Vince's Stuff: October 2026

On my way to corner 2 before the day began

My last visit to Mosport was in 2023, when I had managed by best laps ever in my best Civic ever. Sadly, that is the car that I crashed at ICAR in 2024, so I had no car to bring that year. In 2025, I had hoped to bring the yellow 2001 Civic, but it would not have survived the trip with its leaky head gasket. For 2026, the plan, of course, was to bring the RSX. It had proven reliable and fun to drive, and there was no reason not to make the trip this year, at least none related to cars...

The reliability issue ended up having to do with the driver this year. A few days before the event, I contracted a nasty flu of some sort and spent most of the week before the event in bed with unpleasant symptoms. I was not even able to make it to Tuesday evening lapping at ICAR (the last one of the year!). When faed with the choice of attending the second or third and last day of Carl's three-day event, I chose the last one, hoping to be mostly over my flu by then. Also, it was supposed to rain a bit on the Sunday, but be dry on the Monday.

Things generally went to plan. Rob and I didn't communicate really well and he ended up only being available Saturday, so we didn't attend the event together this year, since we each went on separate days. I managed to book a sub-100 $ room in the Bowmanville/Clarington Holiday Inn and left in the early afternoon on Sunday to arrive by 7 p.m. I had a relaxed evening in my hotel room, eating ramen and crackers (since I had begun this flu, I had no appetite, except for soups) and watching generally bad TV.

Gas stop in Kingston

Looking back at my blog posts, I calculated that this was my ninth time attending the Thanksgiving lapping event at Mosport.

Here were my lap times each of the eight years I had been so far:

2004 (pre-blog, but I remember attending when my 2000 Civic had just been built. I had a scary spin in turn too, and lapped in around 1:47. Stéphane Trahan took me for a lap in my own car, going under 1:40 if I recall correctly) 2000 Civic race car freshly built, with 1.8

2009 "low" 1:43, 2000 Civic race car with 1.6

2010 1:43.20, 2000 Civic race car with 1.6

2011 1:43:67, 2000 Civic race car with 1.6 (misfire halfway through the day)

2016 1:43.04 2002 SiR 2.4 (only time with that car, crashed it in 2017)

2022 1:40.77 2000 Civic coupe K20

2023 1:38.68 2000 Civic coupe K20 (now with LSD)

So what was my goal? It was hard to calculate what the RSX could do... I figured it would not be too far off the 2002 Civic... the cars had literally the same suspension, similar tires and similar weight. The EP3 had a K24 instead of a K20, so more torque, but the RSX has the advantage of a 6-speed transmission. I had managed a 1:43.04 with the EP3, so I figured somewhere between 1:43 and 1:45 should be possible. Of course, there are many factors that contribute to a good lap time, so mainly, I wanted to drive well and get what I could out of the car.

Wet surfaces in the morning

As I have written before, my main issue at Mosport is how to attack corners 2 and 4. This is where I am losing time. My fear of corner 2 is not without cause, as I had spun there at my very first visit to the track in 2004 and, at that time, there was no real runoff area. Since then, they have paved the exit of the corner, making it much safer, but it's as if my brain hasn't accepted this information. Even when I ran my all-time best lap in 2023, I knew I was not pushing hard in that corner. Part of my fear of the classic 2-apex line through the corner was that to make the second apex, you have to tighten your line after the first apex. Some cars naturally rotate to do this, but otherwise, you have to add steering input, which I have always been hesitant to do.

I watched a couple of instructional videos to see if I could gain any insight. I also tried to use Assetto Corsa to see if I could simulate what would happen if I entered the corner way too fast, for example, without braking at all. The consequence in the simulator seemed to be that you would just have to brake in a straight line and use the runoff area, losing lots of time, but not crashing. I vowed to brake less in this corner and see what would happen.

As for corner 4, I realized that when I had a low-powered engine in my old race car, I would take the corner flat out and reach the braking point for corner 5A at 177 km/h, but in more recent years, I was lifting (a lot) and reaching that point at 151 km/h in the EP3 and 163 km/h in the K-swapped EK. I was clearly losing time there as well. Again, I tried watching videos and driving too fast in the sim. I knew that if I could keep the car on the left side of the corner going down the hill, I could carry more speed.

All of this was going through my head as I left for the track before sunrise. Everything was covered in rain or morning dew. There was a fine mist falling... so much for a dry day at the track! At least the weather was sort of warm, which was good, since I had foolishly forgot to pack a jacket (I was supposed to grab one on my way through the garage to the car...). I found Carl, registered, said hi to some friends while explaining I had the flu and keeping my distances, and got the car ready. I parked beside my old racing buddy and co-driver Pascal. He had brought his K24-swapped Integra race car. There was not much to prepare, just empty the car, check the oil and install the GoPro.

I headed out for the first session on a damp track. It felt like there was decent grip, but I didn't push things, taking it easy and focusing on my lines, especially in turn 2. There was more new asphalt than I remembered. I was turning laps over 2 minutes, and it felt slow. Still, there was an M2 behind me for many laps, and it wasn't trying to pass, so I was not alone taking it easy. I wasn't really enjoying myself (funny, Carl had said not to be surprised if the cold, damp morning session was not fun) and just trying to be smooth. I was taken by surprise when the rear end came loose in the final corner, but I quickly realized that it was better to let the spin happen than to fight it, given my low speed and proximity to the pit wall. The car completed its 180-degree spin without leaving the track surface and I made a U-turn to continue my lap and pit in. I was a disappointed in myself, but at least satisfied with how I had managed the spin without too much drame. Later, when Carl was expressing how "any spin is a loss of control!", I said "yes, but at least I controlled the spin!". We both thought this was a bit funny.

Anyway, by the second session at 10 am, the track was relatively dry, but I was still taking it easy. Many were not, and were treating the track almost as if it was dry. As I was in the advanced group, I was constantly being passed by faster cars. My lap times dropped to the 1:55 range. How was I going to shave off another 10 seconds?

In my third session, I could see that the track was pretty much dry and was able to push the car. I was trying my strategy of braking less in corners 2 and 4, and it was working. My minimum speed in corner 2 on my best laps was 128 km/h, which turned out to be my best of the day. This was better than on my 1:38 lap of 2023 (126) and my best in the EP3 (120), though still below my best ever, from 2011, of 133 (much lighter car, though). The lap where I managed this was not my best one, since I had to lift to let another car through in turn 4... otherwise, I would have already been in the 1:45's. Anyway, my strategy for corner 2 was working: aggressively attack the first apex, look through the corner, tighten the wheel and attack the second apex, as if I wanted to murder a non-existent cone on the inside edge of the track there. When doing this, the RSX felt planted and I never tracked out too wide. As for corner 4, as long as I was on the left half of the track fairly early, I knew I could get back on the gas, hard.

When I compare the data to my later laps, I can see that the car was making more power than in the afternoon and if I had been driving my best, this would have been the session to put down a fast lap. My best was a 1:46.24, and I knew I would be able to get down to the 1:45's.

In my fourth session, the first one after lunch, I felt like I was driving just fine, but my lap times were much worse... I guess it was the warmer weather and the extra weight of a full tank of gas. My top speed on the straight was down from 185 km/h to 181. I was getting very hot in the car now, and realized that I would need to run shorter sessions. The car was consistent and tough, but the sick version of me would run out of gas well before the car would give up.

I was the slowest car in the group, but I still felt I was driving pretty well. When cars would zoom past me on a straight, in many cases, I was very close to their speed in the next corner. When they would pass me just before corner 4, I would lift, because I knew I was quick there on the downhill and did not want to re-catch them mid-corner.

In my fifth session, I finally hit the 1:45's on my seventh lap (1:45.42) and decided to come in on a high note. I figured I should keep my sessions short and end them on a high note when I could.

For my sixth session, Pascal and I thought it would be fun to make one of our Vince vs Pascal videos like we used to do years ago. This could not really work out, as his Integra was running 1:41's and I could not keep up. Still, I went out behind him and he said he would lift once in a while to keep us together. This was sort of working out, but a Camaro blew an engine or hose on the back straight, so we were flagged in after 4 laps.

I asked to be switched to the intermediate group so Pascal and I could try again in my last session, and this ended up being probably my best session of the day. Despite the warmer weather, I put in my best lap of the day (1:45.31) and even though I could not keep up with Pascal, it was fun to try to follow him and the other Hondas that passed me (including a Time Attack RSX). I wasn't braking at all for turn 1 anymore and was really focusing on maintaining speed pretty much everywhere.

When I came in after that new best lap, I was satisfied with my day. I realized that a 1:43 in the EP3 was not that slow. I think the RSX can do a 1:43, but the air would need to be as cool as it had been in the morning. I was happy with my improvements and had no regrets about my driving. The car had performed flawlessly, yet again.

I packed up and got on the road early for the long drive home. The road was full of long-weekend traffic. The traffic was flowing, but it was not relaxing, having to constantly adjust my speed. As the traffic cleared closer to Montreal, it began to rain more and more and I was on semi-slick tires. Not a relaxing drive, but completed in under 5 hours. I was ready to sleep as soon as possible.

This was less relaxing than the same trip has been in other years, but I was still happy I went (and got good data and video). It's funny, because when I look at the videos of the day now, I can't really see a difference in the way I attacked corners 2 and 4, but I know that in the car, it was clear I was being more aggressive there. So, despite the lacklustre videos, I will try to remember that I really can brake less in those corners and survive just fine.

Again, I am impressed with the RSX, which is the least-modified of all my track Hondas, yet still effective on the track. When I think "is this the best street/track Honda I've owned", I want to say "yes", but clearly, the EP3 was better... it is faster at Mosport, and had all the same comforts as the RSX. Maybe I shouldn't have crashed it then...

All in all, despite the fact that I was sick, travelling alone and often driving in the rain, and turning some of my slowest laps ever, I am happy with my visit to Mosport this year. The second half of the track season has been great, with lots of laps and a fun and reliable car. There will be one more event this weekend at ICAR, and then it will be time to figure out winter storage for the RSX... and dreaming of Mosport 2027...