HiWire

Is anybody attending track school at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park on May 4-5? I'm thinking of attending this session or the second one in August.

23Racer

I should be there instructing at both schools.

Eric

HiWire

I'm looking forward to it. Trying to figure out which car club to join now...

B6T

iTrader: (2)

Website for this?

HiWire

http://www.casc.on.ca/timeattack

r4itei

iTrader: (1)

i wanna go to the one in may. signed up last month to be part of TAC. i should probably sign up soon for this school

HiWire

Have you been to any TAC meetings? It sounds kind of big and anonymous.

Tom Cinnamon

No, not big and anonymous. Best to join a club heavily involved in organizing the events you want to attend. For Time Attack that would be Toronto Autosport Club (TAC) or the Oshawa Motorsport Club (OMSC) as these two clubs organize the most events.

It has been many years since I was involved, so I cannot tell you which is the most enjoyable to belong to. OMSC was at the heart of Solo I or Time Attack from it's early beginnings. I believe the Time Attack Director is from OMSC. That was the club I was involved with and I spent several years on their executive, first as Competition director and later as President.

Before choosing I would go to club meetings for both clubs and see what the people are like, but there are few meetings left before the first event. Why not attend the Time Attack Open House April 7?

Joining a CASC club for the first time can feel a bit weird. There can be a bit of an "Old boy's club" air, but once the season starts I'm sure you will feel welcome.

cheers'
Tom

HiWire

I went to the OMSC open house last week – the only problem is distance. The TAC meetings are a bit closer to me. I'll definitely attend the next TAC meeting and the open house on April 7.

r4itei

iTrader: (1)

well only reason i signed up for TAC was it seemed general. and i need to be part of a club to go to CASC...

HiWire, lmk when you go to a TAC meeting? haha just so im not alone. LOL

HiWire

The web page says their meetings are the third Wednesday of every month, so it should be next Wednesday, March 20, 8 pm at the Moose and Firkin (7600 Weston Road – Unit 13 & 15, Woodbridge):

The Firkin Group of Pubs - Locations

2Fierce

iTrader: (7)

why do you need to be part of a "club" to go to a track event??

23Racer

The CASC is a different kind of organization. It stands for Canadian Automobile Sporting "Clubs" and the CASC is really only a sanctioning body that allows a group of motorsports clubs to organize events under a common set of rules. All of the clubs have a reciprocal agreement to allow their members to compete in the other CASC club's events so to an outsider it looks like the events are all CASC, but in reality one event may be put on by the BEMC Club, another by the BARC Club, another by the OMSC Club, etc.... Each club has a specialty, like OMSC and TAC with Solo events, but as long as you are correctly licensed under the CASC rules, you can attend every event put on by every club.

I don't know at this time how many clubs are under the CASC banner, but it used to be well over 25 and they put on ice races, Time Attack (Solo 1), Slalom (Solo 2), Rallies and Circuit Races at CTMP, Shannonville and Calabogie. They also provide the marshals for amateur and Pro events and a CASC license allows you to run NASA events and SCCA events in the US.

The events we are talking about here are Time Attack Events run under the CASC sanctioning, so they try to coordinate their level of rules and competitor knowledge so that CASC competitors are licensed and able to run at what they consider safe conditions. Another nice thing is that CASC is a member of ASN Canada, which is part of the same sanctioning body group that organizes all the pro road racing in Canada and even all the way up to the FIA Formula 1 world championship. There are rules that they believe that need to be followed to ensure the proper insurance, safety and competitor knowledge and that is why you have to go to a school to get a Solo 1 license.

Eric

HiWire

Here's the list of CASC Ontario clubs: CASC-OR Affiliated Clubs | Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs - Ontario Region

I'll be attending tonight's TAC meeting.

23Racer

I saw this pretty cool video about the CASC Ontario Time Attack. I am going to try to come out and instruct at a few this year, especially at CTMP on the GP track. it's monster fast and as safe as it can be.


I don't know, but I think I may even enter an event or 2 as well.

Eric

HiWire

I sent in my registration for this weekend's track school. Last minute, I know, but the weather report is so promising...

HiWire

So I got into track school. You get a lot of track time... it's 2 days and they break it up with classroom sessions, the skidpad, and cone slaloms for basic car control skills.

You get about an hour of track time each session and there are 6 sessions (3 each day) where an instructor will sit in the car with you as you tackle the track (the Driver Development Track at Mosport – smaller than the Grand Prix circuit but just as technical and definitely fun to learn).

There's a lot of latitude – if you have some experience, the instructors will adapt and allow you to go at higher speeds as long as you demonstrate that you're able to handle the car.

A few pointers:

• have a Snell SA2000 or M2000 helmet
• bring sunblock, a hat, and water
• read the handbook thoroughly (it's relatively short)
• check your car, particularly the brakes – they can get pretty hot