2011 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada at Calabogie Motorsports Park

This weekend I worked in the control tower at Calabogie Motorsports Park for the inaugural Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada event. I was an assistant to the series Race Director Terry Dale and I also helped the clerk of the course Peter Manganelli with the running of the other races during the weekend.

Just last weekend I went to Mosport to take the training course for the Clerk of the Course. I also wrote the exam and submitted it to CASC-OR for review. I found out then that the exam review is face-to-face. The earliest I can have the review is next weekend at the Victoria Day Speedfest.

So this weekend at Calabogie was not a signature event (an event where I can get a signature on my new logbook). But I did get to work in the tower for the entire weekend, and it was a real pleasure.

Aside from my racing (Solo-II from 1997 to 2003, road racing from 2003 to the present), I have always been an active volunteer for regional motorsport. I have held licenses as a flag marshal and pit marshal, I have worked in the pace car for a number of events, and I was a former Secretary of the Meet for MCO‘s Ted Powell Memorial Race Weekend and their regional Race Schools. I also instruct at the Race Schools and high performance driving schools, such as for the BMW Car Club of Ottawa.

I want to expand my experience into the role of clerk of the course. It will take years to really get the experience I need, but I am determined to do what is necessary. It’s part of my desire to be more ambitious about what I want in life. Becoming a clerk is one of the things I’ve put off for years, so it’s time to seize the moment. Only by inaction do we give up before trying something.

I was excited to be working with a professional series like the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge. I downloaded and read all of the IMSA race regulations, series regulations and all of the supplementary regulations too. I also put PDF copies on my laptop and on my iPhone. I was able to easily quote some of the rules when required during one of the sessions – I was proud of that!

During the invitation races, I worked with the Clerk as one of the emergency dispatchers and Peter let me run the course during short periods of time (typically when nothing much was happening)!

There were practice sessions, qualifying and two Porsche GT3 Cup races on the weekend. As well, there were GT Invitational and Formula Libre Invitational races during the weekend. The entry list was a little sparse as the event was non-championship for all the series except Porsche GT3 Cup. Next year, the fields should be much larger.