A little setback...

Oops...

After deciding to participate in a running race instead of an auto race on Labour Day weekend, I stupidly sprained my ankle while simply walking down the street. As a result, I could not run my race on the 6th. Also, I had already committed to lend my car to Pascal for the ICAR enduro weekend, which meant no car racing either. I decided to go watch the racing at ICAR Saturday and support Pascal as a car owner. He really did quite well. He managed to finish 10th in the enduro, 2nd in class, and he won his class on Sunday. Also, he got his lap times down into the 1:39's, which was less than 2 seconds slower than Carl's times earlier this summer. As Carl had been using Hoosier tires and Pascal was using Nitto's, the times are really quite good. Bravo Pascal. The car was as reliable as ever and I was a bit jealous watching Pascal drive in the enduro. We were pretty sure the car could run the full 80 minutes without a fuel stop. This was confirmed when Pascal made his mandatory pit stop after an hour of racing and the fuel needle was still on the F! The fuel economy was helped by two full-course yellow flag incidents. An Echo Cup car that was just in front of Pascal rolled, causing one of the yellows. It seemed that as soon as Pascal was about to dice with a competitor, the competitor would screw up or break his car. Here is a pic of the race start, from TrackRacingPictures.com

The last time I got to drive the car was last week at Monday night lapping. I managed to get down into the 1:03's (1:03.86) with some borrowed RA1's. I also got to drive an Audi RS4 for a couple of laps. The car is fast, but feels heavy, especially when it comes time to brake. My car felt great and the muffler did not fall off. 

I won't be at next week's lapping as I will be holding basketball tryouts at the high school where I will be coaching grade 7 and 8 girls, as I did last year. Go Diamonds! The next event is the War Bonnet Enduro at Mosport on the 19th. Alex will finally be back from Chicago and will join me for the mini road trip to Mosport. I was initially planning to share the car with Pascal and JP, but now it looks like I will be lending JP to our buddy Choo, who wants to run the event with his stupidly fast 2.4 liter Civic Coupe. If this happens, Pascal and I will split the 3-hour race. Hopefully, we will be able to manage only a single stop in 3 hours. This will require some luck, or short shifting, or rain, or something.

As for my ankle, I went to a physiotherapist for the first time in my life on Friday. I went to Kinatex, as Nico referred me to them. I was really impressed with the service. I told the physio that I had a race to attend on October 17th and she got to work to get the swelling down. As I had guessed, it was only a level one sprain. I was able to walk on it from the first day. I returned to the physio today and she told me it was OK to try running on a flat surface. She wrapped me in tape (see photo above taken a few minutes ago) and I managed to run 7 km on Mount Royal without any problems. Of course I was not very fast, but I'm just so glad to be back. It was surprisingly depressing not to be able to run these past few days. I hadn't realized I was that into running! Of course, with Alex out of town, hobbies become more important. Still... glad to be back. Now let's hope Nico hasn't used my brief hiatus to pull away from me again performance-wise!

Cool cars spotted:
Audi RS4
Audi R8
Porsche 997 Turbo
Porsche 930 Slantnose
Aston Martin DB9
BMW M3
BMW M5
new Mazdaspeed 3
Ford GT500 KR
Maserati GT
Maserati Quattroporte
Ferrari F430
Ferrari 308
AMG SL55
AMG S63
Corvette Z06

There's racing and then there's racing...

As has happened in the past, I have been having trouble finding time to post here! I have not been terribly busy with car stuff, although I have attended one time attack as well as every Monday night of lapping with my Civic. I've also been sticking to my running plan to get ready for a cross-country half-marathon on October 17th at Mount Orford. Our training program now has us running four times a week. On Saturday, I ran 21 km in the Parc de la Mauricie with Nico, followed by a 16 km run on Sunday. We're starting to log some serious miles. We are seriously considering entering a 21 km trail race this weekend near Quebec City. The weather forecast will be a factor... we already tried running 21 km in the rain and it was not terribly fun.

I decided not to run the auto racing event at ICAR this weekend for a couple of reasons. First, I wanted to save some money. Second, they shortened the planned 3-hour race to less than 90 minutes. This makes it impossible to do with three drivers. I will let JP and Pascal take the car. They always bring it back in better condition than when they borrowed it.

The car has continued to run well. In the time attack at St-Eustache on August 16th, I had some pretty old tires. My best time was a 1:04.08. I was quite disappointed not to get down into the 1:03's. The car really needs good tires to put down fast times because it has so little torque! The following day, I managed 1:04.28. On the 24th at lapping, I managed to cord two of my four tires (still ran a 1:04.42 in that session!) and then lost my muffler. Here some of Jeremy's pics of that evening:

In the oval

The muffler, lying on the track

Apart from that minor setback (I recuperated the muffler and clamped it back onto the car), the car has continued to perform reliably. Last night, I borrowed some 225-45-15 RA1'a to replace the corded tires and managed a 1:03.86, without losing my muffler. I also got to drive an Audi RS4 for a couple of laps, which was quite fun. The car is fast, but feels very heavy.

My next race will be Mosport in two weeks. I just picked up some decent used tires yesterday which should last through the event. It will be my first time trying the Toyo R888's.

Cool cars spotted:

New m6
Old m6 (with gold BBS wheels!)
Lotus Esprit V8
New M5
New M3
Bentley Arnage
Ferrari 360
Ferrari 355
Ferrari 430
Maserati GT
Maserati Quattroporte
Porsche 997 turbo
Porsche 997 GT3
Porsche 996 GT3
Aston Martin Vantage
AMG C63
AMG SL63
AMG CLS63
Dodge Viper ACR
C5 Corvette Z06
C6 Corvette Z06
Cadillac CTS-V
Cadillac XLR
Audi RS4
Audi S6
Audi S5
Ford GT 

The car is still soldiering on

Another Monday night, another bunch of problem-free lapping sessions for JP and me in the Civic. We ran on some very tired Toyo RA1's and I couldn't go quicker than a 1:04.50, but the car was fun to drive. In fact, with the dead tires in the rear, it was almost tailhappy. Although it threatened to rain all evening, it never really did. When I look at JAG's photos, however, it seems there was something in the air...

Smog?

Coming up this weekend is the next round of our Time Attack series at St-Eustache. It looks like JP and I will again be vying for best time in my Civic while his awaits a new tranny.

Cool cars spotted:

AMG SL63

Alfa Romeo boat-tail spyder

70's Bentley

C6 Corvette Z06

Ferrari 575

Maserati GT

Aston Martin DB7

Running up that hill.

Yesterday, I ran a 5-mile race on Mount Royal with my sister. Usually, I'm not that into spending money to run a route I can run for free, but it was Val's birthday and I thought it would be fun to run in the same race. I had practiced the route with her on Thursday and told her that she could clearly go faster.

It turned out that 5 miles is slightly longer than the 8 km we had practiced on. Despite this, Val managed to shave off almost a minute from her Thursday time.

For me, the challenge was to go as fast as possible on the uphill section without running out of steam before the second half of the race, which was all downhill. As is typical with these races, the order of runners sorted itself out in the first couple of minutes. I felt good, as I could see the lead group of runners pulling away for a long time before I lost them. I don't think a single person passed me on the uphill section. As I came to the turnaround at the top of the mountain, I saw the leaders and was surprised to see there were only a handful of them. Somebody shouted to me and the others nearby "Let's go, top 10!" and I realized I might actually be in the top 10. I was surprised and very motivated as a result. After the turnaround, I was behind 3 guys that I could see. Three of us passed the other, who was taking very short strides on the downhill section despite being quite a tall guy. After that, I focused on staying with the pair in front of me, a guy in an orange shirt and one in a blue shirt. We were running at the same pace, not catching anyone else and with no one catching us. I was a few meters behind and the two of them were together. At the 6 km mark, the guy in blue dropped off the pace and it was just me chasing the guy in orange. I managed to keep up with him and pull alongside him. I was truly enjoying this moment of race strategy, wondering who would make a move first and whether the other would be able to counter. This is something you don't get out of a training run! The guy made his move with about a kilometer to go, and I could not follow at the increased pace. I was hoping that he had moved too early and I had an ace up my sleeve: I had practiced sprinting the whole last section of maybe 400-500 meters at the end of my run to see if it was possible. I caught up to him before the last bend and then turned it on on the last stretch, passing him and keeping him behind me. I crossed the finish line tired, but not completely dead. I was happy with my performance, speed-wise and strategy-wise too. I knew I was probably in the top 10, as no one had passed me and as there were only a handful of runners milling about in the finish area. I talked to the guys in orange and blue. The guy in orange was not overjoyed, but we spoke a bit. The guy in blue was in a good mood and we talked about his plans to run the New York marathon this fall. When the results came out, I found out I was 6th out of 106 runners. This is by far the best finish I've ever had in a running race. I know that these Running Room races are not of the highest calibre, but I was still very happy. I was not on the podium in my 30-39 age group, as there were three others in that age group ahead of me. The guy in orange was in the 50-59 group... impressive. The race winner destroyed us all with his time more than three minutes faster than mine. The fifth place guy was 40 seconds ahead of me, so I had no regrets about not catching him... 40 seconds is a lot. All in all, I am as motivated as ever to continue my training for the Orford half-marathon this fall and plan to go on a run this afternoon to complete my minimum mileage for the weekend.

Sorry, no car news then!

Cool cars spotted:
Ferrari 360
Ferrari F430
Ferrari F575
Ferrari 599
Porsche 914

Porsche 996 GT3Austin Healey 3000
MGA
Porsche 997 Turbo
Bentley Continental
Aston Martin Vantage
New BMW Z4
Mercedes 500E (I want one!)
Audi RS4

Driving as much as possible

Sadly, Alex has gone to Chicago for 6 weeks to do post-doctoral work. As a result, I have tried to find activities to fill my weekends. This past weekend, I was invited to drive Carl's Type R at a Solo 2 event. Usually, I don't really go in for Solo 2. I decided to give it another shot. Carl would be driving Oktay's S2000 and I would have the Type R all to myself. I was classed in STX as the car was on street tires (Kumho). I managed not to get lost in the field of cones and did a 1:10 on my first run, 1:08 on my second and 1:07 on my third. Carl told me I could get down to 1:05. He was running 1:03 in the S2000. I managed 1:05 on my next run then 1:05 plus a cone on my fifth run. I slowed down to 1:06 on my last run. I was satisfied with my result. I ended up 13th out of 33 ST class cars. Carl decided to do his 6th run in the Type R. He managed a 1:02. Ouch! I guess I'm not a high level autocrosser yet! I had a good time, but I don't plan to continue to run these events much. 65$ for 6 minutes of racing is just not worth it.

On Sunday, we hosted a lapping day at St-Eustache. It was supposed to rain in the morning or afternoon. It rained the entire day, non-stop. Luckily, Pascal St-Cyr had brought some Toyo RA1's which we put on my car. We then split the track time and had a ball. Despite the 800 lb/in front springs and 1000 lb/in rears, the car handled predictably and well in the wet with the shocks set at full soft. It was a fun day over all.

On Monday, the weather was dry. I mounted some old Hoosiers on the car and went out for a few laps. The tires felt pretty dead, but I still managed a 1:03.88 on a clear track. I then swapped cars with Oktay and did a full session in the S2000. It's really a great car and fun to drive. I didn't push too hard as I'm no rear-wheel-drive expert. Still, I could see the car's potential. Oktay hopped out of the Civic smiling. He had managed a 1:04.9 and was sweating... Surprisingly, he mentioned that he found the car physically demanding to drive. Most people say the opposite. JP went out for one session and corded one of the dead tires. For once, he didn't beat my time!

Thanks to JAG for the great photo!

I have been quite busy with my running training as well. I have managed to stay on schedule, running three times a week. Yesterday was a killer, with 10 30-second intervals, which Nico had us do all uphill in 28-degree heat. On Saturday, I will run a short race on Mount Royal with Val (5 miles) on the same trail where I do most of my training (chemin Olmsted). There are no car activities planned this weekend.

I bought a wiper and windshield washer bottle for the Civic and managed to procure a front bumper beam as well. The car is 95% of the way to being SCCA legal. I just have to see if we will attend any SCCA races this year or not. To be continued...

Cool cars spotted:
Dodge Viper SRT10
Maserati GT
Maserati Quattroporte
Lamborghini Murcielago
Ferrari 360
Ferrari F430
Ferrari 550
Bentley Continental
Audi RS4
Audi S6
Audi S5
Audi R8
AMG C63

A different kind of race

The race car is heading to Calabogie this weekend for a double race weekend. The driving will be shared by Carl and Pascal St-Cyr, one of the other instructors in our group. It will be his first wheel-to-wheel race and I'm glad to be able to provide him with a car for the occasion.

The Civic continues to do everything asked of it. Unfortunately, I was unable to install the final drive that would help the car accelerate a bit better, as it was incompatible with my differential. I did install a Cherry Bomb glass-pack that made the car much quieter on the street (and a bit quieter on the track). I took it for a spin Monday and, with dead front tires, managed a best lap of 1:04.1. Tires make a bigger difference than they used to when I had more power. The car is now utterly dependent on handling to turn fast lap times. I was almost always on the track Monday and I had five different students (Elise, AMG C55, E46 M3, E90 325 and Mazda Protege). After driving an M3 for the third time on track, I still think it's a great car. I was disappointed with the AMG... I thought I would hear the engine more. The Elise is extremely competent, but not foolproof. Pascal and I exchanged cars in the last session. His Civic has 202 whp, a lot more than mine, and it showed. It was on Falken Azenis performance tires and the difference in compound, even compared to my shot race tires, was obvious under braking. Pascal drove well, as I noted on the lap timer that he was only 0.3 seconds off my pace.

Here are a couple of Jeremy's photos of me in my car and in Pascal's:

Pascal's Civic

Back to back Civic drives

I noticed the handling of Pascal's car was quite different from mine. After the front end grips, you can feel a fraction of a second later that the rear wants to rotate. It's unnerving at first, but you get used to it. It turns out he has a 24 mm rear sway bar (I have no rear sway bar). With my Civic, the car takes a set, and that's pretty much how it's going to behave through the corner. I don't know which setup is ultimately faster. We are now running 800 lb/ft springs in front and 1000 in the rear and it's not at all scary as I feared it would be. The race car is indeed still confidence-inspiring and easy to drive.

I saw a Nissan 370Z up close for the first time. I like it. The size and proportion is just right. I don't like the headlights, tail lights or door handles, but those are just details. I saw a Ferrari 348 on the road. I still love the way it looks. I wonder what it's really like to own one...

I've been focusing on a different kind of racing these days. My friend/coach Nico and I are planning on running a 21 km mountain race (running with our feet!) on October 17th. Nico's father in France, who is a mean long-distance runner, has put us on an 11-week training program that started yesterday. The plan has us running 3-4 times a week until the race, sometimes for two hours. The race should take us about 3 hours, due to the big elevation changes. One thing I like about running these races: money is not an excuse, as it is when racing cars. You are the engine. If you suck, it's your own fault. I bought some neat mountain running shoes last weekend (La Sportiva Wildcat) and tried them out twice so far. They seem to have a lot more grip on the steep trails and inspire much more confidence than my road-biased shoes. I hope to be able to stick to the plan and complete the race in October with a respectable time.

Cool cars spotted:
Acura NSX
Ferrari 348
Lamborghini Gallardo
Maserati GT
R32 Skyline GT-R
AMG G55
Porsche 997 turbo
Jaguar XF-R

The Move

I've been busy with the move to my new place in the past couple of weeks. We officially moved to de l'Esplanade street last Saturday. It feels weird, kind of like I'm staying at a hotel or someone else's place. Thanks to Alex's crazy hard work before and after the move, packing and unpacking boxes and organizing all the storage, the move was painless for me. I still don't have a garage, but at least I have a parking spot! This evening I will pick up the race car, which has just received a Cherry Bomb muffler that will hopefully make it quieter. The next event for the car will be at Calabogie in less than 2 weeks, with Carl running two sprint races at the wheel. The other day, in the space of a few seconds, I saw a red Triumph Spitfire and a red Porsche 914. Surprisingly, I found myself wanting the 914 much more than the Triumph. I guess I can't say I'm a hardcore British car lover... 

Cool cars spotted: 

Aston Martin DBS 

Aston Martin DB7 

Aston Martin Vantage 

Ferrari F430 

Ferrari 360 

Ferrari Mondial 

Ferrari 308 GTS QV 

Nissan GT-R 

Mitsubishi EVO 

Subaru STi 

BMW M3

BMW M5 

BMW M6 

AMG C63 

AMG SL63 

Maserati Quattroporte 

Maserati GT 

Audi RS4 

Audi S6