MOSPORT, JUNE 27, 28, 29, 2003 VARAC FESTIVAL:

My first Festival has come and gone, way too quickly. In fact it was my first time racing, ever. It was great fun and I must extend a big thank-you to the Festival organizers, track volunteers, and especially to the many kind members who took the time to welcome the misfit Fiat and me to the Festival. The personnel touch of the experienced racers in seeking me out to say hello truly made me feel welcome. In fact, these words of welcome were the first highlight of the Festival for me. One regret was that I didn't have enough time to meet and greet all the other members, as I spent a good portion of the Festival under the hood, trying to keep the car on the track. I think I now know how to be better prepared next time.

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The second highlight had to be racing in front of such a big crowd, especially on Sunday afternoon at corners 2 & 5. It really was special to see so many people. In fact it was a bit intimidating, and somewhat embarrassing when I started to miss some shifts. Well, I'll blame the latter on a failing second gear syncro!

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For those that do not know, I lost the motor in the Fiat on Friday morning, but with the help of friends in Ottawa, we had a new motor installed and running by midnight. Then, it was the long tow back to Mosport. I don't think the awakened gatekeeper was too happy to see me at 4 am! But my hard luck story gets better. Sandra and the kids joined my at the track for the Saturday and Sunday races, talking the usually reliable Acura. Alas, the distributor in the Acura seized, causing the timing belt to jump, and it is of course an interference engine. So, after the Festival I first towed home the race-car, and then retraced my steps to on Monday to tow home the Acura.

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But, I had great fun, even as a back marker. I had the little Fiat sliding through the corners. The car felt comfortable and, without much HP, I could get around corner one at full throttle. Yet I still lifted off on corner two, not having the confidence to position the car over that blind hill. Now and then I had visions of taking an inside line on some of the other cars, but while I could see the line, reality wasn't so accommodating! Yet, I achieved my goal for the year, which was to enter (and finish) a race. It took me two years from concept to arrive at the track in my own race prepared car. Over those two years, the VARAC club was most helpful with encouraging words of support. Now I am starting to think about next year's Festival and my new goal: to make my first pass. Only 11 months to go!

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Many thanks to all!.Andrew Celovsky No. 124.
My first race
Being passed

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Yup, I managed a 3 minute lap at Mosport, at this past weekend's BARC race.

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Here is the secret. First, the engine stumbles then cuts out completely so I de-clutch and pull off the track coming to rest in a safe position. As I am waiting to exit the car and jump behind the wall I notice the fuel pump cut-out switch in the 'off' position. Dopey me! I had accidentally bumped the fuel pump toggle switch. So I switch the fuel 'on' and head back onto the track. On a positive note, it was also the first time I broke 2:00 minutes at Mosport. So, no longer am I a very slow car; I am now just a slow car.

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Good weekend with good Vintage and Group 70 grids

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My weekend ended early, as usual. This time the Fiat was running exceptionally well - but the driver wasn't. For those not at the CRDA Labour Day Sprints, I lost control in the braking zone of corner 5 and planted the green thing hard into the tire wall. (Driver is ok, but ego is bruised). Up until that moment, I was having an absolutely grand time. I had the green thing into the 1:56's. I know that is not fast, but considering this is the same car and junkyard motor that could not break 2 minutes at this years festival!. Wow! And I still could not climb the back straight with my 90 odd HP wind-plow. So, somebody was having a lot of fun in the corners.

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Anyways, I have done a lot of thinking about the crash, especially after talking to some of the more experienced drivers. What is clear is that I lost control under braking. Certainly, I was pushing the braking zones later and later - but this in itself, would not be sufficient to lose control. I think what happened was that I saw, but did not recognize, the hazard of the oil-dry material spread on Corner 5. I continued to take the racing line through the oil-dry, not realizing what was underneath. An inspection of my tires, showed them loaded with oil. So no wonder the car started to fishtail under braking. Even so, I was able to recover control - but too late, as I was staring straight at the wall. Mosport is not very forgiving.

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Anyways, repairs on the Fiat have begun, and always remember to check your safety gear!

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Special thanks to David Herd and Doug Elcomb in helping load the Fiat onto the trailer.

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See you next year.

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Update Nov 11, 2004

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Repair of the Fiat is coming along very nicely. Frame has been straightened and reinforced at damaged points. Currently working on replacing the outer sheet metal.

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New outer sheet metal has been sourced. This turned out to be quite a challenge. It wasn't that parts were expensive; in fact people were happy to give me the parts for free. It seems they just wanted the stuff out of their garage/basement. Apparently there is absolute no demand for Fiat sedan sheet metal. Replacement panel came from CA, PA & TX. Pretty cool huh?

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Looking forward to a full race season next year. Especially looking forward to trying out Mt Tremblant - and I hope it has lots of big run-offs.

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Aftermath of hard contact with the wall The slow process of putting everything back together (9 months of work)

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Shannonville was the first outing for the green thing after last summer's season ending crash. I am happy to report the car was very drivable. This was good because I was apprehensive about everything coming back together, both car and driver.

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I found it difficult to find the line and rhythm to Shannonville. However, you must admire the #36 Ginetta, who swapped engines between races. Then there was a broken rocker arm on Steven Weisen's Elva, but luckily spares were available at the track.

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Regrettably I had to forgo the Sat evenings BBQ, due to commitment on the following day. I really had hoped to make the BBQ, but by the time I broke camp and was loaded, I ran out of time.

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Trackside with a pair of Ginetta's (the green Ginetta is receiving a replacement engine)

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MOSPORT AUGUST 13-14, 2005 BARC TROPHY RACES

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In preparation for the weekend, I spent the time putting new go-fast graphics on car. Very tasteless and very period correct.

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Below was my question to the rules committee regarding paint and graphics:

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Although weekend had a relatively small vintage grid, Saturday turned out to be great fun. Had a wonderful time trying to keep up with Jeremy S and Fred S. Managed my best time ever at Mosport at 1:52.2 which was a big improvement over my previous best of 1:56.0. (So someone had a big smile on their face - Could the Fiat actually become a respectable race car??). Saturday afternoon's race had some interesting bits - Spinning cars on lap 1 in Corner 2, and oil in Corner 8 on lap 8. Oil resulted in the Fiat ending the race against the tire wall.

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Sunday was a different story. It was wet and embarrassing. I just couldn't feel the car underneath me, and had no confidence that there was any grip whatsoever.

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Hope to see more cars at CRDA in August.

Unveiling of new tasteless graphics. Very 1970's correct.

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Sunday morning - I took warm up laps - then left to see the Rolling Stones in Ottawa on Sunday evening. That has to be a VARAC first - Laps at Mospost in the morning, Stones in the evening. Very period correct.

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Although, it was a bit disappointing not to race on Sunday as we had a good crowd out.

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Ok - before anyone looks up the timing on Mylaps.com, and notices that I got DQ in R2, on Saturday for passing under yellow, I missed seeing the flag (totally my fault). Totally embarrassed.

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Expected a good weekend as the season finale. But, managed just a few laps before the engine troubles ended the weekend on the track.

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Back home, the Fiat motor was removed from the car - and the damage assessed.

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The following is background on the cause of the damage:....Going down the back straight.... at about 6000 RPM, push in the clutch and the throttle sticks wide open... major over-rev.

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Pit.... next session ... engine running unbalanced, one lap, and then timing belt breaks... valves hit the pistons... remove head. But there is also a clunk in the bottom end.... Remove the bottom end and find the flywheel retaining bolts sheared!! Flywheel held on by its guide pins and one remaining bolt.

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Should have everything back together by spring. Now it's time to check out the ARP fastener catalogue.

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MOSPORT MAY 13-14, 2006 BEMC SPRING TROPHY

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The first weekend of 2006 at the BIG Track has come to an end. While it was cool and damp, the track was only wet on Sat Morning. So for Saturday morning's practice, I followed Geoff Layne out onto a wet, misty track: two laps in the wet and Geoff pulls into the pits, and then into the paddock. I dutifully follow Geoff..... "Geoff what's wrong? "Nothing I just don't want to get wet." Lesson learned... don't assume Geoff knows what he is doing.

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Tom Burge's new Merlyn was unveiled and is absolutely stunning. Those open wheels quite the sight...Oh... what would it be like to actually drive around a corner?

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The track dried for Saturday's, and I remember Gord L. telling me that corner two hasn't changed, and won't change on the next lap either. Meaning, set-up the corner, blind, before cresting the hill (make sure no yellow flags are about). What a difference, the grip disappears as the suspension unloaded over the crest - oh my God this was dumb idea... I'm going to die.... but ....wait.... suspension settles down, grip returns, car bites into the turn, right at the first apex - funny that. The car then flows naturally into the second apex. However, I never want to feel that sensation of grip disappearing over a crest of the hill ever again.... then 2 minutes later..... what the hell, it worked last time. That was the first time I ever drove corner two where it just felt right and natural.

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On Sat, I qualified 1 second adrift of my personal best. Not too bad for first time out for the season. Mostly thanks to Gord's corner 2 advise, as the other corners still felt a bit choppy. I was looking forward to the coming race and trying to close the gap on Jon Brett's 2002 BMW and maybe break my personal best. Alas, the clutch gives up the ghost in pace lap.... but as I am rolling, I thought I just shift clutchless. But before the race can begin, the red flag comes out and cars are stopped on the front straight for a re-start. As I can't start off of axles stands, the green fiat gets pushed into the pits. With no clutch and no spare, it looks likes the green Fiat is out for the weekend. Very, very discouraged. I pout through Tom & Carol's wonderful wine and cheese soiree; pack up and head for home with my tail between my legs.

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However, driving home I formulate a plan that allows the green Fiat to return Sunday racing. Something along the lines of four hours home, four hours to remove and replace the transmission and four hours back. Made the grid with minutes to spare. Sunday was a cool but dry day. The Brian T. Mallock seemed to have an affinity for parking at corner 5, including one interesting parking routine right on the exit of corner 5, fully broadside to ongoing traffic. A few times throughout the day, I tried to close the gap on Mat M's blue TR6. I saw Mat make a little mistake here and there, but it was never enough. At one point, Mat's TR6, Alcide L's Triumph Spitfire, and the green Fiat went three abreast into corner 1. Can it get any better than that? It did, when I managed a pass of John DeMaria down the back straight, and it was a legitimate pass under race conditions with no mechanical issues with either car. That was a highlight ... even if it only lasted until corner 8, when I braked and John didn't.

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Another highlight was a couple drivers commenting they might actually have to give the green fiat some respect. A really sweet motor (in an ugly box). That meant a lot, thxs. I also, picked up second in class for the weekend, and someday might even asked Stefan W what the championship rules will be for the season.

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Jeremy S. seemed to be practicing all winter, as I only saw Jeremy briefly as he blew by me with his new Lotus Seven. Jeremy seemed pleased with the pace he could carry after trading the Sprite for a Seven. (Don H., you need to bring Jeremy's ex-Sprite out). Others filling our grids included Richard N. Joe L., Glyn W, Peter and Shane V, Geoff M, Doug E, Dave M, and Gavin I.

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There was a really interesting G70 race to watch on Sun afternoon. Something internal exploded on a yellow 240Z with an impressive rearward fireball right on the entrance to Corner 2. The 240Z then spit its flywheel and clutch onto the track (that's a scary thought). Anyways, the oncoming traffic just scattered, with Ian L. being one of the drivers reacting quickly to avoid contact. Pretty impressive bit of driving by all concerned. Ian was also most helpful in getting me out for most of my last session, after getting a kicked off of the grid for this little pool of oil accumulating under my car (gives you a pretty good idea of my struggles for the weekend.) This unfortunate incident occurred after being gridded where I expected a nice ensuing tussle with James S.

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One of the things I found ice racing helped me with was traffic and being in close proximity to others cars. I felt much comfortable being close at race speed. Dare say, I even ejoyed it! It was also great to see of my Yugo ice racing buddies at Mosport crewing for the GT cars.

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While I spent too much time worrying about mechanical woes to challenge my personnel best, it was great to see everyone and to be on the BIG track. As a reminder to everyone, don't forget to register you cars for the festival! Hope everyone else had a great weekend!

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Saturday at Shannonville was a bit wet. In fact it was a steady drizzle or light rain for the entire day. And just to make things worse, the forecast for Sun wasn't any better. So a lot of gloomy faces in the Paddock on Sat morning - but hey it was a weekend where the back markers had a chance to score points! On go the wets. There was even a race where I battled for position with the front running Hawke, which was probably the first and last time that will happen. And all because of a bit of rain.

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I removed my rear sway bar and it transformed the car - the oversteer was gone and the car was magically transformed (Great advice from Joe L.). I found I could drift the car in the corners and my confidence in the car just increased all weekend. And with all the rain, I really enjoyed carrying a top. I think some of the drivers in open cars got a wee bit wet.

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Sun was a pleasant surprise - a bright Sunny day! Wets off, and drys on! Unfortunately my clutch failed in morning practice (I guess it had something do to with shoddy workmanship during the last event's midnight transmission remove and replace.) But I had crew this weekend, so I push-stared the car in gear, and simply ran the races in 3rd (The poor little Fiat ran out to 8000 at the end of the backstraight - I thought the better of that, and started lifting on the backstraight). But in the dry, I just couldn't believe how neutral the car drove and my confidence just grew and grew. On the last race of the day, I managed to pass Mat's TR6 when he made a bit of a stumble (Mat had me all the rest of the weekend). I then managed to squeeze by John K. (but I think John let me through, although he made me work for it). Next up was the first of John Sambrook's Ginetta's (both of John's Ginettas are now white - so most confusing). And I had my sights on the second Ginetta. The car just continued to stick. I was running more and more corners flat, and pushing the pedal all the way down earlier, and earlier in the corners. Eventually, I found the point where confidence exceeded ability and spun on the second last corner (13?) after the wetting the tires on the stream that was running across the track all Sunday. And I spun right in front on my son - "Dad that was cool!"Well... not really from my perspective on the track.

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Had to explain to my son that it was a bad miscalculation on my part. So the next stop is the festival - and I am really forward to having a good go at catching Mat M. Trying to keep pace with a least one of the Ginettas, and maybe a few others.

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The 2006 Festival is now just a memory, albeit a wonderful one. It started with the green Fiat arriving trackside on Wednesday evening at dusk. There was just enough light to unload and set-up the canopy. But with other VARAC members already set-up and comfortably enjoying the evening air, I thought I would socialize first, for a bit. I did check my paddock area a couple of times, but the canopy simply refused to set itself up. Alas, I made camp in the dark.

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Thursday was a test day, so heresy occurred when G70 cars and vintage and historic cars were all gridded together. I spent the test day ensuring green was running well, and trying to work the line on a few selected corners. Green felt well balanced and thought I might be able to have a go at my personnel best time at some point during the weekend. And I was so quick on the test day that the G70 drivers had time to wave as they went past; that was just humiliating! Not to worry, my ego is plenty big enough to handle that. In fact I have noticed it is the nature of race drivers to have an abundance of self-confidence.

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For me, the Friday practice was similar to the test day. Make sure the car was running well, which it was, and selectively work on a few corners. The highlight of Friday had to be taking a Corvette inside on corner 5 (only to be re-passed on the straight). Oddly enough, the Corvette seemed to have a bit more grunt up the back straight than my car. However, the Corvette seemed to get a handle on the corners and got faster all weekend. Fred Sampson's yellow Lotus, seemed a bit slow on Friday as I went around on the outside on Corner 2. I should have known better, because Fred became a whole lot faster under race conditions.

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Saturday's qualifying was first opportunity to get in some timed laps. Group 3 comprised a large field of 34 impressive cars. A pal of mine came down to watch the racers, and has told me for years, that if I was ever to be a serious saloon car racer (he is English), I needed a Louts Cortina. Well, much to his dismay, and to my joy, I out-qualified Steve O'Connell's Cortina by a fraction of a second. But before Steve complains, I will admit, I wasn't able to keep pace with the Cortina during the races at least, this year! Nevertheless, I qualified a mere 0.3 seconds adrift of my personnel best, and with a lot of traffic about.

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Saturday afternoon's 5 lap race was a bit of a disappointment. The race was interrupted by a parade behind the pace car to remove a competitor's car parked in an inopportune spot. Anyways, green just continued to run well.

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Next up was the enduro; an event I hadn't attempted before. Not a large field of competitors, but still quite the challenge. I partnered with Gavin Ivory, for a German/Italian alliance. The enduro gave me a change to race against some of the Group 2 cars, and notably for me, John Sanbrook's Ginetta. Late in the race, a full course yellow came out. With the few cars remaining at this point, and with the field spread thin, Gavin wound up circulating by himself, without another car in sight. So, after circulating for two laps without anything in sight Gavin figured the race was over and heading into the pits. We watched and waited on Corner 2 for Gavin to re-appear. Oops!..

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While sitting on the mock grid prior to the enduro, the 2-minutes board was held upside down for a while, and pointed directly at me. When I complained, the grid marshal simply stated, "that was so the ice racers in the field could better read the sign." You flip one car on the ice and people just don't forget.

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Sunday morning's race was one of the most memorable races for me. I put 4 successive personal best times in the first 5 laps, after which I found myself mentally exhausted. I could see the Lotus Cortina ahead of me and I tried and tried to keep that car within sight, hoping Steve would make a little mistake to allow my to catch him up. But after 5 laps, I could no longer concentrate and my race fell apart. In corner 3, I suddenly lost confidence and simply let the car drift off the outside of the track. I just could no longer feel the car under me and just lacked the confidence to pull the wheel into the corner. Suddenly, my pace was gone, and I was prying for that Last Lap board to appear at the Start/Finish line. In my mirror I could see Ron Wanless' blue Lotus closing quickly and knew I could not keep pace, I needed that Last Lap board. Alas, Ron continued to pick up his pace and overtook me on the last lap. Nevertheless, I finished 16 of 28 cars.

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I found it quite amazing just how mentally tiring this race was. I came off that track absolutely exhausted!

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In this race, I knew Joe Lightfoot was starting the back of the grid and expected Joe to charge his way through the field. Must have been quite a race for Joe, starting 25 and finishing 7! Anyways Joe caught me on the second lap on the exit of 5. But I made Joe wait till the corner 8 before overtaking the green box. Joe and I went side by side up the back straight while the poor Fiat engine screamed at 7500rpm in order to keep pace.

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Next up was the Sunday afternoon feature race. After exhausting myself, I was very apprehensive, about the ensuing race. I will admit I was nervous about heading out again. I just didn't know if I could drive at speed. I spent time in-between races getting myself hydrated and fuelled by a light lunch. But I was still jumpy and apprehensive waiting for the afternoon race.

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Finally it was time to head to mock grid and a funny thing happened. The butterflies just evaporated. Once back on the track it was suddenly comfortable and natural. And it was a wonderful race, there was a close group comprised of Fred Sampson, Mat Molson, myself, Martin Beaudry, Leon Lok, John Kinnear, and Geoff Layne. I watched as Mat tried to find a way past Fred, while trying to keep me behind; while I tried to find a way past Mat, while trying to keep Martin behind me... I tried inside of 10, I tried changing the line through 8 and 9 and then sprinting Mat for the inside of 10; just coming up 5 feet short. I tried taking an inside line exiting 2 and racing for the outside of 3. I tried to out sprint Mat down the back straight including letting the poor Fiat scream out to 8000 rpm (and remember I put this motor together in my basement). I just kept coming up 5 feet short. Just a lousy 5 feet short, try as I might I just couldn't get my car to the apex before Mat. And then, any little stumble on my part, and Martin Beaudry's "le petit bastard" was all over my tail. Mat drove a great race, everything smooth and right on line. Nothing for me to take advantage of. Finally, I thought there was just enough room for an inside entry into 5 and to squeeze through under very late braking. Well Mat left me enough room to pass, but I just couldn't brake enough to navigate the corner cleanly. With my momentum gone, the entire train went past me on the ensuring straight. In hindsight the move was too risky and could have ended badly. I drove through the pits to recover my composure, and then finished the race. Nevertheless those few laps in a group of seven cars was worth the weekend alone, and everyone was all smiles at the podium. And just to cap off the race, Sally Wanless handed out water bottles to the very tired and appreciative drivers.

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I am sure everyone has their favorite stories from the Festival weekend. Some of mine include the father-son duel of Lincoln and Jake Kinsman, both in Mini's. For a while it looked like the battle was not going to take place as the Lincoln Mini spit it's no 2 connecting rod through the block. However, Peter Christensen came to the rescue offering one of his mini that was without a driver. "I just bring my mini's to the track in case somebody needs one." Well not quite, sixteen years earlier Peter's mini was owned by Lincoln, who traded the it to Peter for the mini that his son was now driving!! Anyways, I noted to Lincoln that he beat his son in one of the races. He response was: "Yes. I know." said with a grin ten feet across.

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Geoff Layne did the "arrive and drive" thing for Saturday and Sunday, arriving straight from the airport on a red-eye flight from California. This left Chris Creighton to sort the car out on Thursday and Friday. Chris had nothing but trouble for two straight days as the blue Alfa refused to run over 3000 rpm. The Alfa finally came to life on Saturday afternoon, just in time for the "arrive & drive" type. Another great story was Peter Bulkowski and his return to racing. Peter used to race in the Bulova series, with a professional pit crew. Well, Peter found vintage racing a bit different. Having come off the track not running, Peter expected to find his crew ready to push in car into his pit for repair. Not so fast, as the Peter's pit crew announced, "You're finished, we're going for a few refreshments," and left Peter to push his own car to the pits. Shaking his head, but in the well meaning way, Peter was heard saying, "My crew is useless." Welcome to the vintage circuit, Peter!

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Later my wife and daughter drop by Saturday to help crew. This involved sleeping through the morning qualifying sessions, and promptly demanding lunch as I come off the track. All I could think was, "My crew is useless."

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But my favourite part of the weekend was having my daughter as sunbrella-girl for Saturday's races. I've always taught my kids that they can go anywhere and choose any profession. So while it was nice to have the sun off of me while sitting on the mock grid, it was even better knowing my daughter was doing it just for her dad.

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Katerina as Sunbrella-Girl Fighting for position at Mosport Corner 5

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BEAVER RUN, PA JULY 8-9 2006 PVGP HISTORIC GRAND PRIX

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Beaver Run is an 11-hour tow from Deep River (just in case anyone is thinking about moving up this way). Racing at Beaver Run on Sat and Sun, and being at work on Fri afternoon and Monday morning isn't the most clever thing I have ever done.

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Upon arrival at Beaver Run on Saturday morning...

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"Oh my God, I can't believe someone is still racing a Fiat sedan." Well... uh.... thank-you...; indeed it is my first time to Beaver Run" sez the clever Greenie. However, being somewhat late at arriving at the track, I get banished to some distant hinterland to paddock (or was it my car). A quick check of my race group - Group 4, production cars over 2.6 litres. O...K.. seems I am to run with the thunder cars.. Mustangs, Cameros, and Cobras. It seems Richard Navin (MBG) and Yvon Lepinay (Datsun 510) also were gridded with the over 2.6 litre thunder cars. While the big bore drivers adhered to the vintage driver attitude, their size, and speed differential down the straights, was a wee bit uncomfortable. Although I managed to out-qualify one of the Mustang GT350 cars, and Richard managed a spot even further up the field. Yvon, unfortunately, continued to change head gaskets.

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Over on the open wheel grids . track announcement "Our pole sitter for the weekend is Doug Elcomb, in the F86 drop tank Derossi Special." Doug battled all weekend for the first or second spot. In Group 2, sports racers under 2.6 litres (where Richard, Yvon and myself would have liked to be), VARAC was represented by Fred Sampson (Lotus Elan) and Maryo Lamothe (Mini). Maryo's Mini did not have to fight with an Aston Martin, like at the festival, for top spot. This time it was a Jaguar XK140. Fred placed in the top third.

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The mock grid at Beaver Run is set up so that one's car is completely surrounded by competitor's cars. So starting my car on the mock grid, when the thunder cars were already running, was an interesting experience. Even with my open exhaust, I could not hear my car run. And as the thunder cars just shook my car, I couldn't even feel the vibration from my engine. But if I stepped on the throttle the tach needle would move, so I guess my car was running.

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On Saturday afternoon we raced with the thunder cars. The best I could manage was to keep the last of the thunder cars within sight. At 25 minutes, it was a relatively long race, especially being on a new track. Richard placed 15th, myself 19th, of the twenty finishing cars. But we survived without getting run over.

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Sunday, John Greenwood arranged for Richard and myself to switch to Group 2. Much more comfortable and a lot more fun. Highlight: On the Sunday morning race, the green thing starts from the very back of the grid, 26 starters (as I have no qualifying time for Group 2) Finished in 12th spot. That made the whole weekend worthwhile. Then on Sunday afternoon, did it all over again as grid positions remain unchanged. That was the most cars I ever passed. It is just so much fun to pass in the corners. Watch the habits of the car in front, and calculate a corresponding move. You can see which drivers like to drift wide to the corners exit - so pass inside on the corner exit. You can see which drivers like to brake early into the corner - so brake late and pass on entering the corner.

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For me, transmission difficulties started taking a toll on Sunday afternoon times, as it became increasingly difficult to get into gear. However four days at Mosport and two days at Beaver Run without missing any laps in any sessions was an excellent run. Also, saw Richard briefly as he charged his way through the field. I also suspect Richard was having fun working his way through traffic.

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The Sunday morning official results showed, "Fastest Race Lap: 01:10.987 by Andrew Celovsky in car #124" - I am 99.9% sure that was a timing error. But it sure looks good on the official printout and there is that 0.1% chance I had a miracle lap.

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"That's a cool car" was the parting words from the grid marshal. A pretty nice way to end the weekend, and a pretty friendly bunch at Beaver Run.

Paddock area at Beaver Run, Pennsylvania Banished to the Hinterland

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My First Ice Track Race More from My First Ice Race

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Around the end of September, most race cars are being put away for their winter hiatus. The winter provides time to repair all those "temporary" fixes that cropped up over the race season. However, in the late fall there is one group of racers who are just uncovering their cars and getting ready to race. It's a Northern climate specialty of Ice Racing. This special brand of racing is something I ventured into this year, trying to find some diversion over the long winter break in track racing. Besides, have you ever felt uncomfortable in the wet at Mosport? Ice racing is supposed to be a great way to gain experience under slippery conditions.

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I chose the rubber-to-ice class, which are basically rubber tires on ice. Horsepower is more or less irrelevant as it is all about grip (or lack thereof). The available grip varies widely around the track and literally changes from lap to lap. In the braking zones and the corner exits, the ice quickly becomes polished so even less grip is available. That is, when you need grip the most, the less of it there is. At certain points in the track the grip level can virtually disappear within a few feet. So one quickly learns to look for grip when circulating the track. Try different lines through the corner. Try going where other people don't. However with the varied racing lines, and large degree of sliding, soft contact is enviable. However, intentionally pushing off of either other cars, or the snowbanks is illegal.

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Anyways, 2006 was my first forte into ice racing. I chose a Yugo, in a curiously painted green, with floral graphics to match my summer Fiat track car. More than one ice racer was able to link green Yugo with the green Fiat, as many ice racers also frequent Mosport in the summer. (See how Corporate branding works?) Track and ice racing are very different. Track racing helped me with looking down the track, watching for flagging, and being conscience of the other cars around me. However, trying to navigate a corner using a using track techniques just doesn't work! The lack and varying levels of grip just don't support track driving techniques. Much better is to adjust the line to find something resembling grip.

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So, out to the ice field I went. My ice budget was $1000 and this included the car purchase, 4-new winter tires, green paint and graphics, and a valve job. There may be some compromising of quality.

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Ice Racing covers six weekends from mid-January through early March, weather permitting. The track itself is a flooded field contained by snowbanks. On Saturday the track runs clockwise, whereas on Sunday, the track runs counter clockwise; a relatively bizarre concept for those more familiar with track racing. Another bizarre concept is that ice racing allows, and in fact encourages, passengers. Certainly this makes spectating more interesting.

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Week 1: Too warm... no ice, no racing.

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Week 2: THE FIRST EVENT Two VARAC members took to the Ice Grid to race at the Minden Fairgrounds: Andrew Celovsky in his Yugo GV, and Diane Dale in a Volkswagen Jetta (aka. Ice Dog), a stable mate to Diane's summer 240Z, track car (aka Track Dog).

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Saturday Jan 28: brilliant sunshine all day. Morning - below 0, and glare ice. The green flag drops, the noise level goes up, but nothing happens! It was racing in ultra-slow motion. By Saturday afternoon it was well above 0, and it was a slush-fest. Yugo finished, but well back, but Ice Dog went parking in a snowbank.

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Sunday Jan 29: snow all day. Track was ice (not slush) with a covering of sticky snow. Made for much more grip (this being a relative term) so speeds were up, as was the carnage. The Yugo turned turtle, while Ice Dog diced with a very aggressive Honda for a while, until leaving it behind through a series of well planned corners. The Ice Dog did get jostled around a bit, and forced into a spin followed by a few thumps. Although intentional contact is not allowed, the large grids coupled with the lack of grip makes contact almost inevitable.

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Week 3: Too Warm... no Ice, no racing.

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Week 4: FATHER-DAUGHTER RACE WEEKEND This was the weekend my teenage daughter tagged along as an in-car spectator. That was way cool. I've almost convinced her that she should try driving. This weekend was bitterly cold and it was a challenge just to start the Yugo in 25C weather. One iced over carb later with the consequent DNF, and I'm starting at the back of the grid in position 22. I am certainly not impressing my teenage daughter with my exotic European car. Things got better as the icing carb was cured, tires were tractionized, and run at 17 psi. By the last race on Sun I managed a 16th place.

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Week 5: WORK GETS IN THE WAY... NO RACING

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Week 6: SATURADY, FAMILY COMMITMENTS, SUNDAY RACING ONLY The Green Thing is Back! This was the comment directed at my exotic European ice racer, after its hiatus from the ice track for various work and family issues (although my exotic European car appears to be appreciated by the under 10 crowd). Sunday was bitterly cold; with a high of -18C with a nasty bone-chilling wind. This was made even more interesting as the heater in the exotic European racer decided to give up the ghost. I tried a number of different racing lines; inside, outside, and some of them even intentionally - but I just couldn't find any grip. I only moved up the grid through others DNFs. Actually it was a pretty frustrating day as I just could not carry any momentum. However after one race, the driver of the other Yugo (yes there are two) complimented me on letting him through as he came around to lap me. I guess the VARAC philosophy did us proud. Other highlights .... I did try parking in a snowbank for a while - oops.

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Week 7: BEST WEEKEND OF THE SEASON Perfect weather - sunny and warm (just below 0, to hold the ice.). Courtesy of my ice racing fraternity friends, also running a Yugo, I wound up with a set of borrowed tractionized blizzak tires. So instead of $30 CTC tires, I now had 'tractionized' blizzak tires. Guess what, good tires make a really big difference! Better yet, the Yugo driver rides shotgun and points my around the track. Suddenly, my 17th starting position turns into 12th - as I'm actually passing people. In fact, I'm passing people around the outside - this is just too much fun! On the last race on Sat, I'm looking for that 11th spot, which happens to be a racing buddy's Suzuki. Two laps to go, and we see the Suzuki at the far end of the straight with nothing but clear air in front of us. We worked each corner to close on the Suzuki, and we see the Suzuki driver checking his mirror. Finally, on the last corner of the last lap, we're right behind the Suzuki. We duck inside, and we're sitting astride his rear quarter with a straight shot to the checkered. It's a straight up drag race to the checkered flag. I had the grip but not the HP, and finished half a car length back. I just needed that one more corner. But WOW, was I having a blast. That race had intensity comparable to a Mospost session.

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Sunday practice, and the other Yugo driver takes the wheel - and experience shows. The little Yugo seemed to do best off the common line. We were literally passing other cars under full drift. I mean, we were a full 90 degrees sideways passing cars, waiting for the track corner to come to our advantage. As I was the passenger, I was looking straight into the other car, and saw the amazement in his face as we passed him going fully sideways. Now I was really, REALLY having fun. On my Sunday race, I start 12th and gain 3 positions on the first lap, as I'm finding grip that no one else can. I'm in the top ten! Ok - down comes the red mist as my confidence exceeds my ability. Three spins, on three successive laps, and in the same corner! Backwards down the grid I go, although I managed to hold my 12th spot, but only thanks to people parking the snowbanks.

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And all this for a $1,000 budget!

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The No. 99 Yugo in ice traffic

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The VIR report…..

VIR is a fabulous facility, but I found VIR to be a tough track to learn - lots of corner combinations, with corners tightening up towards the exits, and a lot of elevation change. Then there are a couple of long straights, including one that crests a blind hill about three quarters the way along. All Friday, I kept lifting before the crest of the blind hill because I was sure the VIR workers were going to sneak in a corner after the crest of the hill, between successive laps. It wasn’t until Saturday, that I sure that track stayed straight and I was able to go flat over the crest. It was a purely a psychological thing, but a good example of the mental aspect to racing.

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John Greenwood, John Sambrook, Rick Rose (sort of a VARAC member), Jamie Shelton, Maryo Lamothe, and Brian Evans all made the trip down. Lets, see John S. and Rick R. and two Ginetta’s – Anyone want to wager how long it took until the motor was changed between sessions? Bad luck struck Brian Evans, as he turned spectator with a broken rocker arm. John G. tried following a new line where VIR haven’t thought of paving yet. Then John S. dutifully followed the non-pavement route. Here’s the shocker of the season; a Fiat sedan cannot out-turn a Lotus-7. “Oh that’s what the track looks like facing the other direction.” John G. also broke some valve-train stuff on Saturday, so he retired early as well. The Ginetta of John S. seemed to be running very well, as he flirted near the front of the grid. (Mind you, John S. did the fly in and drive trick. Next he'll be expecting appearance money!)

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On the VIR registration form, it asked for car colour, and I put down “Ugly green” – and that’s the way it got listed in the program. Ugh… think first, then act. However, one highlight has been to re-meet some of the racers I met at BeaveRun and Mid-Ohio last year. If a person attends only one vintage event, you might believe there are lots of rare cars still out racing. If one attends a few vintage events, then a person will realize that they are basically the same few cars racing at numerous events. (Herr Race Direktor, … you missed to chance to race with other ugly Elvas).

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And all those great suspension and brake adjustments I made to the Fiat over the winter proved to be a…… disaster. The green Fiat was the most evil handling monster I have ever driven. Or at least that is the way it felt after first session after the long winter hiatus from racing. Perhaps it was my mind playing games and my winter bravado was getting the better of me. I just needed to concentrate on the task at hand and get in some seat time. So, I took a deep breath and gave it an honest push. Well, I took some seconds off my lap times, and I still struggled near the back of the grip and eventually the back end came around. That confirmed to me that the Fiat was just an evil little monster. The rear brakes were locking upon the slightest touch and kicking the back end over. And with a lot of negative chamber, I did not seem to have the same front-end bite under braking as previously.

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At the end of Fridays’ practice sessions I started to restore the brakes to their previous settings. Except, I only had stock rear pads trackside, so Saturday was going to be race pads up front, and soft stock pads on the rear. Even worse, the forecast for Saturday and Sunday called for rain, rain and more rain. Waking up on Saturday morning, it looked like the forecasters were right … it was pouring rain!

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So, after Friday’s debacle, it looked like VIR was going to be a washout for YellowGreenRacing. At least it stopped raining as I headed up the mock grid for the first session on Saturday. And there we sat for almost an hour while armco was replaced and the oil mopped up off the track. After Fridays debacle, the car was just an evil little monster and I had very little driver confidence. Sitting for an hour on the grid, realizing someone had just hit the wall, was not helping. It was a race moment where, “I don’t want to be on a race track. Why am I doing this? This isn’t fun!” So there we sat….. and while we sat the track started to dry…. Well at least that’s something positive. Finally, we went out and there was an actual dry line, excluding the oil dry that covered a good half of the track. Gently, I touched the brakes and they felt slightly better, and as the laps went by, I started the stabbing at the brakes just a bit more. My lap times were not any better than on Friday, but at least the car felt under control.

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The next session, the track was completely dry… so much for the ‘rain-all-day’ forecast. By this point in time, I had gained some idea of whether the track turned left or the other left. With a bit of driver confidence returning, I took 8 seconds off my lap times with an honest try. I was still pretty tentative on entering the braking zones, but at least some semblance of race speed was returning.

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Next up was the Saturday race. Jumped four spots off the start (by enjoying being in traffic thanks to ice racing), and on was on John G.’s tail. John retired with ‘mechanical difficulties’ but I think he was afraid of the green monster in his mirrors. Anyways, I then spent the remainder of the race trying to kept smaller cars behind me through the twisty bits. It was only at this point of the weekend, where I just started to find the flow and rhythm to VIR.

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Track time for this VDCA/VRG event was shared with the BMW driver club. So imagine the shock of two BMW club drivers who decided to head down from Canada to try out a track in far-away Virginia. “Oh my God. I was behind a curiously decorated floral green car on the Minden ice track, and there is the same green graphics package on a car at VIR. It just can’t be!” Unbeknownst to either of us, a couple of my ice racing buddies were summer BMW fanatics, and were at VIR.

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Finally, the round trip, Deep River to VIR via Texas, is 80 hours, 20 minutes according to the Cherokee trip computer. “Dear, would you like to go an a vacation to Virginia and Texas, and maybe catch a race or two?” The response was… “Have fun, see you when you get back.” I’ve got saddle soars (and one pretty cool formula car). Let's see, East to West through Tennessee is 451 miles, and oddly enough, 451 miles West to East as well.

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I also had the good fortune to store the green Fiat at Tivvy Shelton’s race shop near VIR, while I dashed off the Texas to grab the formula ford. Not only did Tivvy store my Fiat indoors for a few days, he even brought the car out to VIR for me. Wow! I would also like to thank Brain and Catherine Evans, who then hauled the Formula Ford back to Canada from VIR.

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The drive home through the states of NY and PA through Mondays storm was not a relaxing drive. This wasn't helped by the fact that the power steering pump packed it in, and I had the joy of replacing the unit in the cold, wet parking lot of the Auto Zone.

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Alas, it's back to work to pay for all the cool stuff I bought, and all the stuff I broke.