MCO – The Curious Canuck

February 19, 2012

2012 MCO Ice Race

Today, Jay and I raced our Honda Civic in the MCO 3-hour Endurance Ice Race at Capital City Speedway.

The track was a mix of polished ice and a line along the snow banks with more grip. Greg Kierstead and others spent hundreds of hours during the winter to prepare the track, which is used for both the MCO Ice Race and Snow Cross series and the popular Winter Driving School. There was warm weather during the week, but no rain. This helped preserve the track better than the 2010 Ice Race. There were two soft spots where the ice was too thin to support the race vehicles, so cones were placed around them.

I spent 3 hours at the track yesterday to help prep the track. Others, including Greg, worked until nearly 10PM.

This morning I arrived at 8AM. I helped the race staff with the race setup. After the drivers meeting, we opened the track for a 2-hour practice period. I took an early session to get an idea of the performance of the Civic on ice, and to assess the overall track conditions. I went out again just before noon to check how the conditions had changed. A nice line was forming around the outside of some corners.

The race started just after 1PM. Jay let me take the start. The grid was set by the order teams registered. That meant I started in third place of twelve cars. Unfortunately that meant my grid position was slightly uphill on glare ice. When the green flag dropped, I could do nothing and I lost places to the four-wheel-drive cars and to the front-wheel-drive cars that started on the outside where they could get some grip.

I slotted in when I finally got up to speed and tried to avoid sliding into anyone on the opening lap. I had lost 4 places on the start, but made up 2 just before the chicane on the second lap.

Then as we came through the cutout chicane on the second lap, the car in front of me spun. I managed to stop without hitting him, but the cars behind me piled up, hitting me side-to-side and hitting each other. I could feel four good bumps. Luckily I was not stuck, so I reversed out and continued.

My session was good. I had great speed for a FWD vehicle. I made awesome overtaking moves, something that I had thought would be impossible on the slick ice. Instead, the race was about capitalizing on the mistakes of others, minimizing my own mistakes, and having the confidence that came from trusting the car and knowing its limits.

I had a few spins but I was quick to select reverse and floor the gas, which spun the car back around to face forward. Then, just as quickly, I selected first-gear and pulled through the 360-degree spin without losing a spot.

After an hour, I pulled in to the pits. We had lots of time for a drivers change. The Supplemental Regulations stipulated a minimum of 2-minute pit stops (to prevent panicked accidents during refueling) and a total of 20-minutes accumulated stops. Our pit stop was 4m20s.

Jay drove for about 50 minutes. He also had no issues. Our fuel usage was low, so we did not need to refuel. I am not sure if any team had to refuel.

At the second driver change, we changed the battery in our GoPro Camera HD camera. We discovered that the battery had already died. This happened at the last race at Mosport too, so perhaps the three-year-old battery is due to be replaced.

Our second (and last) stop was exactly 15m40s in order to exactly meet the requirement for 20-minutes accumulated stop time.

I went out for the last hour of the race. I was going great against the 4WD cars. I continued to overtake on mistakes.

I did have one incident – I was black flagged. Just before I turned in for the chicane, I saw a car spin perpendicular to the track in the middle of the chicane. It looked like the track would be blocked, so I made the decision to take the escape road to avoid becoming part of a pile-up. After committing to taking the escape road I checked and saw that the spun car had actually rotated out of the way and did not block the track. So I waited for the car that was in front of me at the entrance to the chicane to come around; I slotted in behind him. The marshal called Race Control and said that I had gained a position by taking the escape route and I was black flagged. I pitted and explained the situation to the official and strongly disagreed with the reason for the black flag. Looking back, I wonder if the call was actually about passing the car that had spun. If so, I don’t agree that it was gaining a position, as the spun car had lost positions to the other competitors that drove around it in the chicane. My decision to take the escape route was for safety. The chicane was glare ice, and I felt there would be an accident when no one could stop for the spun car.

At the end of the event, I helped the scoring officials calculate the stop times of each team.

I had to leave before the unofficial results were available, as Rosa was expecting me at the Ottawa Fashion Show. Jay called me later to tell me the great news – we had finished first in class and third overall!

Photo Gallery: http://gallery.myredbmw.net/v/Racing/IceRace/2012/

February 28, 2010

2010 MCO Ice Race

Today was the first MCO Ice Race in about 20 years. Jay and I bought a car (1992 Honda Civic) in January with the express purpose to use it for this Ice Race; we were also part of organization team for the event. The rules of the event dictated that there must be at least three drivers for each car, so Jay and I asked a Quebec racer, Nicolas, to join us as he had been doing well in the MCO Slush-n-Slide series.

To prep the car, Jay had the bolt-in rollcage re-installed, along with a four-point harness for the driver. We debated changing the inside rear wheel from a 13″ to a 14″ tire. The thought was that it would put more weight on the outside front, improving turn-in. But during the event, we didn’t use the tire, but we did adjust the tire pressures to be asymmetrical for similar reasons.

Nicolas and I took some of the practice sessions in the morning. I felt bad because I stuffed the car into the snow banks twice, requiring a tow. There was also some bumper damage we had to repair. I felt I had good speed though.

In the afternoon, there were three heats. Nicolas took the car out for the first heat. The starting position was based on the registration order, not on a qualifying lap. I was very pleased to have the honor of being the official starter for the first heat – again the first Ice Race in our club since about 1991 or 1992. Nicolas did well keeping a good position through the race.

I took the car out for the second heat. I was a little nervous because the track was getting very muddy, making the visibility difficult. I lined up third or fourth in class. At the drop of the flag (for which I was not fully prepared for – I couldn’t see the flag very well from where I was on the grid), I managed to more or less keep my position into the first corner. Once the cars bunched up in the corner, the visibility was effectively zero (i.e. I could not see out of my windshield) from the muddy slush being thrown up by the other cars. I tried very hard to not hit anything, but by the exit of the corner, I was squeezed between two cars and received a small dent. The rest of the first lap I stayed in position while giving some space to the cars around me to prevent more contact. At the end of the back straight there was a big hit between the two lead cars, which then caused more pile-ups and completely blocked the track. I was able to avoid going into the back of the car in front of me by just a few inches – it’s tricky to stop in a hurry on the slushy-icy surface.

Because of the blockage with less than 1 lap completed, they restarted the heat about 10 minutes later with the original starting positions. I did better avoiding contact on the restart, as I stayed to the outside of the track. There was a little contact in the third corner where I pushed through to take a position. During the rest of the 15-20 minute heat, I dropped a position or two, but made up the positions again later with some skill.

The heats were being shortened due to the track conditions. They were originally to be 30 minutes each, but the track was deteriorating too quickly in the above-zero temperatures. By the end of the last heat (and therefore the end of the racing), there was basically no ice or snow left on the racing surface. The track was just a muddy, rutted mess.

Jay had a good heat and secured third place for our car. It was a thrill to be part of this event, when MCO has such a long previous history in ice racing, and to take some a podium spot was icing on the cake.

May 25, 2009

I Won a Kayak

I worked in the start/finish control for the Lanark Highlands Forest Rally 2 weeks ago. I was not able to stay for the banquet, as I had previous commitments with Rosa. But I left my name in a draw for door prizes.

The next day the organizers called me and said that I had won a kayak from Clearwater Design.

It was very welcome news. I often thought about getting a kayak, but did not think I would be able to afford one because of all my other hobbies.

About 7 or 8 years ago, I was at a team-building event in a quarry in Quebec. The highlight of the day for me was being able to paddle around an artifical lake in a kayak. It felt so right, being so close to the water. It was so peaceful. All I needed was loons and moonlight.

Now I have that opportunity. White-water kayaking does not interest me – racing is more than enough adrenalin for me. I need time to chill out, time to think, time to meditate.

It could also be good exercise. I hate going to the gym because it seems so pointless. I go for my long-term health. I think of all the other things I could be doing during that time.

Later this week, I’ll go to Le Baron Outdoor Products to get the rest of the equipment (life preserver, paddles, etc) I need. I also need some way to haul it around. I live only 7 minutes walk from the Rideau River, so I can start using the kayak there. Perhaps I can also bring it to work and go to the Ottawa River in the evenings. I also noticed that there is a storm-water facility just behind the house, which also looks very peaceful. I’m not sure if I could get in trouble using it, as it is City of Ottawa property.