And we are back, Race Fans!
This weekend is the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park 120 in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada from the track formerly known as Mosport. This is Round 6 of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and Morgan in CSM's red/white/black Porsche Cayman 718 GT4 RS Clubsport #67 is ready to go play!
THURSDAY NOTES:
Track Set Up: CTMP is another of those tracks that is tucked away mostly out of sight. This part of Canada is quite flat with lots of fields of crops, but more hills appear as you head 25 minutes north from Lake Ontario. It is in these hills that we come upon our racetrack. The first clues are the billboard signs and the long tall ivy-covered wall behind which the track is hidden.
Then, suddenly - Poof! You are at the gate and there is the enormity of CTMP in front of you. To reach the paddock, you go through a tunnel under the track. It seems like the much of the paddock space is down in a bowl with the racetrack above and all around you. Rather than walking the track, I take a shortcut and get a golf cart ride around the perimeter. I have a new and deep respect for the magnitude of Mosport. It’s all fast bends and sweeping elevation with only one sort of slow corner and a long back straight. In many of the bends, peril is nearby in the form of a gravel trap or a tire wall. It forces the driver to aim precisely and maintain focus on the goals downstream. There are some really steep sections that push the braking points much later than it might seem. It takes real fortitude and commitment to be fast here. The really hard part is to be consistently fast.
During the track walk this afternoon, the drivers take the opportunity to see what's changed since last year and refresh their sight line bearings. This is a very big, very fast track, 2.459 miles long with 10 turns. Lap times are under 90 seconds. No matter how much they practice on the sim ahead of time, this track walk is an important piece of preparation for the drivers. At the same time, the team present the cars to IMSA tech, and by the end of Thursday load-in day, everyone is eager to build on the momentum from the really solid performance last time at Watkins Glen.
We are lucky to have super fans on site again too. Sheila is back with us for a second race and locals Gary and Christina came over as well. Best of all is long time bestie, Leah, adding the race to an extended look around the area.
The first practice session is Friday at 10:15am EDT, with second practice rolling off at 4:45pm. Qualifying is Saturday morning at 8:20am, and the race is Saturday afternoon from 1:25pm-3:25pm. As always this year, you can watch the race live on Peacock, or catch the IMSA world feed on YouTube. We are excited about this event and hopeful for a good result. We have the two practices today and tomorrow is qualifying a race. In only two days, this will all be over.
FRIDAY NOTES:
With Practice 1 in the books now, it appears that we are on the right path to good results. Morgan puts the CSM #67 Porsche in 5th (only 3/10 gap to 1st) and he is the fastest Porsche in the session! Clearly, the team is super pleased with that! Porsche notices too and comes to interview Morgan. He really enjoys the car and this track and the team has worked very hard to give him a good package.
End of Friday activities at Mosport. Again we have made leaps forward in handling and balance with all three CSM cars today. See the 5th place in morning practice when it was cooler. This afternoon was quite a lot hotter and times are never as good in the heat. Even so, all six drivers have very similar comments and are comfortable with the cars. This all bodes well for the early morning qualifying session tomorrow when it is still cool. With an early afternoon race, we will do the best we can in the hottest part of the day.
There was some mid-day drama when someone backed into a power pole near the gas pumps and knocked it down. The fallen wires blocked access between the paddock and the pit lane during an active session. Track management got right on it and had opened the access before the session ended. Further repairs ensued and full access and function is now restored. A more permanent solution will come later I’m sure. It was a worry for a while though, additionally because of the proximity to the fuel pumps.
SATURDAY NOTES:
Qualifying: We are here first thing in the morning, and as usual, qualifying is short. That does not really mitigate the normal apprehension ahead of the session as we have to sit on the grid and wait for the TCR cars to do their thing first. Fortunately, it is still somewhat cool. We start the session with clouds but they don’t last the whole time. It is surprising how quickly the track surface absorbs heat - and that heat transfers to the tires. If you know anyone who has pull with clouds, ask them to send some to the Mosport. We don’t need them to do anything more than hang out overhead and watch a fun race.
Qual results: The 3 CSM cars have all made positive strides again and have qualifying times that group them pretty close together 10th (#2), 12th (#16), and 13th (#67). They are within 6/10 sec of each other and only 1/4 sec off the top Porsche in 8th. Not quite what we’d hoped for relative to the grid, but pretty great relative to other Porsches.
The bad news is that the #16 had a shunt at the end of qualifying in Turn 5 Moss Corner. Unfortunately, the damage is enough to prevent them from continuing. Morgan in the #67 will take over the 12th spot on the grid, but CSM is down to two cars for the race. Needless to say we are gutted for them.
Still, racing carries onward. We will have the grid walk in a few hours and that always brings good energy. We will do our best in the race, keeping focus and consistency. With some luck, that may be enough to bring good results at the checkered flag.
RACE TIME!
Grid Walk: While the grid walk is always filled with smiling fans streaming by the cars, there seems to be slightly less direct interaction this week. I also notice fewer handouts and hero cards across all the cars on the grid. Ontario has been hot this week making it toasty for all the fans and teams. It's important to keep as cool as possible standing in the sun ahead of the race. Plenty of water and a vest with cool packs help combat the heat for Gordon who has the lead stint.
Racing: At last, it's time to get the race started. Two pace laps give the drivers plenty of time to assess the current track conditions and get the brakes and tires ready to play. Once the green flag comes out, it doesn't take long for the field to get in line and settle into a rhythm. Gordon carries the #67 CSM Porsche through the first stint, slipping just a few spots as the sun blazes down on Mosport. The asphalt absorbs the heat, transferring it to the tires and the cars and the drivers. It gets harder to maintain good lap times with each circuit. Gordon's stint comes to an end with a green flag pit stop at lap 38 and 55 minutes elapsed.
The pit stop is clean and error free and Morgan roars
away to take the car to the checkered flag. He puts down lap after
consistent lap, extracting the best that the car could give. A big
incident at 1:19 into the race takes out 4 cars (nobody hurt), bringing
out a lengthy yellow flag period. Morgan picks his way through the
scattered debris and broken cars carefully so as not to puncture a tire.
When the green flag returns to release the anxious drivers back to the battle, Morgan is right behind the leader, but a lap down. He's a beast on the restart, almost managing to find a way past the leader to get his lap back. That BMW squirts away down the straights, giving him no further opportunity. Morgan stays in that space until the end of lap 67. At that point, in the final turn the #57 makes an aggressive move on the #19, knocking the #19 into Morgan's right rear corner. The driver of the #57 gets a drive through penalty for that incident. While little damage is done to the car and it causes Morgan to go off the track, he maintains control and carries onward to the finish, now behind the other CSM car.
A 14th place finish for us is a bit disappointing, but the CSM team and drivers made no errors during the race, took no penalties, and learned even more about handling and balance at a really fast track. Coming away from Mosport pretty clean is a really good thing.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Before we go onward to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for the next round of IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, we get a quick glimpse of Niagara Falls as we head back for a race at our home track. No driving this time, but all of us support the racing in various ways. When we get to Wisconsin in a few days, the 2-hour race will be at Road America at 2:05 pm Eastern on Saturday, August 2.
