Back in June, Event #1 (June 4th) was sold out (64 drivers) and day was progressing well until a car fire occurred in the 3rd (of 3) heats. Driver was not injured but the car (BMW 540i) has a lot of fire damage to the plastics. TRS was on hand to handle the situation but exhausted all fire fighting equipment they had as well as from BAST. As two of three heats were run, organizers declared the event unable to carry on for the third heat and used two confirmed heats for results. One driver complained but for most part, everyone was fairly understanding.
Lessons learned: reinforce driver + car requirements on every release (not just beginning of the day and noon). Tow-hook, long sleeve shirt and pants, recheck helmet. New signage being created to cover this.
This past month in July was a packed month! Canada Day HPDE and competition event #2 at CTMP GP track was sold out (61 cars) and despite the looming threat of lightning and rain, we managed to get four heats of two runs per heat. Event was highly successful and well executed. School had a couple of incidents, no major issues. Had to conduct a drivers review on one person over infractions across the weekend but otherwise, everyone was well behaved at the event.
Event #3 and #4 came and went on July 22nd and 23rd at SMP Pro and Long respectively. Attendance was less than last year but still up compared to previous SMP lows. Event #3 was superbly executed with 4 heats of 3 laps each and even allowed for practice lapping for Event #4 at the end of the day. Event #4 was marred by one crash due to mechanical failure at the end of backstraight on SMP long but no injuries to report. Still managed to get three heats at three laps per heat over 51 cars.
Now in August, the season wraps up at CTMP DDT on August 26th and 27th for Event #5 and #6 with 2 kink and 1 kink configurations respectively. Plans in place to bring back spot checking as well a good reminder to all participants to remember this is for fun. Noticeable uptick in on-track incidents and need to pull the reigns a little more to get a clean weekend in. Expecting an uptick in attendance (if not sold out) compared to SMP as this will be the only time attack event at DDT in 2023 and we run both the 1 and 2 kink configuration. Track timing loop has been repaired as well so timing from the tower is once again possible.
Items of note:
Canadian Time Attack Challenge (CTAC), a NON CASC-OR for-profit group has managed to run a successful GP event on a weekend despite charging $695 for a single day. They likely made money and will likely pose an additional option for Time Attack in Ontario further dividing up the customer base between OTA and CSCS. Plans are in motion within OTA to consider increasing the dates for 2024 to include more days for lapping.
See you at the next event!
Kevin Wong - Time Attack Director