Bourdais secured the victory.

So far everything has worked in Champ Car’s favour on this decision and the hope is that once the drivers become accustomed to the procedure no one will worry about the future of the system “I’m just happy my dark visions didn’t happen and nobody stalled, which is good,” said Bourdais. “It doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen. It means I was a little more pessimistic than the truth. Definitely put on a good show.”

The biggest concern for officials is the event of a stalled car or other mitigating factor that delays the planned start of the race.

“The thing is we are very much dependent on engine temperatures and we have a window of only about a minute fifteen or a minute and thirty seconds before the engines begin to overheat,” said Champ Car Vice-President of Operations Tony Cotman.

“So we have a very good chance here at

Portland, where the ambient temperature is expected to be low, to do it (standing start) again. When we get to Cleveland where the ambient temperature is liable to be in the 90s, we’ll probably revert to a rolling start if we have to abort one standing start.”

So far everything has worked in Champ Car’s favour on this decision and the hope is that once the drivers become accustomed to the procedure no one will worry about the future of the system. Soon it will become a simple part of the Champ Car racing equation and the novelty will have worn off, and the system will be a footnote to each weekend while making for an even more exciting start to each Champ Car race.

Photo by Ramesh Bayney

“I’m just happy my dark visions didn’t happen and nobody stalled, which is good. It doesn’t mean it’s never going to happen. It means I was a little more pessimistic than the truth. Definitely put on a good show.”

-Sebastien Bourdais

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Downhill for Wheldon

G

oing into the Indy 500, Dan Wheldon had been an overwhelming favourite after dominating the early-season oval events. But he was never a real factor. He qualified just sixth and, after leading 80 percent of the oval laps prior to Indy, he never got his car in front once. He was running just 11th when he was hit by Marco Andretti.

Indeed, it’s been mostly downhill for Wheldon since his late-April win at Kansas. After Indy, he managed a third place at Milwaukee, but his race there will be remembered mostly for on-track and off-track altercations with Danica Patrick. At Texas, he got caught up in another late-race crash, a multi-car pile-up that began when Anthony Foyt IV lost a wheel.

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Indy T Surprise

Wheldon-Patrick Trade Words

for Dario Scotsman takes rain-plagued Indy 500 with a few lucky breaks along the way Unlike most IRL competitors, winning the Indy 500 wasn’t on Dario Franchitti’s ultimate wish list, but his win in the 91st running returned a Scotsman to the top step for the first time since Jim Clark in 1965

Marco Andretti (l.) was looking to improve his second-place result as a rookie in 2006 while his dad Michael (r.) took one more shot at the elusive pint of milk; Marco suffered a DNF after an incident on lap 163 and Michael was 13th in what he says is his final attempt at the Indy 500

D

ario Franchitti seems an unlikely competitor in the IRL IndyCar series. He has a stated preference for road racing over ovals and almost gives the impression that he went to the IRL by default, unable to land a F1 ride (he tested with Jaguar in 2000) and unwilling to accept the meagre (by his standards) financial rewards of Champ Car. Yet the 34-year-old Scot is now the IRL’s man of the moment as the winner of the Indianapolis 500 and the overall series points leader.

“When I first started hearing about the Indy 500, it was all about Jimmy Clark and Jackie Stewart, who had been there before I was born,” said Franchitti, referring to two fellow Scots. Clark won Indy in 1965; Stewart came close in 1966.

“I went there in 2002 for the first time and I really didn’t have the feeling of it that a Michael Andretti has or an Al (Unser) Jr. or that Dan Wheldon got at a later date. But the more I did it, the more I got into it. The more the obsession came up that I had to win the Indy 500. It’s a (career) highpoint, for sure. But already on the podium, I was thinking of Milwaukee.”

Franchitti was second a week later on the Milwaukee Mile, behind Andretti-Green Racing teammate Tony Kanaan, and then fourth at Texas Speedway, behind Sam Hornish Jr., Kanaan and another AGR car, that of Danica Patrick, having her best result yet.

he Dan/Danica confrontation at Milwaukee generated as much talk and ink as Franchitti’s Indy win, perhaps even more (when Dario appeared on David Letterman’s show, the greatest audience applause came when the host mentioned that the 500 winner was married to Ashley Judd).

Danica had just taken fifth place from Franchitti, who was still to the inside of her, and was trying to get by Wheldon, who was on the outside. As the three of them went into Turn 1, her right front wheel and his left rear touched. Danica skidded briefly onto the infield grass, but regained control and, after a pit-stop, continued to finish eighth.

On the radio, she said: “Wheldon hit me. Wheldon came down. I’d like to brake-check Wheldon right now and rip his front wing off,” After the race, she approached Wheldon in the pits and grabbed him — or possibly shoved him — on the arm as he tried to walk away. “I said, ‘I was inside you, Dan, why did you come down on me?’ He had nothing to say. If he would have listened, it wouldn’t have looked so bad, but he kept walking away. He was being stubborn,” Danica said later.

Wheldon fueled the fire later in the week when he appeared on an American TV sports show. “What’s disappointing from Danica is that she would do something like that,” he said, in reference to the apparent shove. “That’s taking advantage of her gender. She needs to act in a more professional manner and stop acting like a spoiled brat.”

All this was like music to the ears of Texas Motor Speedway manager Eddie Gossage, as there is nothing like a good feud to boost ticket sales. But when they arrived at Fort Worth, both drivers were called in for a talk with IRL president Brian Barnhart. On race night, they ran together at times but gave each other plenty of room. While Wheldon’s race ended in the wall, Danica’s third-place finish, after leading two laps, was a career high (she previously had two fourths).

Performance Racing News

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Indy Surprise for Dario

The first rain delay appeared to hand victory to Tony Kanaan, but when the track went green a spin and the return of the rain left the driver who led 83 of 166 laps in 12th-place WEATHERING THE STORM The 91st running of the Indy 500 will be remembered for the weather. After 113 laps, the race was halted with the AGR cars of Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick running 1-2-3.

Franchitti was fifth behind Vitor Meira. It looked like the race might be over, but the rain stopped and, after a three-hour delay, the cars took to the track again.

Scott Dixon ran up front all day and was rewarded with a second-place finish

The 91st running of the Indy 500 will be remembered for the weather. After 113 laps, the race was halted with the AGR cars of Kanaan, Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick running 1-2-3.

“The rain delay was difficult,” said Franchitti.

“The five of us from Andretti-Green, we hung out and we picked on Tony a bit. He was definitely stressed. I was looking at him and thinking, ‘You’ve just won the Indy 500. What practical jokes can I play on you next week?’ Then they said we were going racing again. I was a bit nervous, but I thought, ‘The car’s running good now and we’ve got a shot at the win. Let’s see what we can do.’ And things changed around.”

Franchitti got lucky when he cut a tire on the first out-lap as the cars were still circulating under yellow. As he pitted for fresh rubber, he

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DANICA REACHES THE PODIUM

I

t was really a matter of time,” said Danica Patrick of her first podium finish after the race at Texas Motor Speedway. “We’ve had fast cars throughout the season and it was a matter of getting on the same page as my engineer.

We didn’t really have much time to mesh before the season started.”

This is Danica’s first year with Andretti-Green Racing after two seasons with Rahal-Letterman.

Her teammates Kanaan and Franchitti, both known pranksters, have promised — or threatened — to shave her head if and when she wins. “It’s coming,” said Kanaan after the Texas race, while playfully stroking his own closely-cropped dome.

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also got a full tank of ethanol (no refueling had been allowed under the red flag). As it turned out, he needed only one more stop, while his main competitors had to make two.

As Kanaan and the others pitted just past the 150-lap mark, Franchitti cycled into the lead.

Then there was a caution for a crash by Jaques Lazier, which also caused Kanaan to spin in

Indy Surprise for Dario

“The first rain was bad, the second worked out pretty well. It was good for me, bad for my teammate” -Dario Franchitti avoidance; another caution for a huge accident

by Marco Andretti, who got airborne, also taking out Wheldon; and then more rain, a virtual deluge in fact, that stopped the race for good after 166 laps. It was the seventh time the Indy 500 had been shortened by rain.

“The first rain was bad, the second worked out pretty well. It was good for me, bad for my teammate. I thought Tony had it won when the rain delay came,” said Franchitti, who was followed by Dixon and the Penske trio of Helio Castroneves, Hornish and Ryan Briscoe. Danica finished eighth, while Kanaan, who led half the race (83 laps of 166), ended up 12th.

Scott Dixon ran up front all day and was rewarded with a second-place finish

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Sam Hornish Jr. was a contender all day, but the American came up just short of repeating as the Indy 500 winner with a fourth-place result

Performance Racing News

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Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner gave Audi top honours at Le Mans once again in 2007

12:00

Champ Car star Sebstein Bourdais headed home to France and joined Pedro Lamy and Stephane Sarrazin to give Peugeot second overall

Canada’s Jacques Villeneuve had the second Peugeout car in the runnerup spot until the engine blew in the final hour

Photo by LAT Photographic 64

Performance Racing News

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AUDI Still Unbeatable Audi took its sixth win in seven years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans while Aston Martin won in GT1 for the first time since returning to Le Mans in 2005.

Photos by Bill Murenbeeld

A

udi made it six for seven at the Le Mans 24 Hours as the most dominant sportscar in recent times survived horrendous weather conditions when a thunderstorm hit the circuit with just over an hour to go.

The No. 1 Audi car of Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner completed 369 laps and finished eight laps in front of their nearest challengers, a similarly diesel-powered Peugeot.

Audi almost won behind the safety car due to the severity of the weather, but the race got going under green for the final two laps. The Peugeot of Pedro Lamy, Sebastien Bourdais and Stephane Sarrazin, which started from pole, inherited second in the final hour when Canada’s Jacques Villenueve suffered a blown engine in the sister Peugeot. The podium was completed by the Pescarolo Sport team with an all-French crew of Emmanuel Collard, Romain Dumas and Jean-Christophe Boullion, the best of the gas-powered cars.

Aston Martin took top honours in GT1 as Darren Turner, Rickard Rydell and David Brabham finished fifth overall. Six minutes behind were second-place finishers Jan Magnussen, Johnny O’Connell, and Canadian Ron Fellows the familiar yellow Chev-

Aston Martin finally got its elusive GT1 class win with Darren Turner, Rickard Rydell and David Brabham leading the way

rolet Corvette. The Aston Martin Racing Larbre team took the final step on the GT1 podium with Christophe Bouchut, Fabrizio Gollin and Casper Elgaard sharing the driving duties.

The GT2 class saw the IMSA Porsche of Pat Long, Raymond Narac and Richard Leitz in 15th overall take class honours. The team stayed focused after a seventh hour puncture dropped them to fifth in class and they rewarded with a six lap lead at race end. Second went to the Risi Competizione Ferrari of Tracy Krohn, Nic Jonsson and Colin Braun. The final podium position belonged to the Autorlando Sport team of Lars Nielsen, Allan Simonsen and Pierre Ehret.

The Binnie Motorsports team captured the LMP2 class in 18th place, but they almost didn’t make it to the end. Holding a huge 18-lap lead, Chris Buncombe pitted only for the team to discover a major electrical problem. Sterling work got the car he shared with Bill Binnie and Allen Timpany back out on track for the final lap. They still came home 16 laps in front of the only other car to finish in the class, the Barazi Zytek of Robbie Kerr, Adrian Fernandez and Haruki Kurosawa.

12:00

The IMSA Porsche of Pat Long, Raymond Narac and Richard Leitz crossed the line 15th overall, good enough for the top spot in GT2

Photo by LAT Photographic

Canada’s Ron Fellows returned to action at Le Mans as he and Corvette teammates Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen took second in GT1

It was a war of attrition in LMP2 as the Binnie Motorsports car driven by Chris Buncombe, Bill Binnie and Allen Timpany grabbed class honours and 18th overall

Performance Racing News

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Jacques attack

Villeneuve bids to make motor racing history at Le Mans

F

Prior to his second test session with Peugeot last month, Villenueve offered insight into the differences between a Formula One car and an LMP1 prototype to PRN’s Mark Hacking— and revealed some cautious predictions for his endurance racing debut.

PRN: You probably don’t know which stints you’re getting, but how are you approaching the prospect of racing at night?

JV: Everybody does it. You know the track, so you know where you’re going. I’ve done some 24-hour ski races at night, so I’m not too concerned.

Photos by LAT Photographic

or Jacques Villeneuve, the past 10 seasons have been extremely lean in terms of success on the track. Now the French-Canadian finds himself out of Grand Prix racing — by choice and by circumstance — but not without some unfinished business behind the wheel.

He has set his sights on winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans and has aligned himself with a proven winner — the factory Peugeot team — which won the classic race back in 1992-93. This year, the team will campaign the 908 HDi FAP, a dieselpowered LMP1 prototype that has already won the first two races of the European Le Mans Series.

If Villeneuve does win at Le Mans, he will become the first driver in history to capture that race as well as the Indianapolis 500 and the World Driver’s Championship.

PRN: You must be hopeful for Le Mans, considering that the Peugeot won the first time out at Monza.

JV: The first race was six hours long, so it’s shorter than the full Le Mans race. In testing (in March), we did full tank runs, but not enough distance. We experienced some rain and fog and some mechanical problems, but they were fixed. The Peugeot has some advantages over the competition.

It’s more aerodynamically efficient because of the closed cockpit, but pit stops also take longer when you’re switching drivers. So we’ll see…

“The Peugeot has some advantages over the competition. It’s more aerodynamically efficient because of the closed cockpit, but pit stops also take longer when you’re switching drivers. So we’ll see…”

PRN: Have you done anything different, physically or mentally, to prepare for the race?

JV: Heat training, mainly – because of the closed cockpit, the car gets quite hot. The speeds through corners are not as fast as in F1, though, so there’s no special physical training needed.

PRN: How do you race a car that may not be set-up specifically to your preferences?

JV: In testing, we didn’t work much on set-ups, but you need to set up the car so that everybody can be fast. You have to adapt to the car. This is different from F1 where you can set up the car exactly as you like.

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back in action

By David Hatter I Road Racing Editor

Photos by LAT Photographic

Carpentier After missing Round 4, Canadian has sights set on checkered flags in Grand-Am action

P

atrick Carpentier is enjoying his new career, racing a Daytona Prototype in the Grand-Am Sports Car Series, even if some recent unfortunate events have taken him out contention for the drivers’ championship.

“It’s a fun series. I love these cars. It’s the most fun car to drive since I was racing Atlantic (in 1996),” said the nine-season veteran of Champ Car and IndyCar competition. “With the power-toweight ratio, you can slide it. I really enjoy it.”

The 35-year-old Quebecois is at the wheel of a Samax Motorsport Pontiac-Riley for his first full Grand-Am season. And he was a points contender early after finishing second in the Daytona 24 hours and fourth at Homestead, FL. But a family crisis derailed his championship quest as he understandably skipped round 4 at Virginia International Raceway to stay home in Las Vegas with his six-year-old daughter Anais after she was hospitalized with a mysterious digestive ailment. “I couldn’t do anything for a week,” recalled the anxious father. Happily, Anais’ condition was not as grave as originally feared, although she now has to follow a special diet.

Carpentier returned to action at Laguna Seca, scene of his last Champ Car victory in 2004, and finished fifth with new co-driver Ryan Dalziel 68

(replacing IRL-bound Milka Duno). But he did not even get to race at Watkins Glen as his latest co-driver, Tomas Enge, parked their car with a motor malfunction just 14 laps into the six-hour event.

“It’s a fun series. I love these cars. It’s the most fun car to drive since I was racing Atlantic. With the power-toweight ratio, you can slide it.

I really enjoy it.”

The Grand-Am points system rewards consistent finishes. So after six of 14 races, Carpentier languishes in 17th place overall, 74 points behind leader Scott Pruett (180-106). Asked if he still harbors any title aspirations, he said: “It’s going to be tough after I missed that race and the engine blew at the last race.”

But he still has ambitions for the rest of the season, namely to get his first Grand-Am win and to help Samax to a strong finish in the team standings (it is currently sixth, 35 points behind Pruett’s Chip Ganassi Racing entry).

“We seem to run top-five in the races,” he said.

“But to be up front, I think we need to improve our

shock absorbers. Our engine is fantastic, really fast. I think the shocks are our weakness.”

His strongest showings came at Daytona — where he was fighting for the win until the closing hours and finished on the same lap as the victorious Ganassi entry — and at Homestead, where he was part of a four-car lead battle late in the race until slowed by an overheating motor.

Carpentier’s squad has undergone big changes since then, stemming from Samax’s late decision to jump into the IRL with his original co-driver Duno. Canadian engineer Steve Challis moved with her, leaving Travis Low to head the Grand-Am operation. And there has been a revolving door of co-drivers. Dalziel was his preferred partner, but due to his Champ Car commitments, the team has now settled on former Atlantic competitor Chris Festa for the rest of the season.

Meanwhile, Carpentier says he is still seeking a ride for the inaugural NASCAR Busch race at Montreal in August, but he does not miss Champ Car or IndyCar at all. Indeed, he claims to have turned down a lucrative offer from one-time rival Michael Andretti to substitute for the injured Dario Franchitti at last year’s IRL finale. “That’s all behind me,” he said.

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Carpentier back in action

Canadians

charging in Atlantic

C

anadians are on a charge in the Champ Car Atlantic series. A pair of 18year-old rookies, Robert Wickens, of Toronto, and Kevin Lacroix, from the Montreal area, were first-time winners at the doubleheader at Portland, OR. Toronto’s James Hinchcliffe finished second each time after starting from the pole. Hinchcliffe and Wickens are now second and third, respectively, in the points.

“The season has been going better than I was expecting,” said Wickens, the 2006 Formula BMW USA champion. He began Saturday’s soggy Portland race fifth and slipped to seventh at the first turn. But he then picked off his rivals oneby-one and finally passed Hinchcliffe for the win with 14 minutes (seven laps) to go.

“It was a great feeling to get the first win under my belt. The only bad thing to winning on Saturday is that you get about 20 minutes to celebrate and then you have to focus on Sunday’s race,” he said.

Lacroix, who is exactly one day younger than Wickens, came to the fore on Sunday — his very first weekend of Atlantic competition. The 2006

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runner-up in the Star-Mazda series sat out the first three rounds while putting together a budget.

He signed with Brooks Racing to do eight races with support from Uni-Select, but had just 300 miles of testing prior to his debut.

The weekend did not begin well, as he spun on Saturday and finished 15th. But he started from the front row on Sunday and, after briefly falling to third, took the lead from Hinchcliffe and stayed ahead to the end. “I was just hoping to finish in the top five. That would have been a great result,” he said three days after his victory. “I am still thinking about it. I’ve watched the video 10 times.”

With Wickens finishing fourth, despite an overheating motor, Canadians took three of the top four spots.

“I always thought we had something for (points leader Raphael) Matos. He’s only human and he started to make mistakes in Portland,” said Wickens. “We struggled at Houston, but salvaged a top-10. This championship rewards consistency and finishing. And it’s still very young with seven races to go.”

Robert Wickens secured his first Atlantic victory in the rain at Portland

In his debut weekend of Atlantic competition, Kevin Lacroix took victory in the second race of the weekend, heading a group of three Canadians in the top four

Performance Racing News

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5/22/07 9:47:15 AM

7/17/07 10:47:06 AM

coverage brought to you by

2007 WORLD RALLY EVENTS

Gronholm

Strikes Back

By David Hatter I Rally Editor

M

arcus Gronholm has regained the upper hand over Sebastien Loeb in their back-and-forth struggle for this year’s World Rally Championship. The Finn took back-to-back victories in Italy and Greece, and at the mid-point of the season, he leads his French rival by nine points — the biggest advantage either has had all year.

Loeb went to the Italian round in Sardinia coming off three straight wins that moved him back in front, although by only a three-point margin.

Through the first two days of the event, all went well for him. He won seven out of 12 stages in 72

A pair of victories in Italy and Greece put Marcus Gronholm in control of the WRC title chase before the summer break

his Citroen C4 to build a lead of 36 seconds over Gronholm and his Ford Focus.

But just four kilometres into the opening stage of the third and final leg, Loeb took a crest too fast and could not make the ensuing right-hand turn.

The Citroen slid off the road and hit a large rock, which broke the suspension. The car continued slowly for another three kilometres before Loeb and his team finally gave up.

Gronholm was handed an easy victory, finishing 29 seconds ahead of Ford teammate Mikko Hirvonen. Dani Sordo salvaged six points for Citroen with a third-place finish, fending off

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Gronholm Strikes Back

the challenge of Henning Solberg and his private Ford, but it was small consolation for the French team and its leader. While Loeb has had accidents before, this was the first time in four years that the triple world champion had wiped out while leading on the final day.

“It goes to show that winning is never easy,” said Loeb, then trailing Gronholm by seven points. The difference between first and second place is only two points and so, he noted, “The benefit of my three victories is more than wiped out. If Marcus finishes second each time, I’m going to need four wins to get back into the lead of the championship.”

But he was to fall further behind on the Acropolis Rally in Greece, the final event before the WRC’s two-month summer break. Indeed, Loeb was never in serious contention to win and struggled to finish second, whereas Gronholm was firmly in

74

control after taking the lead from a surprising Chris Atkinson towards the end of the first day.

At the end of that opening leg, Loeb was only fourth, behind Gronholm and the Subarus of Petter Solberg and Atkinson, but the Citroen team discovered a problem with the C4’s rear

“While Loeb has had accidents before, this was the first time in four years that the triple world champion had wiped out while leading on the final day.”

Sebastien Loeb uncharacteristically was a DNF after leading into the final stage at Sardinia and then struggled at Greece to give rival Gronholm some cushion atop the points

differential that evening. Next day, Loeb moved up to second as the Subarus had difficulties, but he continued to lose ground to Gronholm, leading by 43 seconds.

Performance Racing News

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File Photo by Evan Browne

Gronholm Strikes Back

L’Estage ReboundS at Rocky Mountain Rally Petter Solberg picked up his best on track result for Subaru in 2007 with a thirdplace run in the Acropolis Rally

Loeb clawed back a little of the gap on the final day, but Gronholm’s final margin of victory was still 38 seconds. Petter Solberg was third, despite being slowed by a broken shock absorber on day two. This was his and Subaru’s best result of the year, not including Portugal, where he was fourth on the road, but elevated to second by penalties to the Fords.

Hirvonen was fourth after losing a minute on the second day when he went off the road, ploughed into a field and broke his windscreen against a tree branch. Henning Solberg was fifth, while early leader Atkinson slipped to a sixth-place finish after losing more than a minute-and-a-half when he suffered a puncture and suspension damage on day two.

Overall, Gronholm now has 65 points, vs. 56 for Loeb. Hirvonen is third with 49, followed by Sordo (28) and the Solberg brothers, Petter (26) and Henning (24). In the manufacturers’ battle, Ford has widened its lead over Citroen to 28 points, 114-86. Subaru is a distant third with 43.

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D

efending Canadian rally champion Antoine L’Estage took a comfortable win in the second round of this year’s series, the Rocky Mountain in Alberta.

But Andrew Comrie-Picard, winner of the season opening Rallye Perce-Neige Maniwaki, retained his overall points lead with a solid drive to second place.

The Rocky Mountain, held in and around Calgary and the Porcupine Hills of southern Alberta, was the ninth victory for L’Estage in the past 15 national rallies dating back to the end of 2004. He largely dominated the twoday event in his Libra Racing Hyundai Tiburon after pulling ahead of Comrie-Picard on the third stage. He led the rest of the way, winning nine of 13 stages in total, and finished more than two minutes ahead of ACP. “It was a good victory because we controlled the rally from start to finish. We had some minor problems when the car overheated a little, but even then we were winning stages and increasing our lead,” said L’Estage, who as usual had girlfriend Nathalie Richard as his co-driver.

L’Estage had made a costly mistake on the Perce-Neige opener where he fell off the road, while leading ACP by more than a minute late in the event, and was lucky to recover to a third-place finish. In Alberta, he deliberately took it easy on the first two stages, both won

by Comrie-Picard, who opened an eight-second lead in his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO-9.

But the 33-year-old Quebecois then beat his Toronto rival by more than 20 seconds on the

third stage and he never looked back. For most of the rally, his closest competition was fellow Quebec driver Sylvain Erickson in a Subaru Impreza WRX, who won two stages and managed to stay within about half-a-minute of the leader until his car’s front differential started to give him problems. He was forced to retire with four stages to go.

Third place went to local favourite Gord Olsen, a three-time champion in the Group 2 class (modified 2WD cars), who was making his national debut in a 4WD car. His Subaru Impreza WRX was prepared by multiple Canadian and North American champion Pat Richard (Nathalie’s brother). Olsen drove a steady rally, although no threat to the leaders, finishing some seven minutes behind ACP. He also won the regional portion of the event.

Overall, Comrie-Picard now leads L’Estage by three points, 39-36. Matt Iorio, second at Perce-Neige but a no-show at Rocky Mountain, is third with 17 points.

Rally America The week after Rocky Mountain, ACP and L’Estage headed to Pennsylvania for the Susquehannock Trails Rally, but both retired following off-course excursions. The event was won by Australia’s Andrew Pinker, his second victory of the year in a Subaru Impreza WRX. He now leads the Rally America championship ahead of factory Subaru drivers Ken Block and Travis Pastrana. Comrie-Picard, eighth overall, is the top-ranked Canadian.

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Track day, rally-style Mark Hacking takes the 2006 Subaru WRX Rally Car to Toronto Motorsports Park

F

ew manufacturers in any form of motorsport have given as much to the Canadian racing scene as Subaru. Their preferred mode of competition: rallying.

Their commitment: impressive. Their support: unwavering.

As any rally fan knows, Subaru has become synonymous with this grueling form of expression. Rally cars must be able to handle tarmac, gravel, snow and ice. No, scratch that. Rally cars must be wickedly fast on tarmac, gravel, snow and ice.

In the mid-1990s, the manufacturer’s unique technological approach to rallying began to bear fruit. The horizontally-opposed engine, otherwise known as the boxer, is used regularly by only two manufacturers, Subaru and Porsche. Its inherent advantages: smooth power delivery and an extremely low centre of gravity, which aids handling and cornering ability.

This engine design, combined with the only symmetrical fulltime all-wheel drive system in the industry, powered Subaru to the World Rally Championship from 1995-97 — and helped make World Champions of Colin McRae (1995), Richard Burns (2001) and Petter Solberg (2003). While the manufacturer has experienced leaner times of late, they have signed Solberg to drive for the team until at least 2009, so their commitment to rallying remains steadfast.

Time in a Subaru Fast forward to the fall of 2006 and yours truly is sitting behind the wheel of the very same 2006 Subaru WRX STI rally car. The locale: Toronto Motorsports Park at Cayuga.

The occasion: The final event of the 2006 Canadian Sport Compact Series (CSCS), a showcase of automotive fanaticism that includes drifting, drag racing, a show ‘n shine and lapping sessions. Not coincidentally, the CSCS organizers are the sons of Stewart Hoo, the mechanical genius behind Can-Jam Motorsports.

78

The objective was to bring the Subaru Canada rally car out to show it off to the fans. The best way to do that, it was decided, was to send the STI out on the track for some fast laps. Luckily for me, I was invited to be the chauffeur.

It’s a rare opportunity to drive a race car of any shape, size or description — let alone a heavily-modified powerhouse like the STI. The dead-stock version is no slouch, developing 300 horsepower and sending the Subaru hurtling from 0100 km/h in less than five seconds. (Supercar performance for a fraction of the price? Sign me up.)

The Subaru Canada STI has similar technology to the world rally car, but even more power — specifically, 400 horsepower at 7,500 rpm. The 2.5-litre boxer engine is fitted with a Garrett T4 turbocharger set to a 10:1 compression ratio. The stock engine management system has been swapped out for a Motec M800 with anti-lag technology to ensure the turbo is always spinning. The engine runs on VP M109 octane unleaded race fuel and barks out orders through a custom exhaust system.

To ensure the car’s significant power gets to the ground, the STI is fitted with an electro-mechanical centre differential, STI plated front and rear differentials, and a 6-speed dogbox transmission. The centre differential is lockable through a switch located between the front seats. The brakes are by Brembo: ventilated discs with four-piston calipers in the front and two-piston versions in the back.

On the track Introductions complete, it was time to take the Subaru out on the track. For this lapping session at the Cayuga road course, passing was only allowed on the front straight and the straight immediately following. The rest of the course, a series of tight bends, would’ve made passing tricky, even if

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Subaru at the Targa Newfoundland it were allowed. Not only that, the track was jammed with cars of varying performance and drivers of varying skill.

Nevertheless, it was a blast to power the Subaru around the corners. It took plenty of laps to get accustomed to the immense amount of grip the STI developed. Despite the fact that the car’s strength is off road rally stages, the suspension was set-up for the tarmac stages at Targa Newfoundland, so it was relatively flat during cornering. The steering was incredibly precise and the car felt extremely nimble and surprisingly light.

The dogbox was another challenge; starting out, I kept upshifting to fifth gear when hunting for third. (Not exactly great for the lap times.) Once I became a bit more familiar with the car’s capabilities, though, driving it through the traffic was like passing a hot knife through butter.

The Subaru was easily the quickest car on the track, faster even than what looked like a couple of other heavily-modified STIs. It’s really an incredible ego boost to be able to fly past everything in sight. And like the proverbial fat kid in the candy shop, I kept going back for more laps behind the wheel until the sun began to sink in the west. Truly, it was a great and memorable day at the track.

Thanks go out to the Canadian Sport Compact Series, Can-Jam Motorsports and, of course, Subaru Canada.

S

ubaru Canada has also run John and Clarke Paynter at Targa Newfoundland since 2003. For the first three years at North America’s only tarmac rally, the Paynters and the Subaru were the fastest thing on the Rock.

Last year, a stomach ailment sidelined John, so a familiar replacement — Pat Richard — was drafted in to drive the 2006 Subaru WRX STI. Unfortunately, engine troubles stopped the team on the opening day of competition and cancelled a likely win in the Open Class. But this disappointment didn’t stop the Can-Jam Motorsports crew — the experts responsible for preparing all of Subaru Canada’s cars — from working all night to get Richard back on the road. Net result: a finisher’s medal for the team and a thrilling display of rally driving for thousands of fans.

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3/8/07 11:34:53 AM 7/17/2007 4:23:02 PM

Photos by Ramesh Bayney

Mazda MX-5 Cup

Heats Up

The action in the SCCA Pro series gets better every weekend as driver skill takes precedence over a big budget.

T

he SIRIUS Satellite Radio Mazda MX-5 Cup Series returned to race tracks in North America in 2006 and the response was better than expected by SCCA Pro Racing. So, in 2007 the series has grown as competitors flock to the series to test their abilities rather than their pocketbooks.

The MX-5 Cup cars are all identical and essentially stock, with the exception of intake and exhaust system upgrades and the mandatory safety upgrades. This provides a level playing for drivers across North America to step in and compete against each other without the fear of some big budget team appearing and taking the costs of the series to levels that are not sustainable for the competition.

80

So far the 2007 season belongs to Jason Saini, from Fort Worth, TX. After six races he has a firm handle on the points leads thanks to four victories, a second-place at Road Atlanta and a fifth-place result at Portland. Saini’s consistency is putting him ahead of a tough field of pursuers who are all bunched together ready to pounce.

Trailing Saini are Graham, WA’s Andrew Caddell and Sonoma, CA’s Ara Malkhassian.

Caddell is neatly tucked into second in the standings as he tries to rebound from a serious set back at the opening round in Houston, TX where he finished 22nd after mechanical problems. Since then, Caddell has been extremely consistent as he’s finished in the top four at every race, including a win at Portland and

While Andrew Caddell (#30) and Ara Malkhassian (#11) battle for second-place honours, they hope to see Saini falter in the final two rounds so they can sneak off with the 2007 MX-5 Cup title

Jason Saini (middle) leads the way after five events and has firm control of the title chase with just two rounds remaining on the eight-race schedule

Performance Racing News

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Mazda MX-5 Cup Heats Up two podium finishes. Malkhassian is still looking for the right consistency to put himself in the thick of title discussions. While he hasn’t been outside the top 10, he has been at the top and bottom of that order on a weekly basis. A win at Road Atlanta and second at Cleveland have been tempered by a ninth at Houston and eighth in the second Cleveland race.

Those three drivers have been the class of the field with only two races remaining, but it will take a minor miracle for either Caddell or Malkhassian to catch the front-running Saini. With cars that are equally matched it will come down to nerves for these men to determine who will reign as the 2007 champion.

For more on the MX-5 Cup series visit www.mx-5cup.com.

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Photos Courtesy SuperGT.net

The team of Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira and Seiji Ara came from 14th on the grid to take Kondo Racing’s first win in GT500

Hot time in

Malaysia Kondo Racing takes first Super GT victory in Round 4 at Sepang

T

he Super GT Malaysia race, Round 4 of the 2007 AUTOBACS Super GT, took place at the Sepang International Circuit on June 24. In GT500, the Woodone Advan Clarion Z driven by Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira and Seiji Ara came from 14th on the grid to grab an amazing come-from-behind victory as the other teams struggled with tire management problems. For Kondo Racing, it was their first victory in their second year of GT competition. Meanwhile, in GT300, the No.101 APR MR-S (Kazuya Oshima/Hiroaki Ishiura) won their second round of the season.

GT500 Before the start, a Japan-Malaysia friendship ceremony was held, with a parade of children from the two countries holding hands and an exchange of national flags by Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia, and the Chairman of Malaysian Motorsports Commission.

The Ambassador and Chairman waved the national flags to start the formation lap, but soon after the first big upset of the race occurred, as the pole sitting No.18 Takata Dome NSX (Takashi Kogure) suddenly slowed and was forced to pull off the track with a drive train problem.

Meanwhile, the 2nd position No. 8 ARTA NSX (Ralph Firman) and the machines behind were able to start successfully. No.8 led at the end of lap one with the No. 1 Houzan Tom’s SC430 (Andre Lotterer) and the No. 12 Calsonic Impul Z (Benoit Treluyer) in tow. Behind them the No. 100 Raybrig NSX (Dominik Schwager) moved up the pack. The judges decided however, that Schwager had passed another 84

machine before crossing the control line and gave him a drive-through penalty.

The first round of pits stops gave an inkling of what was to come in the race. The No. 23 made an early pit stop on lap 14 as tire wear was occurring faster than expected and the car could not maintain steady lap times on its initial set of tires. After that, No. 38 made its pit stop on lap 16, and No. 1 and No. 6 Forum Eng. SC430 (Tatsuya Kataoka) made theirs on lap 17. All the teams changed tires without changing drivers. This revealed that the leading teams had switched to a two-stop strategy, needing a second spot to change drivers later.

Meanwhile, No. 12 also made a pit stop on lap 17 and returned to the track having changed both tires and drivers (Treluyer to Kazuki Hoshino).

This gave the No. 3 Yellow Hat YMS MobaHO! Tomica Z (Sebastien Philippe) the lead, with No. 24 in second and No. 22 in third position.

After lap 20, the teams sticking to a single-pit strategy began making their stops. No. 22 pulled in on lap 25. It returned with new tires and a new driver (Tsugio Matsuda) with the No. 3 following suit (Masataka Yanagida).

The leader, No. 24, held on until lap 32 before making its pit stop. With a 40-second lead they had plenty of time to changed tires, add fuel and change drivers (De Oliveira to Seiji Ara). This took 37 seconds and returned Ara to the track in fourth. Ahead of Ara at this point were No. 38, No. 12, and No. 6, but all three still had to make another stop.

With the No. 24 in the lead after the leaders pitted, No.3 sat in second and No. 22 third, giving the Fairlady Z machines a 1-2-3 lead again.

A jump start penalty forced Dominik Schwager and Shinya Hosakawa to play catch up and they made it all the way back to second in GT500

Kazuya Oshima and Hiroaki Ishiura took their second GT300 victory in the heat at Malaysia

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Hot time in Malaysia

Kota Sasaki and Naoki Yokomizo made a big surge late in the race to snare the third spot on the podium in GT300 at Sepang

But, moving up behind them was No. 100. The No. 100 drove past No.22 and No.3 on successive laps to move into the runner-up spot. After lap 40, No. 22 was forced to make another stop to change tires.

While all this was happening, No. 24 continued to run steady laps in the lead. No. 100 did its best to narrow the gap, but with little success. On the other hand, Yanagida in No. 3 had an empty drink bottle and was weakening fast in the Malaysian heat.

At the checkered flag, the No. 24 had brought Kondo Racing its first victory since entering the GT arena last year. Finishing 2nd was the No.100 (Dominik Schwager, Shinya Hosokawa). There was some disappointment to this second place,

however, due to the jump start penalty.

Third place went to the No.12 (Benoit Treluyer / Kazuki Hoshino).

GT300 In the early stages of the GT300 race, the pole starter, No.101 APR MR-S (Tatsuya Oshima) raced into the lead followed by the No. 43 ARTA Garaiya (Morio Niita). Behind them, the No. 4 EBBRO 350R (Tatsuya Tanaka) had jumped from seventh to fourth. No. 43 passed No. 101 on the last corner of lap seven, only to slide off the track the next time around. The bad luck continued as it hit a bump off-track that bounced the machine into the air and smashed into the guardrail. Considerable damage was sustained

in the car’s nose, and after returning to the pit it was not fixable.

With this, No. 4 moved to second, and on lap 14 it passed No. 101, which lost much of its tire grip. The No. 101 chose softer tires and it appeared they lost grip much sooner than expected. This led No. 101 to make a pit stop and tire change earlier than the competition. With a set of harder tires, and switching drivers, No. 101 returned to the race, taking the lead when the others pitted later. After the cycle of stops concluded, the No. 101 led No. 4 and No. 2.

Behind the leader, a battle developed between the No. 46, No. 47 and No. 13, with the No. 46 breaking loose. Later, No. 2 lost position when its right-side door came open, enabling No. 46 to move into third.

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7/17/07 11:23:51 AM

TONY PONTIERI VS RAYMOND COMMISSO

Tony Pontieri is one of Canada’s most resilient and skilled Pro Modified racers

After enduring some hard luck two years back, Raymond Commisso’s career has blossomed more recently

CROSS TOWN RIVALS! Working just minutes away from each other in downtown Toronto, Raymond Commisso and Tony Pontieri have arrived at the same location via different routes. With the help on engine guru Al Billes, the Canadian boys are shining in both IHRA and NHRA action. Bruce Biegler looks at the roads taken by these Canadian stars.

W

hether they realize it or not, unlikely Toronto-based Pro Modified drivers Raymond Commisso and Tony Pontieri have become quite the phenomena within drag racing circles. Both drivers, who have been around the Canadian drag racing circuits for a while but are just gaining international attention, have gone though some very similar experiences.

Coincidently, they have somehow managed to end up at the same place at about the same time.

Pontieri is recognized as a veteran of Canadian Pro Modified racing. The owner of Pontieri Automotive (located in downtown Toronto almost in the shadow of the CN Tower) has driven a variety of Pro Mod cars in his career and did that for the most part as an independent. During the

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2005 season, he suffered a very devastating crash while racing at Luskville Dragway, which destroyed his self-funded car and put him on the verge of retirement. But in 2006 he began a new partnership with a very successful independent businessman Rob Sporring (Quality Plus Compressors) and a new chapter in his career was born. Since that time his supercharged ’57 Chevy (which is owned by Sporring) has evolved into one of the top-ranked and the quickest Pro Modified cars on the circuit.

Not that far north from Pontieri Automotive, and located in one of the most fashionable parts of the city, is the Dimmi Bar & Trattoria, which is owned by Commisso. Commisso’s background is similar to that of Pontieri, including Street Car

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Tony Pontieri has resurrected his great career driving Rob Sporring’s supercharged and formidable ‘57 Chevy

Raymond Commisso’s Steelbacksponsored Camaro made Canadian history this year with some 5-seconds elapsed times.

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racing and independent Pro Modified cars. He too suffered on track misfortune not once, but twice, also during the 2005 season. He lost two race cars in separate incidents. About mid-way through 2006 he returned with a spectacular new G-Force Race

Their cars will thus be both a top local attraction as well as overall preevent favourites entering Grand Bend Motorplex and Toronto Motorsports Park Cars ’67 Camaro and, with major sponsorship from Steelback Breweries, has evolved into arguably the best Pro Modified car Canada currently has to offer.

Commisso has a number of 5-seconds runs to his credit. He is so far the only Canadian, and one of only a few on the circuit to dip below 6.0 seconds.

Both drivers are quick to admit that their changes in fortune would not have been possible without a certain common denominator — engine builder and tuner, Al Billes. Billes, and his right hand man Jason McKnight oversee the duties for both teams (amongst many others) and although his quiet personality would deny it, he is Canada’s modern day version of a Bernie Fedderly or Dale Armstrong. In most Pro Modified circles he is recognized as the single most talented tuner

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Cross Town Rivals!

Commisso and Pontieri made monstrous breakthrough statements during last year’s NHRA US Nationals at Indy when they qualified 1-2!

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Cross Town Rivals!

Commisso and Pontieri will be staunchly supporting the two IHRA Canadian events held this summer in Ontario. Both drivers have done extremely well racing this year including late round finishes, pole qualifying efforts and career quick times. and the demand for his services often exceeds the supply. That fact was exemplified last winter during fan polling on DragRaceCanada.com where Billes was a landslide choice for the Crew Chief/Tuner-of-the-Year for 2006.

“That man lives and breathes drag racing,” Pontieri said. “He is Canada’s single biggest secret weapon in drag racing.”

Billes has both the Pontieri and Commisso cars running so quick that they have changed their 2007 season focus. Originally, both teams had planned to run extensive IHRA Nitro Jam racing dates and chase that championship. The IHRA has been notorious for adjusting rules in a continuing effort to maintain parity between nitrous-injected and supercharged on alcohol competitors and while that notion sits well with some, it does not with these two particular teams. So, they will now instead focus on the more performance orientated NHRA AMS Staff Leasing Pro Mod circuit.

Commisso best described that reasoning.

“To properly utilize our engine program we need to run on superior tracks, like what NHRA has,” he said. “We are all about running things as hard and as fast as we can, not backing things off, which is often required when running IHRA. We find that can be expensive and also counterproductive when you are trying to move your performance program forward.”

That being said, both Commisso and Pontieri will be staunchly supporting the two IHRA Canadian events held this summer in Ontario. Both drivers have done extremely well racing this year including late round finishes, pole qualifying efforts and career quick times. Their cars will thus be both a top local attraction as well as overall pre-event favourites entering Grand Bend Motorplex and Toronto Motorsports Park.

As to any side bets between the two locals — I would venture that if the final round at either one of these races were to feature a pairing of these two cars the winner would be either enjoying a gourmet meal or possibly benefit from some tune-ups shortly thereafter.

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Cross-town Toronto racing rivals Tony Pontieri and Raymond Commisso

Tony Pontieri, Rob Sporring & Al Billes tend to things at IHRA Rockingham

Al Billes, Canada’s best kept secret — well maybe not anymore!

Performance Racing News

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coverage BROUGHT to you by

Photos by Bruce Biegler

BMW 335i

Mike Ashley finally turned his propensity for big top end speeds in Funny Car into victory at Topeka

Gotham City

Speed Demon!

A

fter coming close at NHRA Atlanta in April, New York-based Gotham City Racing team driver Mike Ashley earned his much overdue first career win in NHRA POWERade racing during NHRA’s O’Reilly Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka.

Driving the Torco/Skull Gear Dodge Charger Funny Car, which has shown a serious propensity for big top end speeds all season, Ashley broke through by outrunning the Toyota Solara FC ofy Jim Head in the final \. Ashley’s winning time was 4.896 secs at 310.70 mph.

Ashley’s win included top speed overall as his 327.11 mph was faster than the 325.85 mph set in Top Fuel by Doug Kalitta. In fact, Topeka marked the fifthth straight NHRA event that he earned top speed in Funny Car. “I knew it would happen if we just kept doing what we were doing and didn’t try to force anything,” an ecstatic and emotional Ashley said. “I’m so proud of this team, Brian Corradi, Mark Oswald, Steve Boggs — everyone, and everything they have done to get here — they are true champions.”

On hand to watch Ashley receive his first NHRA Wally event trophy was team sponsor Evan Knoll, owner of Torco Race Fuels. Ashley said, “This has been such a journey and it all started a few years ago when Evan came to me and said, ‘Let’s do it.’

We’ve been working towards this goal since then and Evan stuck with us through it all. This win is for all the dreamers out there. This is proof you can do anything you set your mind to.”

Funny Car featured a super scary incident when top contender and JFR team member 94

Robert Hight’s AAA Auto Club Ford Mustang exploded into flames shortly after winning. Unable to see through the smoke and fire, Hight collected both guard walls before exiting the car while it was still rolling into the top end sand trap. Hight was not injured and the entire JFR crew worked hard to make repairs and make it back to the staging lanes. But it was there that they ultimately decided that the car was not fit to run. That allowed Jim Head to a single into the final.

A big oddity at the event was a DNQ from points leader Ron Capps, whose new look Dodge Charger had nothing but problems and fell well short of the 4.946 secs bump spot. That marked the first time in 56 races that Capps did not qualify.

In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson kept his simply dominating 2007 season going as he won for the fifth time driving the Summit Racing Equipment Pontiac GTO. Anderson stopped rival David Connolly in the final with a winning 6.704/206.86 mph while Connolly went .008 red. Anderson’s did it all at Topeka, qualifying #1 (6.703 secs) and setting low ET and top speed at 6.682/207.24.

A red-hot Brandon Bernstein moved into the overall lead Top Fuel points when he racked up his third win of the season driving the Budweiser/ Lucas Oil dragster. Bernstein again had to deal with that “spunky” J.R. Todd in the final, but beat him 4.582/320.51 to 4.667/299.86.

TF produced a surprise polesitter with Oregonbased independent racer Joe Hartley earning the top spot after a career best 4.518 secs (low ET).

Hartley was, however, dealt out in round one by Cory McClenathan.

Top Fuel produced a surprising polesitter in independent Joe Hartley

Performance Racing News

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Following an apparent “blockbuster” announcement that NHRA will be sold to an investment company, is the fate and future of drag racing about to change?

Straight Talk with Bruce Biegler

A new future for NHRA?

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n drag racing circles some are calling it the biggest development in the sport in some 50 years. It sounds like a blockbuster to be sure, but is it really?

On May 30, HD Partners Acquisition Corporation and the National Hot Rod Association announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which HD Partners would acquire

NHRA POWERade Drag Racing will become a wholly owned subsidiary of HD Partners and now be called NHRA Pro Racing. all of NHRA’s professional racing assets. That includes primarily the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing series (a.k.a. Professional racing), together with a broad set of rights to commercialize the NHRA brand.

The first question is who the heck is HD Partners? According to the official release they are: “a company that was formed for the specific purpose of consummating a business combination in the media, entertainment and/or telecommunications industries.”

The release goes on to say that in June 2006, HD Partners raised $150 million in its initial public offering. HD Partners was formed by 96

Eddy Hartenstein, Robert Meyers, Larry Chapman, Steve Cox and Bruce Lederman, each of whom played senior roles in building DIRECTV to a business with over 12 million subscribers and over $7.7B in annual revenue. Hartenstein served as President of DIRECTV from its formation in 1990 through 2001, Chairman and CEO from 2002-03, and was responsible for assembling the management team that made DIRECTV the world’s leading digital television service.

The gist of it all is that NHRA POWERade Drag Racing will become a wholly owned subsidiary of HD Partners and now be called NHRA Pro Racing. The NHRA itself will remain non-profit and will retain all its non-professional racing, safety, educational activities and continue to be the sanctioning body for all NHRA racing including the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. Confused? Welcome to the club.

I’ve always believed that NHRA drag racing should and could have been much more than it currently is. That huge gap in the public forum between NASCAR and NHRA never should have happened. Over the past couple of seasons when rumours about people like Bruton Smith possibly purchasing NHRA, most people either publicly or secretly wished that it would be true.

Let us drag racing fans hope that HD Partners will drag racing now move to a higher level.

Surface Problems

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rag racing has seen a rather curious and alarming trend in 2007 with major events plagued by various degrees of racing surface problems. There has been some serious “egg on the face” in both IHRA and NHRA following some very large miscues.

First the IHRA announced that its marquee annual event, the World Nationals, would be delayed not once, but twice – the second time to 2008. To be fair, the cause of the “Mansfield incident” was unforeseen and bureaucratic.

Next was the right lane incident at at San Antonio. That resulted in a gaggle of single runs to complete qualifying and then a Herculean overnight scramble to repave a lane and ultimately finish the event on a 1/8th mile basis. A nice save… but!

Just one week before the event at Bristol Dragway, it was deferred some six weeks after major problems with the concrete launch pad. Things like that are just not supposed to happen at NHRA, or in particular at Bristol, arguably the finest facility that drag racing has ever seen.

Track problems continued for IHRA at Tulsa when a massive oil down deteriorated a lane so bad that qualifying was reduced to single runs. Luckily, the Tulsa race was rained out the next day (and deferred to late June), possibly avoiding an even bigger situation and embarrassment.

NHRA weren’t finished however, they countered at Topeka just one week later when the surface of the Heartland Park burnout box was ground so smooth that Pro Stock cars could not build up the necessary tire smoke and heat. That too required an overnight scramble to rough it up so that racing could continue.

Performance Racing News

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DRIFTING

THROUGH WEST VIRGINIA

BY PRN STAFF

HUBINETTE TAKE THE TOP SPOT IN ACTION-PACKED DEBUT FOR FORMULA D AT SUMMIT POINT

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eading into uncharted waters, the Formula D train made a new stop in the mountains of West Virginia. With a strong local motorsports following, Summit Point Motorsports Park is also in close proximity to large populations from DC, Maryland and Virginia. And as well all know; the East coast is foaming at the mouth, ready to pounce on any pro event that doesn’t require a plane ticket to attend. Formula D storms into the Northeast only twice a year, so sliders came from a wide radius to get their fix.

The network of tracks provided many possible configurations at the facility and the drivers were eager to tackle new ground. The ground was definitely anything but flat with all kinds of elevation changes, the momentum of the sliding drift cars carried them out to the rumble strips and, well, sometimes beyond. But

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whether it was the jitters or diving into Turn 1 after a long straight, the result was the same with many cars over-rotating and / or stuffing into the barrels.

Not everyone was showing cracks in the foundation though. During the exhibition, Nob Tanaguchi was putting on a clinic in the HKS Altezza. This 2JZblessed beast was smoking like a coal plant and probably putting down the same power. The Japanese legend was truly proving once again why there is “No One Better.” A legend in his own right, Vaughn Gittin Jr. wasn’t going to do much without having his trusted steed to ride. The Team Falken Mustang was out of commission and once again, Gitten’s alliance stepped up by giving him a familiar S13.5 to slide with. But in an unproven sled and down on power, he bowed out earlier than usual in front of his hometown groupies.

PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

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The power of the V10 was still no match for the skills of Tanner Foust

Photos by Joey Redmond

Samuel Hubinette is flanked by second-place Tanner Foust (l.) and third-place Rhys Millen (r.)

In eliminations, it seemed whoever kept it between the lines was going to advance. With loads of carnage early on, the drivers had to find the balance between enough pressure in tandem and staying in control.

Sam Hubinette, in a Mopar Charger, had a scare early on in competition. Ironically, it was an underpowered S-chassis from Enjuku Racing that came close enough for the fans to demand “one more time.” But Hubinette would not be denied and popular opinion or not, the judges allowed him to proceed.

Steadily proceeding along the other side was Tanner Foust. His hooked-up AEM Memphis Audio 350Z is a menace and combined with his skills, carved its way through the competition to meet Tyler McQuarrie in his Kouki. After some daring moves, Foust continued on. For the third-spot on the podium, Rhys Millen in the Red Bull Pontiac Solstice duked it out with McQuarrie and it just wasn’t to be as the veteran outgunned the 29-year-old Californian.

In the finals, the Big Swede in the big family sedan faced Foust. Considering Foust has been blazing and Hubinette had some trouble early on, fans were anticipating the number one points man Foust to make a meal out of the Hemi. But Foust was getting pushy with the boundaries after he dropped a couple wheels off track and sealed his casket. Hubinette took the win to put another sizzling round in the books.

A classic FD versus Skyline swing battle PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

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Caught on Camera Canadian Adrian Herberts made a move on the outside during the Champ Car Atlantic race in Cleveland, but things did not go as planned for the young driver.

LAT Photographic’s Anthony Kent caught the move on film.

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Touring Car

Sasha Anis is on top of the GT class after a win at Mosport and third at Shannonville

Off to Fast Start T he launch of the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship Presented By Toyo Tires came at Mosport International Raceway in early with over 45 entrants in three classes. The Championship has already become one of the largest racing series in Canada.

Canadian Touring Car President John Bondar said “Our key partners Castrol and Toyo and myself are extremely pleased with the results of the weekend. The level of equipment and performance was very high and overall it promises to be a great season of racing. The competition for the first weekend of racing was exceptional we are very encouraged by the way the Championship has begun.”

The fastest class is GT and that was won by Sasha Anis in his Nissan 240SX. With over 20 entries, the Super Touring class was the most popular class at the opener and was won by Charles Andre Bilodeau in his BMW 325i. The Touring class was won by Alain Lauziere in his Mini Cooper S. Both Saturday’s and Sunday’s races produced close competition in all three classes, providing great entertainment and excitement for spectators at the track. The front runners in each class were only seconds apart at the checker flag.

Round 2 of the series continued the momentum gained at the season opener as Shannonville Motorsport Park welcomed competitors to open the month of June.

Charles Andre Bilodeau almost made it two-for-two in ST, but he was nipped at the line at Shannonville and has to be happy with the points lead after two rounds

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Touring Car Off To Fast Start

Alain Lauziere and his Mini have control of the Touring division thanks to back-toback wins at Mosport and Shannonville

Saturday’s race provided the large crowd with close battles throughout the field. Tony Mcgrath drove the Dodge Viper to first in GT Class while Bilodeau took first in Super Touring with his BMW and Alain Lauziere won Touring Class with his Mini. The race set the grid for the feature race just after lunch on Sunday but unfortunately two sportscars succumbed to the tough conditions and couldn’t make the grid.

“This is our largest grid so far this season and our key partners Castrol and Toyo are extremely pleased with the interest in the Championship.”

-John Bondar Fifty-three sportscars took the green flag for the feature on Sunday. Canadian Touring Car President John Bondar said, “This is our largest grid so far this season and our key partners Castrol and Toyo are extremely pleased with the interest in the Championship.”

The hot weather provided an additional challenge in the feature race as drivers wound their way around Shannonville’s technical track. Many final positions were settled in the closing laps as driver and vehicle fatigue start to take its toll. Nick Majors in his Viper took a comfortable win in GT class followed by Bob Munro in his BMW and Anis in his Nissan. Etienne Borgeat in his BMW overtook his teammate Bilodeau for the win in Super Touring Class followed by Eric Leblanc in the Subaru.

Touring Class was won by Alain Lauziere with his Mini followed by Robert Calisi in his Honda and Ken McCartan in his Honda.

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proudly sponsors

canadian drag racing update

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Legendary Canadian drag racer Terry Capp will drive a reborn version of the infamous Bubble Up/Pacemaker Nostalgia Funny Car this summer!

Photo courtesy of Rich Carlson

A Blast from the Past!

he province of Alberta will be the home-base for some entertaining nitro drag racing this summer. Legendary Canadian drag racer Terry Capp has come out of semi-retirement to take the wheel of a spectacular re-creation of the Pacemaker Automotive/Bubble Up Pontiac Funny Car driven by and made famous by “240 Gordie” Bonin during the 1970s. Edmonton drag racing proponent Ron Hodgson is behind the project that features an engine and tune-up by Canadian drag racing legend Gordon Jenner.

Capp has already tested the car, participating at couple events on the US Pacific coast.

Western Speed Star

A more extensive tour including Western Canadian provinces is now on tap.

Capp and company will run within the budding (NFCA) guidelines for nostalgia Funny Car class racing. That includes significant fuel pump, supercharger and ignition system restrictions with the emerging intent to keep racing nitro more affordable and safe by minimizing the potential for carnage.

“It is a completely new car with a brand new body, Victory chassis, Keith Black motor and AJ heads,” crew member Dan Brochu said. “The car is set up according to the NFCA rules and the tune-up

is basically the same as it was in 1975-78. This modern day car does however have a superior chassis and quality parts. They didn’t have on-board computers back then, but we do.”

A season highlight will be for fans attending IHRA’s Rocky Mountain Nationals at Castrol Raceway. The car will run at that race however the question of will it actually be entered in Nitro Funny Car eliminator or just make exhibition runs is yet to be answered. The car is officially a 1977 Pontiac Firebird body style and there is nothing specific in the IHRA rulebook to prevent nostalgia-bodied cars.

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alk about making a first impression!

Richmond BC’s Shawn Cowie burst onto the Top Alcohol Dragster racing scene with vengeance this season. During the NHRA’s LODRS event at Mission Raceway, Cowie drove a car formerly raced by Hillary Will to some spectacular numbers. That included a 5.330 secs (#1 qualifier) and a speed of 271.65 mph. The 271.65 is the fastest run in drag racing history for a supercharged alcohol-burning dragster.

Cowie, who has the tuning expertise of Bucky Austin, almost went on to win the event, but ultimately lost a close final to California’s Thomas Bayer.

Invading American racer John Russo prevailed at the PMRA circuit opener at TMP in late May

PMRA Round One to Russo

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Invading American racer John Russo prevailed at the PMRA circuit opener at TMP in late May

he Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA) kicked off its third season with a two-day event at Toronto Motorsports Park in late May. The Can-Am Pro Modified connection of John Russo and Al Billes (drew first blood.

In the championship, Russo and his tuner/engine builder Billes were paired against Maryland’s Billy Farmer who was a last minute entry driving the Pullen Motorsports ‘57 Chevy (featuring an ERD engine program). Difficult track conditions played a factor as both cars shook their tires but

it was Russo to the stripe first at a winning 7.248 secs at 150.68 mph.

The fledging PMRA, while not yet featuring the same quality cars as that of the IHRA Knoll Gas or NHRA AMS series’ continues to make strides in that direction. Each event features a cool mixture of local Quick 8/Outlaw Pro Street/Top Sportsman level machines mixing it up with some invading higher echelon Pro Mod circuit cars. At TMP 15 machines were entered and race winner Russo was the 10th different winner in as many events since the series was started.

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QuebecReport

By Éric Descarries

Champ Car tests Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant By the time you will read this, the Circuit MontTremblant Champ Car race will be history. Yet, it was very interesting to attend the track test in late May. Among the drivers who were the first to tackle this legendary Canadian track were Alex Tagliani, champion Sebastien Bourdais, Will Power, Justin Wilson and Paul Tracy.

With Mother Nature cooperating, the drivers happily discovered one of the best tracks they had ever driven. Every driver had only good things to say about the Circuit. Tagliani was mostly excited, claiming he had reached close to 185 mph! Meanwhile, track officials were busy trying to scare deer away. Some of them still made it too close for comfort and the test session had to be halted for more than an hour.

Champ Cars are back at Tremblant after some 40 years

Racing underway As usual, it was a tough Spring start with its usual rains but racing got under way in Quebec. In road racing, ice racing star Yves Legris has begun a great season with two wins in the Pirelli Echo Cup. In the F1600 series, the Bonnet family has taken over where it left off last season with Olivier winning the latest race in May. As far as the Hankook Touring series is concerned, it is attracting more and more competitors including some local TV stars.

At St-Eustache, the most active paved bull-ring in the province, veteran racer Guy Jubinville is on a roll with his NASCAR Cummins Pro Truck Chevrolet. The ACT division is continuing its tour of the province and at St-Eustache in May, it was a surprising Normand Lavigueur who beat all the veterans to the checkered.

Action is going full throttle at the Granby and Drummondville dirt tracks where the Bilodeaus and Gougeons are surprising many veterans.

The Pirelli Echo series is once again in action in Quebec

Close to 30 Pro-Trucks started the NASCAR Cummins series at StEustache

Photo by VividRacing.com

Montreal Launches BullRun One of the most original (and probably risky) road rallies, the fourth annual Bull Run, had a little Canadian flavour this year as the start was in Old Montreal with Key West as final destination. Some 50 vehicles showed up on an early May morning with a Corvette the first out of the box. Among participants were mostly rich or well organized people who had paid more than $17,000 to run the “rally.”

One missing participant was a certain… Paris Hilton who was supposed to drive a Spyker.

Among the many cars on the starting grid were a few Lotus Elise, a mean looking 1968 Dodge Charger, Ferraris, Corvettes, Lambos, and our own Editorial Director, Dave Pankew in his Skyline GT-R. Two British participants could not get their

rally-prepped Peugeot 205 in Canada. So they left the car in the Northern States, rented a GMC 6500 straight body truck from a daily rental company and took the green in Montreal to reach their car in the States and continue with the Peugeot. Two competitors, Gary Patterson from Shelby Automotive and Alan Taylor from Car and Driver left Montreal with a concept Shelby Mustang GT-H convertible (they reached Key West without a speeding ticket). Two other participants, Rawling and Collins from Texas, drove their Ferrari 550 from Montreal to New York where they stripped off their BullRun stickers and headed for Los Angeles. They made it in 31 hours and 59 minutes, establishing a new “official” record.

108 Performance Racing News

Quebec Report 19.04.indd 1

7/17/07 11:54:27 AM

GP Bikes19.04.indd 1

7/11/07 9:50:26 AM

WesternReport

Records Set at Knox Mountain

Story and photos by Gerry Frechette I Western Editor

John Haftner set the three fastest times ever in the Knox Mountain Hillclimb, breaking his own record that even he thought was untouchable

WSC Win to Paquette and “Junior”

Darrin Gilmore took P2 honours and second overall, winning a race long battle with the team of Gerald Paetz and Bob Styan (trailing), the defending WSC Champions

Remembering Ed Smart

I

t was billed as the 50th Anniversary edition of the Knox Mountain Hillclimb, although some records show it was both the 51st anniversary and the 51st annual version of hillclimbing in B.C.’s Okanagan Valley (one early year’s event having been canceled). Whatever you call it, the run up the Mountain in Kelowna this year was one befitting its status as one of Canada’s longest continuously-run motorsport events.

What is certain is that the May long-weekend fixture that first ran on the public road up Knox Mountain in 1966 saw the continued domination of New Westminster’s John Haftner. Having previously set fast time of the event 10 times beginning in 1981, four of those being course records, Haftner’s record run of 1:38.9 in 1995 had only been approached by himself since then. But on this most celebratory of Knox weekends, he broke the record nobody, least of all himself, thought would ever fall.

The conditions Sunday morning were cool and perfect, and Haftner was ready, launching his Tui Super Vee with turbo VW power up the Mountain to an astounding 1.37.065, backed up with runs of 1:37.4 and 1:38.8, for the three quickest ascents ever.

T

he first round of the SCCBC Westcoast Sportscar Championship was delayed to the second CACC race weekend at River’s Edge Roadcourse in Mission, BC. Thus, the racers could run in the Dash For Cash that had been moved to the first race weekend, and get used to the one-hour format and actually race for money.

With 17 cars qualified for it looked like that might have been a good move as far as setting up the WSC season and drawing more entries.

But, come June 3, 12 cars took the green flag, and the series was back to square one on the entry front. It could have been 40 entries and it wouldn’t have mattered to the team of Steve Paquette and Tony Morris Jr., as the duo driving the former’s Porsche 911 Turbo was untouchable.

T

he motorsport community lost one of its most experienced and committed officials, with the passing of Edward Smart on May 8 from prostate cancer that remained undiagnosed until too late (a message there for you middle-aged guys.)

Ed joined SCCBC in 1970 at the age of 19, and in the ensuing years took on every duty connected with running races and doing the behind-the-scenes work necessary to keep the sport functioning in Western Canada. From tech inspector to executive steward to president of CACC (the BC arm of ASN Canada), Ed did it all.

“I was surprised the car ran that well, but the conditions were the best in many years,” he said.

“Plus, I had a great pit crew with me. In the past I had to do everything myself, so I could just concentrate on driving this year. But that is about as quick as the car is going to go with me in it; it might go quicker with someone else driving it,” the 66 year-old laughed.

Haftner wasn’t the only one enjoying the fast conditions, as Campbell Carlyle, driving his Trans-Am in the most populous class, SP3, ran the three quickest times ever, as low as 156.905, quite an achievement considering the car had to be completely rebuilt over the winter after a crash in Calgary.

Breaking one of the longest-lasting records at Knox was Ian Wood. The 28-year veteran of the Hill drove his Rawlson Can-Am car to a 1:48.983, eclipsing the SR record set in 1989

by Ross Bentley. Also, breaking the two-minute mark is the Holy Grail for full-bodied cars at Knox, and after many years of trying, Larry Sandham and his hot Mini accomplished the feat with a 1:59.9.

With a scintillating qualifying lap of 1:13.7, they had 4.5 seconds in hand over the next quickest, and could afford to turn down the power during the race and still lap the field.

Darrin Gilmore’s Porsche 928 took P2 and second overall, significant because he won a battle with defending WSC champions Bob Styan and Gerald Paetz, while Larry Bell took P3 and Jordan Isaak P4.

In regular CACC racing, Doug Yip’s GT1 Mustang took both CW1 races, Paquette won twice in CW2 (although the Saturday victory was taken away for allegedly passing under caution, giving the official victory to Gary Mathies), and the quick Reynard of Tim Brausse, running in FL, took both Open Wheel races.

Ed could be difficult to get to know, as he was a bit cantankerous and tended to be very confident that his way was always the right way, but he was usually right, and always had the best interests of the racers and the sport at heart. In real life, he was a computer consultant to many in the community.

At the SCCBC race on June 2, the community gathered to remember him, as he did not want any formal services, and the technical inspection compound was renamed “Ed Smart’s Way” in his honour. With a minute of silence and the spreading of his ashes around the perimeter of the compound, it was back to racing, just the way he would have wanted it.

110 Performance Racing News

West Report 19.04.indd 1

7/17/07 2:22:01 PM

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When NASCAR decided to stop the Sportsman Series, racer Ron Lethbridge stepped in to help Ontario Sportsman drivers find a place to race in 2007

New Ontario

Sportsman Series launches Story and photos by Jamie Maudsley

Series picks up where former CASCAR Sportsman Series left off

T

he Ontario Sportsman Series kicked off this summer, featuring many of the teams that previously competed in the CASCAR Sportsman Series. When NASCAR informed competitors of the series that they would not be continuing with the program, it was Ron Lethbridge who grabbed the bull by the horns and rallied the competitors of the series.

Lethbridge describes taking his own racing destiny in his hands, “I have cars in my shop that are no good without a place to race, and there are a bunch of us in the same boat. Dave Connelly and I spoke a bit and decided to put something together. So far, we’ve put together a six-race schedule, and have created a rules package that we hope draws some NCTRS teams here as well.

They just have to put a two-barrel carb on their cars and they’re all set to go. In fact, JR Fitzpatrick and DJ Kennington have both made plans to field cars in the series, as well as most of the regular teams that have competed on the Sportsman Series for years.”

“There are so many of these cars out there, and it will also continue to give the Super Series a place to sell their used equipment,” Lethbridge continues. “We’ve tried to come up with a rules package that will keep the costs down for the competitors, and will allow as many drivers as possible to race the whole series.”

“We’ve tried to come up with a rules package that will keep the costs down for the competitors, and will allow as many drivers as possible to race the whole series.”

-Ron Lethbridge The series opened at Mosport Speedway on June 16, while the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series raced on the road course, and ends on Aug. 25 at Sunset Speedway. In between are races at Sauble Speedway, Peterborough Speedway, and a pair of events at Cayuga Speedway.

114 Performance Racing News

Sportsmans 19.04.indd 1

7/17/07 2:51:37 PM

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New Ontario Sportsman Series launches

“Dave Connelly (pictured) and I spoke a bit and decided to put something together. So far, we’ve put together a six-race schedule, and have created a rules package that we hope draws some NCTRS teams here as well.”

-Ron Lethbridge

Taws returns to action

to concentrate on our National series. I really applaud Ron (Lethbridge) for stepping up, and hope that their Sportsman Series will continue to be a feeder series to our National series.”

Also racing the series this year are 2006 Sportsman Series champion Shawn McGlynn, Lethbridge, Connelly, four-time Sportsman Series champ Steve Robblee, and his son Matt Robblee, Billy Innes, Mike Hryniuk and Josh Wood. For more information visit www.ontariosportsmanseries.com.

Photo Courtesy Jackson Communications

NCTRS Marketing Director Richard Coughlin explained that while he was sorry NASCAR had to make the decision to drop the tour (as well as the former CASCAR Western Series), he wishes all the teams well. “I can appreciate that there were a lot of Sportsman Teams that couldn’t find the resources, or just didn’t want all the travel and commitment that goes with running our Series, and I wish them all the best. For us, it just became a situation where we decided

T

he biggest splash of the Ontario Sportsman Series so far is the announcement that former open wheel driver Ashley Taws will bring her pink Barbie car to the tour. Taws, from Newmarket, ON will be making her first attempts in a heavier stock car, looking to mix it up with the boys in her pink #72 Dodge.

Taws was an up-and-coming road racing star, moving through the ranks to an F1600 car, and an impressive pole and subsequent back of the pack to fourth run at the Grand Prix of Toronto in

2002. Then in late 2002, Taws was involved in an auto accident, suffering serious back injuries. She would return to the Formula scene in 2003, but her injuries became too much to overcome and her racing career seemed over.

Taws had her final surgery last summer and made her return to motorsports last winter in ice racing, before putting together a deal to race the new Ontario Sportsman Series with support from not only Barbie, but Wal-Mart, Bear Paws, and Polly Pockets.

116 Performance Racing News

Sportsmans 19.04.indd 2

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OIL&LUBRICANTS AMSOIL EUROPEAN CAR FORMULA 5W-40 NOW GOOD FOR VW 505.01 Reformulated AMSOIL European Car Formula 5W-40 100% Synthetic Motor Oil is now recommended for VW 505.01, VW 502.00, Mercedes-Benz 229.51 and BMW LL-04 specifications. AMSOIL Synthetic European Car Formula 5W-40 Motor Oil is engineered for turbo direct injection (TDI) vehicles, including the Volkswagen Jetta, Passat, Golf, Beetle and Audi A3, A4, A6 and A8 models and is formulated to exceed API SM / CF requirements for North American vehicles.

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118 PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

Oil And Lube Guide 19.04.indd 1

7/17/07 7:09:08 PM

Barrie Speedway 19.04.indd 1

7/18/07 6:36:46 PM

OIL&LUBRICANTS QUAKER STATE ADVANCED ENGINE OIL Today’s advanced engines generate power and performance with the help of aluminum cylinder heads, aggressive cam designs, multi-valve cylinder heads and turbochargers.

The new Quaker State Advanced Engine Full Synthetic Motor Oil is specially formulated to maximize the performance and power of today’s modern engines. Heat-activated molecules in Q are unleashed to provide a low-friction, ultra-heat resistant lubrication film. This superior, protective layer helps control power-robbing friction, while advanced additives help prevent oil shearing and resist thermal and viscosity breakdown.

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SLICK 50 ENGINE TREATMENT Slick 50’s new Advanced Formula Engine Treatment reduces engine friction by 17 percent and does not dilute engine oil like other leading additives. Developed from a base of fully formulated 10W-30 motor oil that meets ILSAC GF-4 motor oil specifications, it provides the maximum benefits of quality motor oil. Slick 50 Engine Treatment will not change the SAE grade of the motor oil. Developed to contain a powerful combination of friction modifiers, anti-wear agents and dispersants, the new Slick 50 Advanced Formula Engine Treatment will not dilute your engine’s oil.

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120 PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS Fast Eddie Racewear 19.03.indd 1

Oil And Lube Guide 19.04.indd 2

5/22/07 5:13:10 PM

7/17/07 7:09:22 PM

VALVOLINE SYNPOWER SynPower is a full-synthetic motor oil formulated for extreme protection and superior performance. It helps extend engine life by reducing wear and oil breakdown. SynPower motor oil meets the demanding performance requirements for BMW, Corvette, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volkswagen, Volvo, and other high-performance vehicles. It helps extend engine life by reducing wear and oil breakdown.

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Oil And Lube Guide 19.04.indd 3

121

7/17/07 7:12:19 PM

OIL&LUBRICANTS HAVOLINE MOTOR OIL WITH DEPOSIT SHIELD Deposit build-up and viscosity increases can cause interference with moving parts so they don’t slide past each other easily. Chevron’s solution is the new Havoline with Deposit Shield motor oil. Havoline with Deposit Shield’s secret is an advanced detergent formula that provides improved oil stability. It keeps parts coated so that there is no place for deposits to adhere. This makes Havoline with Deposit Shield a good choice for high-heat producing turbo-charged engines. Deposit Shield formula is available in conventional, high-mileage and synthetic-blend formulas, which are available in quarts and a new gallon size.

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MOBIL 1 MOTOR OIL If you want total engine protection, excellent fuel economy and a product recommended for applications under warranty, you want Mobil 1. The world’s leading synthetic motor oil, it features a proprietary SuperSyn anti-wear technology that provides performance beyond conventional motor oils. Technology that allows Mobil 1 to exceed the toughest standards of Japanese, European and US car builders, and to provide exceptional protection against engine wear, under normal or even the most extreme conditions. Available through participating retailers and installers in Canada from coast to coast.

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ROYAL PURPLE MOTOR OIL Royal Purple high-performance motor oil has been proven to increase horsepower and torque, reduce heat, wear and emissions, while improving fuel economy. Royal Purple’s film strength is claimed to be up to four times higher than leading synthetic motor oils. It’s available through authorized performance and national automotive retailers including NAPA, O’Reilly and Pep Boys.

PENNZOIL PLATINUM FULL SYNTHETIC MOTOR OIL Pennzoil has reformulated Pennzoil Platinum full synthetic motor oil, introducing adaptive molecules that are designed to survive the searing heat, intense pressures and shearing forces of today’s precision-made engine parts. In addition to its adaptive molecules, Pennzoil Platinum contains high-quality synthetic base oil and a unique additive formulation. This formulation provides superior protection against engine wear and deposit formation compared to conventional and synthetic-blend motor oil, helping to reduce piston ring sticking and metal-on-metal contact in the engine.

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TORCO MPZ ENGINE ASSEMBLY LUBE MPZ Engine Assembly Lube is favoured by professional mechanics during assembly of internal mechanical components including pistons, bushings, bearings and transmission components. MPZ EAL is a high-viscosity, oil-soluble lubricant which contains concentrated anti-wear, anti-friction and anti-shock elements for superior protection. It contains formulated adhesion properties so it will not run or drip from treated parts.

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122 PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

Oil And Lube Guide 19.04.indd 4

7/17/07 7:12:38 PM

Red Line18.02.indd 1

5/4/06 2:46:23 PM

PILOTI MULHOLLAND 2

Piloti has released the latest generation Mulholland shoe, from the manufacturer’s popular Touring line – the Mulholland 2. The Mulholland shoe was upgraded using the innovative new Evolution bottom unit and has a wider toe box in some great new colours.

The original Mulholland offered a non-fireproof driving shoe at a price point for many enthusiasts who could use the shoe while autocrossing or for everyday use. Retails for $85 per pair, and comes in Black/Tifosi Red/Race Yellow; Black/ Ecosse Blue/LS Orange; White/ Ecosse Blue/ Race Yellow; and Brown/ Black/LS Orange. For more visit www.piloti.com or call (714) 289-2242.

SLEDGEHAMMER FUEL SYSTEM ULTRA TREATMENT

Sledgehammer Fuel System Ultra Treatment (by Run-Rite) is a fast and easy fuel tank pour-in product that takes just seconds to install, but delivers noticeable performance results, especially in fuel economy. Sledgehammer contains a “double espresso” shot of the highest concentration of detergent additives, designed to help improve a vehicle’s fuel economy, reduce emissions and improve engine performance. It is recommended for use with each oil change (or every 3,000 miles) as a compliment to annual multi-step fuel system cleaning. For more call 1-800872-8921 or visit www.Run-Rite.com.

THE INTAKE SNAKE

The Intake Snake is the revolutionary way to clean throttle body and intake deposits. It is a specialty tool that consists of a long, flexible shaft with a comfort grip handle, and disposable cleaning pods (Snake Heads) that come pre-soaked in Run-Rite’s exclusive detergent “venom.” The detergent is non-flammable, non-corrosive, and is safe for all coated and sensitive parts. The Snake Heads are disposable in ordinary containers. The Intake Snake is a true professional’s approach to throttle body and intake cleaning. For more contact C.A.T. Products, Inc. (Run-Rite) at 1-800-872-8921 or visit www.IntakeSnake.com.

B.L.A.S.T. ADVANCED INTAKE CLEANING TOOL

To more thoroughly clean the intake area, and at the same time cut your service time in half, you need the B.L.A.S.T. #9877 Tool from Run-Rite! B.L.A.S.T. uses air pressure and a patented s-nozzle design to fully atomize Run-Rite intake cleaner (which, by the way, is Low VOC compliant). This ‘tube within a tube’ design provides for better distribution of the cleaner and a more thorough cleaning of modern intake designs. Technicians will love that this highly advanced cleaning process takes less than 10 minutes to perform. For more contact C.A.T. Products, Inc. (Run-Rite) at 1-800-872-8921 or visit www.Run-Rite.com.

SUPER-GLIDES

New from the inventor of the Superclamp comes the Super-Glide. The revolutionary Super-Glide gives you the best of all possible situations, your snowmobile will glide with ease, your ATV will have traction in virtually all conditions and you will have traction under your feet. The Super-Glide is engineered to minimize moisture buildup that stays trapped under the glide, helping eliminate a major cause of premature wood rot. The development of Channel slots in the SuperGlide and the supplied custom shoulder screws allow it to expand and contract to minimize buckling and ensure years of trouble free use. For more visit www. superclamp.net or call (404) 203-2210 for your nearest Distributor.

124 PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

GearingUp 19.04.indd 2

7/17/07 5:21:05 PM

Fastco 19.03.indd 1

5/24/07 1:59:08 PM

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126 PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

Marketplace 19.04.indd 2

7/17/2007 7:09:35 PM

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PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

Marketplace 19.04.indd 3

127

7/17/2007 7:10:09 PM

2007 MOTORSPORTS POINTS STANDINGS THE OFFICIAL AUTOMOTIVE RETAILER OF NASCAR IN CANADA. The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series marks are used under license by Destination Motorsports LP and Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited. NASCAR® is a registered trademark of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.

FIA FORMULA ONE After 9 of 17 races

1 Lewis Hamilton............................................. 70 2 Fernando Alonso........................................... 58 3 Kimi Raikkonen............................................. 52 4 Felipe Massa................................................. 51 5 Nick Heidfeld................................................ 33 6 Robert Kubica............................................... 22 7 Giancarlo Fisichella....................................... 17 8 Heiki Kovalainen........................................... 14 9 Alexander Wourz............................................. 8 10 Jarno Trulli...................................................... 7

CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIES After 7 of 15 races

1 Robert Doornbos......................................... 164 2 Will Power................................................... 162 3 Sebastien Bourdais..................................... 161 4 Justin Wilson............................................... 138 5 Alex Tagliani................................................ 127 6 Simon Pagenaud......................................... 120 7 Neel Jani..................................................... 116 8 Oriol Servia................................................. 102 9 Graham Rahal............................................. 101 10 Bruno Junqueira........................................... 91

IRL INDY CAR SERIES After 11 of 17 races

1 Dario Franchitti........................................... 434 2 Scott Dixon.................................................. 400 3 Dan Wheldon............................................... 337 4 Tony Kanaan............................................... 331 5 Sam Hornish Jr........................................... 329 6 Helio Castroneves....................................... 285 7 Danica Patrick............................................. 267 8 Scott Sharp................................................. 265 9 Vitor Meira.................................................. 240 10 Tomas Scheckter........................................ 233

CHAMP CAR ATLANTIC CHAMPIONSHIP After 7 of 12 races

1 Raphael Matos............................................ 228 2 Franck Perera............................................. 198 3 James Hinchcliffe....................................... 178 Robert Wickens........................................... 178 5 Giacomo Ricci............................................. 125 6 Jonathan Bomarito..................................... 117 7 JR Hildebrand............................................... 99 8 Alan Sciuto.................................................... 95 9 Carl Skerlong................................................ 79 10 Ronnie Bremer.............................................. 79

IRL INDY PRO SERIES After 11 of 16 races

1 Alex Lloyd.................................................... 499 2 Hideki Mutoh............................................... 367 3 Wade Cunningham...................................... 302 4 Bobby Wilson.............................................. 292 5 Jaime Camara............................................. 266 6 Mike Potekhen............................................ 242 7 Robbie Pecorari.......................................... 239 8 Jonathan Klein............................................ 228 9 Chris Festa.................................................. 225 10 Logan Gomez.............................................. 221

STAR MAZDA CHAMPIONSHIP After 7 of 12 races

1 Dane Cameron............................................ 263 2 James Davison............................................ 216 3 Jonathan Goring.......................................... 215 4 Ron White.................................................... 207 5 Devin Cunningham...................................... 203 6 Alex Ardoin.................................................. 196 7 Marco Di Leo............................................... 190 8 Nick Haye.................................................... 185 9 Lorenzo Manadrino..................................... 183 10 Russell Walker............................................ 173

AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES After 6 of 12 races

1 2 3 4 5

1

LMP1 R. Capello/A. McNish.................................. 122 M. Werner/E. Pirro....................................... 100 Clint Field...................................................... 87 Jon Field....................................................... 74 Richard Berry................................................ 61 LMP2 R. Dumas/T. Bernhard................................. 107

128

2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

S. Maassen/R. Briscoe.................................. 98 D. Brabham/S. Johansson............................. 68 A. Wallace/B. Leitzinger................................ 62 Bryan Herta................................................... 58 GT1 O. Gavin/O. Beretta...................................... 122 J. Magnussen/J. O’Connell........................... 90 Max Papis..................................................... 26 Ron Fellows.................................................. 22 A. Garcia/L. Halliday/D. Turner...................... 19 GT2 J. Bergmeister/J. Van Overbeek.................... 92 M. Salo/J. Melo............................................. 88 W. Henzler/R. Lidell....................................... 63 D. Law/n. Jonsson........................................ 44 T. Milner/R. Kelleners.................................... 40

GRAND-AM SERIES After 10 of 15 events

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5

DP Scott Pruett................................................. 272 Max Angelelli.............................................. 257 A. Gurney/J. Fogarty................................... 250 Memo Rojas................................................ 247 C. Braun/M. Papis....................................... 237 GT Dirk Werner................................................. 283 RJ Valentine/A. Lally................................... 273 P. Edwards/K. Collins.................................. 272 Bryce Miller................................................. 271 Sylvain Tremblay......................................... 266

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES After 19 of 36 events

1 Jeff Gordon............................................... 2911 2 Denny Hamlin............................................ 2608 3 Matt Kenseth............................................. 2565 4 Jef Burton................................................. 2491 5 Carl Edwards............................................. 2473 6 Tony Stewart............................................. 2429 7 Jimmie Johnson....................................... 2423 8 Kevin Harvick............................................ 2337 9 Kyle Busch................................................ 2314 10 Clint Bowyer.............................................. 2281

NASCAR BUSCH SERIES After 20 of 35 events

1 Carl Edwards............................................. 3074 2 Kevin Harvick............................................ 2358 3 David Reutimann....................................... 2207 4 Dave Blaney.............................................. 2194 5 David Ragan.............................................. 2116 6 Jason Leffler............................................. 2097 7 Bobby Hamilton Jr..................................... 2059 8 Stephen Leicht.......................................... 2000 9 Clint Bowyer.............................................. 1999 10 Marcos Ambrose....................................... 1939

NASCAR CANADIAN TIRE SERIES after 3 of 12 races

1 Andrew Ranger........................................... 500 Mark Dilley.................................................. 500 3 Peter Gibbons............................................. 456 4 Ron Beauchamp Jr...................................... 455 5 Don Thomson Jr.......................................... 451 6 DJ Kennington............................................ 444 7 John Gaunt.................................................. 428 8 Derek Lynch................................................ 427 9 JR Fitzpatrick.............................................. 413 10 Kerry Micks................................................. 399

FIA WORLD RALLY After 8 of 17 events

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Marcus Gronholm......................................... 65 Sebastien Loeb............................................. 56 Mikko Hirvonen............................................. 49 Daniel Sordo................................................. 28 Petter Solberg............................................... 26 Henning Solberg........................................... 24 Chris Atkinson............................................... 15 Jari-Matti Latvala.......................................... 12 Daniel Carlsson............................................... 9 Manfred Stohl................................................. 9

NHRA DRAG RACING SERIES After 13 of 23 events

TOP FUEL 1 Rod Fuller.................................................... 977 2 Larry Dixon.................................................. 833

3 Brandon Bernstein...................................... 821 4 JR Todd....................................................... 785 5 Tony Schumacher....................................... 767 6 Bob Vandergriff........................................... 648 7 David Grubnic............................................. 641 Whit Bazemore............................................ 641 9 Melanie Troxel............................................. 589 10 Cory McClenathan....................................... 570 FUNNY CAR 1 Ron Capps................................................... 965 2 Robert Hight................................................ 811 3 Mike Ashley................................................. 726 4 Tony Pedregon............................................ 720 5 Gary Scelzi.................................................. 679 6 Jim Head..................................................... 678 7 Jack Beckman............................................ 647 8 Cruz Pedregon............................................ 557 9 John Force.................................................. 541 10 Tommy Johnson Jr...................................... 526 PRO STOCK 1 Greg Anderson.......................................... 1081 2 Jeg Coughlin............................................... 997 3 Dave Connolly............................................. 885 4 Allen Johnson............................................. 756 5 Jason Line................................................... 749 6 Kurt Johnson............................................... 626 7 Larry Morgan.............................................. 596 8 Richie Stevens............................................ 581 9 Warren Johnson.......................................... 579 10 V. Gaines..................................................... 562

9 Nicky Hayden................................................ 73 10 Alex Barros................................................... 69

AMA SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP After 6 of 11 events

1 Ben Spies.................................................... 382 2 Mat Mladin.................................................. 364 3 Jake Zemke................................................ 293 4 Miguel Duhamel.......................................... 279 5 Tommy Hayden........................................... 274 6 Jason DiSalvo............................................. 252 7 Aaron Yates................................................. 243 8 Jamie Hacking............................................ 235 9 Eric Bostrom............................................... 203 10 Roger Lee Hayden....................................... 197

CANADIAN SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP after 4 of 7 races

1 Jordan szoke.............................................. 236 2 Steve Crevier.............................................. 188 3 Kevin Lacombe........................................... 167 4 Clint McBain................................................ 163 5 Brett McCormick......................................... 155 6 Francis Martin............................................. 125 7 Andrew Nelson............................................ 113 8 Pascal Picotte............................................. 110 9 Jean-Paul Tache........................................... 93 10 Frank Trombino............................................. 76

AMA SUPERSPORT SERIES After 6 of 11 events

IHRA DRAG RACING SERIES After 4 of 11 events

TOP FUEL 1 TJ Zizzo....................................................... 333 2 Bruce Litton................................................ 322 3 Scotty Cannon............................................. 238 4 Doug Foley.................................................. 233 5 Bobby Lagana Jr......................................... 210 6 Terry McMillen............................................ 167 7 Mike Strasburg........................................... 129 8 Kevin Jones................................................ 109 9 Scott Weis..................................................... 97 10 Jeffrey O’Neill............................................... 91 PRO MODIFIED 1 Scotty Cannon Jr......................................... 296 2 Pat Stoken.................................................. 276 3 Ed Hoover.................................................... 272 4 Danny Rowe................................................ 227 5 Kenny Lang................................................. 203 6 Quain Sott................................................... 193 7 Matt Hagan................................................. 174 8 Jim Halsey.................................................. 155 9 Eddie Ware.................................................. 149 10 Mike Castellana.......................................... 123 ALCOHOL FUNNY CAR 1 Mark Thomas.............................................. 426 2 Terry Munroe............................................... 371 3 Rob Atchison............................................... 319 4 Larry Dobbs................................................ 233 5 Terry McMillen............................................ 148 NITRO FUNNY CAR 1 Dale Creasey Jr........................................... 391 2 Terry Haddock............................................. 307 3 Jack Wyatt.................................................. 290 4 Andy Kelley................................................. 242 5 Jon Capps................................................... 195 PRO STOCK 1 Pete Berner................................................. 360 2 Robert Patrick............................................. 342 3 John Montecalvo......................................... 287 4 Robert Mansfield......................................... 223 5 Brian Gahm................................................. 222 6 Frank Gugliotta........................................... 210 7 Scott Spiess................................................ 182 8 Rickie Smith................................................ 152 9 Cary Goforth................................................ 120 10 Dean Goforth............................................... 112

FIM MOTOGP CHAMPIONSHIP After 10 of 18 races

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Casey Stoner............................................... 196 Valentino Rossi........................................... 164 Dani Pedrosa............................................... 144 John Hopkins.............................................. 103 Marco Melandri..............................................97 Chris Vermeulen............................................ 93 Colin Edwards............................................... 88 Loris Capirossi.............................................. 77

1 2 3 4 5

Josh Hayes................................................. 185 Roger Lee Hayden....................................... 176 Jamie Hacking............................................ 174 Steve Rapp.................................................. 149 Tommy Hayden........................................... 136

AMA SUPERtock SERIES

1 2 3 4 5

Ben Spies.................................................... 215 Ben Bostrom............................................... 176 Aaron Yates................................................. 170 Geoff May.................................................... 164 Danny Eslick............................................... 150

AMA FORMULA XTREME SERIES After 6 of 11 events

1 2 3 4 5

Josh Hayes................................................. 211 Steve Rapp.................................................. 177 Anthony Gobert........................................... 159 Larry Pegram.............................................. 130 Ben Attard................................................... 118

CANADIAN PRO 600 SPORT BIKE SERIES after 4 of 7 races

1 2 3 4 5

Jordan Szoke.............................................. 203 Steve Crevier.............................................. 193 Francis Martin............................................. 176 Andrew Nelson............................................ 164 Kevin Lacombe........................................... 147

CMRC MOTOCROSS SERIES after 6 of 9 events

MX1 1 Paul Carpenter............................................ 236 2 Marco Dube................................................ 170 3 Jeff Gibson.................................................. 166 4 Colton Facciotti........................................... 147 5 Mason Phillips............................................. 144 6 Simon Homans............................................ 130 7 Jean-Sebastien Roy.................................... 123 8 Mitch Cooke................................................ 114 9 Kyle Keast................................................... 108 10 Ryan Lokchart............................................. 107

1 2 3 4 5

MX2 WEST Jimmy Nelson............................................. 148 Ben Evans................................................... 140 Kyle Beaton................................................. 132 Gray Davenport........................................... 125 Eric Nye....................................................... 123

1 2 3 4 5

MX2 EAST Michael Willard............................................. 95 Tim Tremblay................................................ 77 Tyler Medaglia............................................... 61 Jacob Saylor................................................. 56 Jay Burke...................................................... 55

standings as of july 15, 2007

PERFORMANCE RACING NEWS

Points 19.04.indd 2

7/17/07 8:38:49 PM

MARKETPLACE Fuel Systems

Standalone ECUs

Pistons

Fuel Cells

Gauges

Drivetrain

Lightweight Batteries

Big Brake Systems

Camshafts

Clutches & Flywheels

Gaskets

Blocks

Cooling & Cryogenic

Rods & Crankshafts

Brake Pads & Rotors

Engines

Urethane Upgrades

Clutches & Flywheels

Valvetrain

Fans & Coolers

Radiators

Turbochargers

Helmets

Fuel Systems

Pistons

Spark Plugs & Ignition

Limited Slip Differentials

Oils & Lubricants

Suspension

Gauges

Shocks & Struts

Wastegates & Blowoff Valves

Individual Throttle Bodies

Exhaust Hard Parts

Lightweight Forged Racing Wheels

Brake Systems

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Marketplace-JRP 19.02 V2.indd 1

2344 SOUTH SHERIDAN WAY MISSISSAUGA, ON, CANADA (905) 822-7223

5/23/2007 5:03:06 PM

4-WHEEL NEWS

Nitro Moose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 www.nitromoose.ca Angel Wings Trading Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 www.angel-wings.ca

NHRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 www.nhra.com

Anglo American Road Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 www.aaroadracing.com

Performance Racing Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 www.performanceracing.com

Auto Dent Magicians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 www.autodentmagicians.ca

Quick Shift Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 www.quickshiftracing.com

Barrie Speedway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 www.barriespeedway.com

Red Line Synthetic Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 www.redlineoil.com

Bell Mobility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 www.bell.ca

Rocket Rally Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 www.rocketrally.com

Bell Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 www.bellracing.com

Safety FX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 www.safetyfxonline.com

Beyond Digital Imaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 www.bdimaging.com

SCCA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 www.scca.com

Bully Clutch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113 www.bullyclutch.com

Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 www.shell.ca

Canada Wide Distributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 www.canada-wide-parts.com

Shift Karting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 www.shiftracing.ca

Carbuffs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 www.carbuffs.com

SH Karting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 www.shkarting.com

Castrol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 www.castrol.ca

Sunoco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 www.sunoco.ca

Cayuga International Speedway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 www.cayugaspeedwaypark.com

Team Autotechnica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83 www.autotechnicagroup.com

Chag Autosport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 www.chagautosport.com

Tissot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 www.tissot.ch

Chevron/ Texaco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 www.havolinecoolants.com

Toronto Motorsports Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 www.torontomotorsportspark.com

Circuit Mont – Tremblant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 www.lecircuit.com

Toyo Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 www.toyotires.ca

Cooper Tire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 www.coopertire.com

Valvoline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 www.valvoline.com

CRC Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 www.crc-canada.ca

VP Fuels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 www.vpracingfuels.com

Da Silva Lifts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 www.liftmycar.com

Yokohama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 www.yokohama.ca

DMS North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 www.dmsnorthamerica.com Eagle One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 www.eagleone.com EMCEA Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 www.emcea.ca

Hans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 www.hansdevice.com

SUZUKI DEALER TAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 www.suzuki.ca

Grand Prix Imports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 www.grandpriximport.com

SUZUKI OF NEW MARKET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 www.suzukiofnewmarket.com

Gatorz Glasses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 www.gatorz.com

HARLEY DAVIDSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 www.trevdeeley.com

G-Force Racing Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 www.gforce.com

WALTON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 www.waltontranscan.ca

Fast Eddie Racewear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 www.fasteddieracewear.com

YAMAHA DEALER TAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 www.yamaha-motor.ca

Fast Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 www.fastco.ca

SUZUKI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 www.suzuki.ca

Hindle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 www.hindle.com

ST. ONGE RECREATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 www.stongerecreation.com

Hyundai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 www.hyundaicanada.com

POWERSPORTS CANADA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 www.powersportscanada.com

IAC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 www.iactech.com

NEXO SPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 www.nexosports.com

IHRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 www.ihra.com

KYMCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 www.kymco.ca

Jiffy Tite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 www.jiffy-tite.com

KAWASAKI DEALER TAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 www.kawasaki.ca

Jones Brown Motor Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 www.jonesbrown.com/motorsports

KAWASAKI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 www.kawasaki.ca

JRP (Market Place) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 www.jrponline.com

INGLIS CYCLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 www.ingliscycle.com

JRP (Sparco) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 www.jrponline.com

HONDA DEALER TAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 www.honda.ca

Lucas Oil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 www.lucasoil.ca

BMW MOTORAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 www.bmw-motorrad.com

Lincoln Electric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 www.lincolnelectric.com

EDGE PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 www.edgeperformancecentre.ca

Karbelt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 www.karbelt.com

GP BIKES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 www.gpbikes.com

JVC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 www.jvc.ca

Photo courtesy of yamahamotogp.com

Have Bus Will Travel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 www.havebus.com

Meadowvale Ford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 www.meadowvaleford.com Mechanix Wear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 www.mechanixwear.com

2-WHEEL NEWS

Mopac Auto Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 www.mopacautosupply.com Mobil 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 www.mobil1.com Mosport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 www.mosport.com NGK Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 www.ngksparkplugs.ca

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