For those of you who haven't experienced racing at night, here is a great In-Car video. Granted this car has better headlights, but the speeds are the same.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRWkoA7MNt4

Eric

 

Here is a video of Tim racing the car in the 2006 Rose Cup GT Libre Race in Portland. When we ran the 8 Hour, the track didn't use the Festival Chicane on the front straight. We ran flat out all the way to Turn 1. If I recall correctly, Tim was running this race on 3 hour old Pirelli's that were well past their best before date. His new tires had been caught up in transport and he had to use the best of what he had.

Enjoy,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbReu8TRWeA

Eric

 

No comments on the last one, so I will give you a better story that involves Days of Thunder style crashes, ***** and lots of fun.

After I started the Suzuki team in 1992 and we did pretty good for an underclassed car, Runner Up in Rookie of the Year, won Hard Charger of the Year ($2500 and a trophy, whoo hoo), Most Class Position Gained (nice plaque) and lots of good will, I separated from the team. The other thing that had happened was that in March of 1993, Firestone pulled the plug on the series and left everyone high and dry. To fill the void a guy in Montreal started the Michelin Enduroseries and took over all the venues that we had raced at in 1992 and in Ontario the old Head of Firestone Motorsports started the CERCC Series at Mosport and Shannonville as a more reasonably costed option. The break up with my team was a rather bitter and a long long story involving all kinds of soap opera stuff with the team owner and had to look for another ride. It was also really difficult as he was my boss and had control of my money.

I had just gotten married and had no cash, but still wanted to race at a level higher than club. So I contacted the Motorsports guys at Suzuki Canada and they put me in touch with another team that was running a Suzuki, very similar to the one I had raced the year before. They were going to support this car with the cheater ECU's, cams and all the cool parts we had the previous year. After talking it over with my new team owner, it was decided to race in the Michelin Enduroseries. Now this was a pain as Michelin was doing this to promote their new performance tire and they didn't make one small enough to fit on the Suzuki. So everyone else got these new almost R Compound tires and we got some tires that had a whitewall on the inside. Needless to say that we were down on horsepower and grip. It was going to be an uphill battle. The good side of this was that the series was going to be broadcast on TSN again, so I could watch myself get smoked by everyone else.

The first race was a 90 minute at Mosport on Victoria Day weekend where I got my wife out to crew and of course it was super cold, snowy, there were hardly any entries and the race organizers drafted in a bunch of cars at the last minute to make the field look bigger. The sad thing was that these guys had better tires and more mods than us. Luckily enough it was super cold and the R Compounds didn't grip. Our Luxo Tires worked okay and we got the car up to 5th in class in the race and my name was on the TV race results when the broke for commercial. A great career highlight for sure, LOL. We finished 5th and got a bunch of points and some to do's and headed to Montreal 2 weeks later.

This was my second time racing at the Grand Prix. I have to say that it remains one of my favorite tracks with a great combination of high speed stuff and tight corners, the track is super grippy and as flat as a billiard table. Just a great track. Add to that the excitement of racing at the Grand Prix with all the marketing and spectators and famous people around. The F1 cars up close are just incredible and there was tons of free stuff given away. We arrived on Thursday evening and unloaded. Saturday morning I went out to do the first practice session in the car. Being basically a stock Swift, I wasn't setting the world on fire down the long straights, but under braking and through the tight stuff, the car was very good. It did have this kinda scary wallow out of the back end through the esses at the top of the pit straight and it really didn't like to touch the FIA curbing. I can't remember the times we set, but we were towards the back and just a bit faster than a couple of Honda's.

It always seemed to turn to summer when we got to Montreal for the Grand Prix and this year it was no different. The previous race was in snow flurries and this race it was almost 90 degrees. So when I finished the session I was sweaty and we were trying to figure out how to get more top end out of the car for the next session. Joe, the car's owner ond other driver went out in the next session and again we did okay, but was just a hair off my time, so I was going to Qualify the car in the Friday evening session. At the GP weekend, it is all hurry up and wait as everything revolves around the F1 guys. We were also pitted about 400 miles away from the pit lane at the eastern most end of the island, so for every session we had to line up along the rowing basin for about an hour while they waited to slot us in. So there I was laying on the hillside beside the car sweating buckets in my 3 layer suit, when this smoking hot French Canadian girl comes up with her girlfriend to look at the car. She walks around it a few times then asks one of the crew guys a question, he points at me and I look over and smile my biggest open and friendly smile. She smiles back and comes over to tell me in accented English that she loves my Suzuki as she has one to, but hers is green and she keeps a small green fuzzy animal on the dash. I laugh and act all charming and stuff and she asks for my autograph. I am all excited as this is the first time a really hot girl has asked for my autograph and I said that sorry, I don't have a pen or paper. She says no problem and asks here girlfriend for a pen and she gives her a Sharpie kind of thing. I said where would you like me to sign and she yanks up her top and asks me to sign her chest just above her *****. I quickly did and I just want to say that it is really difficult to sign your name on moving bits and with your hand shaking, LOL. GOD I LOVE MONTREAL!

After Qualifying we went out for dinner. During GP weekend everything is packed with parties and people having a great time, but we decided to head downtown to see if we could get a good steak. The whole team came along and we were wearing our team shirts. We stopped at a Steak Restaurant that had an open patio, but there was a long lineup waiting to get in. We were like freak, the menu looked good and it was hopping, but on to Harvey's for a burger when the Maitre'D saw us. He came over and asked if we wanted dinner and we said yes, but we didn't have time to wait as we were racing in the morning. He replied, no problem and walked us past the line of people. He brought us inside the restaurant and asked a group if they would move from the table in the front window and he sat us there. He also said that we were going to get 50% off the meal as we were racers and real men. GOD I LOVE MONTREAL!!!!!!

So our race strategy for the 1 Hour race was to have me start the race as we were near the back. I was going to try to pick up as many places as I could at the start, save the car and hand it off to Joe who was going to scream along and bring us home. At the last minute, a curve was thrown at the teams when we were told that we couldn't pit in the F1 pits and we had to use the race wall side. I also found out on the Mock Grid, that we couldn't use the F1 pit washrooms as they were reserved for the big teams and Bernie's friends only. Oh well, just another complication. I got buckled into the car on the front straight and waited and waited and waited. Did I mention that it was almost 90 degrees. I almost passed out in the car from the heat. They neede to do the National Anthem and a couple of speaches. My crew guys were waving the dorrs open and closed as I was dying from the heat. Then we got the head of Molson's Brewery who called out Gentlemen, Start Your Engines. The cars all fired up and we were off. There was tons of weaving and jinking back and forth. I have a pace lap technique were I speed up as fast as possible, spike the brakes and turn the car hard for a moment. It brings rotor temps up quickly and safely, heats the front tires faster than weaving back and forth and it warms you up by trying to control the car at relatively low speeds. As well, I get to see how the car works before I need it.

We came down the straight and through the esses to the pit straight. I had the car buzzed in second waiting for the green and just as the starter moved the flag a Camaro comes flying past me from back further in the field. He was travelling about 50 kmh faster than anybody else. The Starter gives the flag, ignoring the jumped start and we all nail it. The Camaro gets squeezed onto the grass and hits the wall on the right side and all kinds of dust gets thrown up. I am still accelerating and the track gets instantly obscured by dust and smoke. It truly was like in Days of Thunder when Cole Trickle had to race into a cloud. I lift a bit, but there were all kinds of cars behind me, so I could go too slow. I hit the cloud at about 110 kmh and see an Audi sideways in front of me, I swerve right. Then a wheel with a strut attached rolling down the track, I go left hard. I can hear thuds and screeches all around. The I see Hiemrath's Porsche grinding along the pit wall missing a corner draining oil and water out of its front end. I catch a bit and the Suzuki slews sideways. Luckily I am still in 3rd, so I have something left and nail it and I pull out of it to catch up to the Camaro and the M5 trying to mate right in front of me. I let the car slide to the right side of the track, take to the grass and miss them. Then all of a sudden I pop out of the smoke and dust and I can see. I pull the car back on to the track and as I go through the left and into the western hairpin they have the full course yellows out and I catch up to the guys in front. Holy crap, I am up to 6th place overall.

With this team we didn't have radios, so I just had to signal the guys as we passed the pits. I just had to follow the leaders and as we got back to the Pit Straight again, there were 4 cars all torn up and 2 limping back to the pits for repairs. I am in front of about 20 cars and 18 of them are faster than me. It takes about 10 minutes to clear everything up and we get the green again. I drive the wheels off that car. I was pounding over the curbs. Getting air a bunch of times. I could hear the crowd in both hairpins as I fought as hard as I could to maintain our position. After a dozen laps, the front tires were absolutely hooped. I could smell rubber fburning from them in both hairpins as I fought the understeer. Going 2 wide and sometimes 3 wide through the corners was common, then I had to come in for the driver change. We did a great change and Joe went out to carry us home. The car was still in 10th place overall and Joe drove the4 wheels off it as well and we ended up in 13th overall and 7th in Touring. The front tires were down to the cords at the end, but we finished and did well.

I only got to drive for the team once more that year as they took on a paying driver, but we won the Touring Class Championship that year by 2 points over an NX2000 and I like to think that my 3 drives out of 7 races helped to win it for the team.

Here is a picture of me at Mosport that spring.

Till next time,

Eric

 

Seeing as you guys like RX7 video so much, I found this video of a regular Regional Endurance race weekend back in 2001. The car still had the stock 172,000 km S4 6 Port in it. At the start of the race, I felt like I was in a GM Players race. I then caught up to the class leaders and the Suzuki had some issues. The Suzuki is the old #80 NTN Car heavily modified. The track gets oiled down and the race red flagged while they cleaned it up. Later I got caught up in a group and we went hard until; the end. I finished 3rd that day. The white RX7 that storms past me near the beginning has a Ford 302 in it. I have no idea where that car is any more.

http://vimeo.com/40021093

Again sorry for the quality.

Eric

 

Well, I won't let this one go by with out comment - great stories, keep them coming!

Boobies and front-of-the-line service for racers at a steakhouse - I think I might LOVE MONTREAL too!