The Enhanced Performance, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had a great race weekend at the 2024 SVRA U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International.
We ran in Group 9 – Monoposto Wings and Slicks.  The weather was absolutely beautiful with temperatures ranging from the mid to high 20’s °C. Over the course of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 8 times; 3 on track practices during the Thursday test day, followed by 1 practice, 2 qualifying sessions, Race 1, and Race 2.  There was a large speed differential within the qualifying group!!  We definitely had our work cut out for us, as most everyone in our group had much more horsepower than we did. Lots of beautiful race cars!!

In the first qualifying session, we placed 9th of 15 race cars, 1st in our 9F4 class with a time of 1:57.601. In the 2nd qualification session, we qualified 10th out of 15 cars, 1st in our class with best lap time of 1:58.083.

For Race 1, on the afternoon of the 24th of August, our race Group 9 included 16 high powered open wheel race cars, including Lola’s, Elan’s, Ralt’s, Swift’s and a number of F5000’s.  The weather was perfect for racing, clear and mild, about 24 Celsius. We finished in 11th position, 1st in our class, with a best lap time of 1:58.072. Here is the YouTube video link to our first race -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV3WBtWhn2Q – our race begins at time mark 5:02.10.
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In Race 2, on the 25th of August, we started in P11 and finished in P12, 1st in our class, with a best lap time of 1:58.560. Here is the YouTube link for our second race - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BejZTIFGuxY – our race begins at time mark 2:47.29. All in all, a fantastic race weekend!!!  

Stay tuned to our website www.subjectmotorsports.com and our YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkrPKqGp6WSukj3qKzMiKhw, for further updates!! A special thank you Bill and Shirley Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport for their trackside support.
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A very big thank you to the SVRA for hosting such a great event!!  And last, but certainly not least, once again we want to thank our long suffering and tormented family which follows us from racetrack to racetrack and allows us to continue to do the racing thing…….

​The Enhanced Performance, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had an fantastic weekend at the VSCDA Vintage Grand Prix au Grattan XXXVII held at Grattan Raceway. We had registered our #77 Formula Mazda in the VSCDA Formula Classic (Group E). There was a total of 27 cars in our race group including Vintage Formula Fords, Club Fords, Scott Durbin and his lightning-fast Formula Continental, as well as a many other historic open wheel cars.  The weather was beautiful all weekend with temperatures during the weekend ranging from 20°C to 25°C. Over the course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 7 times; 2 on-track practices and the first qualifying session on Friday, followed by the second qualifying session and the Sprint Race and the Heat Race on Saturday and Feature Race on Sunday.

On the Friday test day, the weather was very nice with a sun cloud mix.  Our best lap for the two practice sessions was a P2 1:22.405 – a pretty respectable lap time. The leader, Scott Durbin in a very nice yellow Formula Continental, was P1 at 1:19.342 – so we had some work to do. During our first qualifying session on Friday, we improved our best lap time to P2 1:20.071, while Scott bettered his practice time to 1:19.777 – clearly, we had to improve our on-track performance if we were to challenge for the win.
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The weather on Saturday was perfect, sunny and 24°C. During our second qualifying session, we did not improve on our initial qualifying session at 1:21.098. With qualifying over, and based on the best qualifying time, Scott qualified P1 and we qualified P2.  During the Sprint Race, we managed to get a good start and gapped Scott down the front straight to turn 1. Scott caught us in the technical portion of the track and passed us during the first lap. Scott finished in P1 with a best lap time of 1:19.401, while our best P2 lap time was 1:20.060. During the Heat Race, once again we managed to beat Scott to the first turn – we battled for the entire race – I was able to use a back marker to my advantage and I beat Scott to the finish with a gap of 0.158 seconds.  I finished in P1 with a best lap time of 1:18.712 – we were definitely making progress.

On Sunday, the weather was once again a beautiful day to be on the track.  During the Feature Race, I managed to get an excellent start, beating Scott to the first corner. He and I battled for the first three laps, and then I developed a problem with shifting between 3rd, 4th and 5th. In the end, Scott finished in P1 with a best lap time of 1:18.881, we finished 30 seconds behind him in P2 with a best lap time of 1:19.813. A fantastic weekend and a great race result!!!!

A very special thank you to our guest crew chief for the weekend, Christina Murdoch.  We would not have been able to accomplish what we did during the weekend without her expert help. And many thanks VSCDA Vintage Grand Prix au Grattan XXXVII for hosting such a fantastic, safe event!!  

The Enhanced Performance, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions, #77 Formula Mazda Team had great weekend at the BARC Canadian Touring Trophy Races, held at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP). We were placed in the Formula Libre/Formula race group). We had registered our #77 Formula Mazda in the VARAC Formula Classic 90 class. There were a total of 16 cars in our race group including, Formula 4’s, Formula Ford’s and F1200’s.  The weather varied greatly during the race weekend. It was very hot on the Friday, wet and rainy on the Saturday and absolutely beautiful and sunny on Sunday with temperatures during the weekend ranging from 20°C to 35°C. 
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Over the course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 7 times; 3 on-track practices during the Friday test day, followed by qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday and Race 2 & 3 on Sunday. As always, our race class had some very nice open wheel race cars including the blazingly fast Formula 4 racecars.

On the Friday test day, the weather was very warm with a sun cloud mix and a high of 35°C.  Our best lap for the test day was a 1:23.0 – pretty respectable lap time on new Hoosier RB35’s.  

Saturday morning, the weather was lovely. We set a best practice P1 time of 1:26.486. In the afternoon on Saturday, we started in P1 and was quickly overtaken by Jim Morton – we pursued the leader for the entire race but was unable to maintain contact with Jim as he was moved through lapped traffic. We finished P2 with a best lap time of a 1:25.371. The weather on Sunday was beautiful with a mix of sun cloud and a temperature of 25°C. We started Race 2 in P2 and chased Jim Morton for the entire race. We finished Race 2 in P2, P1 in our class, with a best lap time of 1:25.621 – 0.252 seconds behind Jim. We started Race 3 in P2 and began to track down Jim Morton. We finished P2, P1 in our class with a best lap time of 1:24.915, 16.711 seconds behind Jim. A great result!!

​A special thank you to Bill & Shirley Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport for their trackside support during the BARC Canadian Touring Trophy Races and to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for hosting such a great event!!  And last, but certainly not least, we want to thank our long suffering family which allows us to continue to race……….

The Enhanced Performance, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had an excellent Saturday at the 2024 Peter Jackson Trophy Races at Shannonville Motorsport Park. We were placed in the Formula Classic Race group. There was a total of 13 cars in our race group including, Formula Fords, FVee’s, F1200’s and Ed Luce’s beautiful Formula B.  The weather was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the upper 20’s °C. 
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Over the course of the day, we were on the Shannonville Pro Track a total of 4 times; 1 practice, 1 qualifying session in the morning, followed by Race 1 & 2 in the afternoon. Our race group included some beautiful open wheel race cars.

During practice, we set a fast lap of a 1:14.206, during qualifying, we set a fast lap and pole of 1:10.077.  

During Race 1, we pulled away comfortably from the field on the first lap, we finished P1 in our race group with best lap time of 1:10.566. During Race 2, we pulled away from the field on the first lap and finished P1 in our race group with a best lap time of 1.09.709. All in all, a superb race weekend!
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A special thank you to VARAC for putting the 2024 Peter Jackson Trophy Races and to Shannonville Motorsport Park for hosting such a fantastic, safe event!!  And last, but certainly not least, we want to thank our long-suffering family which allows us to continue to race……….

The Enhanced Performance, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had an excellent weekend at the VARAC 44th Vintage Grand Prix, held at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (CTMP). We were placed in the Formula Classic Race group. There was a total of 31 cars in our race group including, Formula Fords, F2000’s, F1200’s, a Super Vee and several Formula Mazda’s as well as a few other historic open wheel cars.  The weather ranged from raining to beautiful sunny days with temperatures ranging from 20°C to 27°C. 
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Over the course of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 10 times; 3 on-track practices during the Thursday test day, followed by one practice and on qualifying session on Friday, Race 1 & 2 on Saturday, as well as the Ludwig Heimrath Open Wheel Challenge and Races 3 & 4 on Sunday. Our race group included some beautiful open wheel race cars.

​On the Thursday test day, the weather was mixed with some sun in the morning and a torrential rain storm Thursday evening.  

Our best lap for the test day was a 1:24 – a pretty respectable lap time, however off from our typical lap times in the 1:22’s. 

Friday morning, the weather was quite nice – we set a time of 1:28.994, which was the 2nd best time for the session of all the other cars. During our qualifying session, we ended up with a fair qualifying time of 1:26.083 – 4 one hundredths of a second off the leader, placing us in P2 in our race group and class.

The weather on Saturday was sunny and warm with a high in the low 20’s.  During Race 1, and together with the leader, we pulled away comfortably from the field on the first lap, we finished P2 in our race group and P2 in our class with best lap time of 1:24.474. During Race 2, once again we pulled away from the field on the first lap with the leader and finished P2 in our race group and P2 in our class with a best lap time of 1.25.705. 
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Late Saturday afternoon, we participated in the Ludwig Heimrath Open Wheel Challenge. There were 9 cars in total in our race group and we cruised to a P1 victory with a best lap time of 1:25.965.

​The weather on Sunday was just beautiful with sunny skies and a high of 23°.  During Race 3, we set a best lap time of 1:24.739 finishing P2 in out race group and P2 in our class.  During Race 4, we held steady in second place in a caution filled , shortened race, setting a fast lap time of 1:24.897, finishing in P2 in our race group and in our class. All in all, a superb race weekend!

​A special thank you to our guest crew chief for the weekend, Christina Murdoch.  And to Bill Vallis & Shirley Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport for their trackside support during the VARAC VGP and to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for hosting such a fantastic, safe event!!  And last, but certainly not least, we want to thank our long-suffering family which allows us to continue to race……….

The Enhanced Performance, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had a good race weekend at the BEMC Spring Trophy Races held at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. We were entered in the Formula Classic/Formula Libre race group. There were a total of 17 cars in our race group including, six F1200’s, three F1600’s, two Formula 4’s, one Historic Formula Ford, one Formula Four, one Van Diemen F2000, amongst some other cars. The May weather was very nice Friday and Saturday with rain and fog Sunday morning, with some sunshine on Sunday afternoon with temperatures ranging from 10 to 20° C.

Over the course of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 8 times; 4 on-track practices during the Friday test day, followed by qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday and Race 3 on Sunday. We opted out of racing in Race 2 on Sunday morning as we felt the conditions were just not safe with the amount of fog around the race course. Our race class had some beautiful open wheel race cars including Jim Morton’s unbelievably fast Gamma Tercero F4.
Our best lap for the test day was a 1: 24 flat on old Hoosier tires from the previous year, pretty impressive for old race tires.

Saturday morning, the weather was perfect – about 17°C and a clear sky. We switched to another used set of Hoosiers. We set a reasonable P3 practice time of 1:24.747 (P1 in our class). During qualifying, we set a P4 time of 1:25.824 (P2 in our class). During Race 1, we diced back and forth with Jim Morton and spun on the outside of turn 2, relegating us to P6 in our race group and P2 in our class. Our best lap time in Race 1 was a 1.24.740.
The weather on Sunday morning was dreadful, with rain and a very heavy fog. We elected not to run in Race 2 as we just did not feel comfortable with the amount of heavy fog around the race track. As it turned out, lap times were way off as drivers struggled to see.

We had a great start at the beginning of Race 3 right behind Jim Morton gapping the rest of the pack by the end of lap 3. Sadly, Jim was able to get away from us using lapped traffic, we were never able to catch up him.  We finished the race in P3 (P1 in our class) with a best lap time of 1:27.028. Not a great lap time, as the track was still very green from all of the rain over the course of Sunday.

Here is our video race report from the weekend.

​​And a big thank you to Bill and Shirley Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport for their trackside support during the BEMC Spring Trophy Races and to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park for hosting such a fantastic event!!  And last, but certainly not least, we want to thank our long-suffering family which allows us to continue to race……….

Our first engine start if the 2024 season!!!  It sounds awesome!!!!!

This is our first maintenance update 2024 for the 10th of April. Stay tuned as we start the race engine in the #77 Formula Mazda for the first time in this year!!

Sadly, our Subject Motorsports Facebook page has been taken over by hackers. As a result, we will not be using that particular social media platform for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, we will still post regular updates to our YouTube Channel and our LinkedIn Page.

Please do not accept any Facebook direct messages from our Subject Motorsports account. If you need to contact me, please use email or phone. Sorry for the inconvenience.

At this special time of year, we want to take a moment to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2024.