Since our most recent race weekend with the SVRA at the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational, we have been preparing the STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda for the last race of our season with the SVRA at the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen International during the 1st full weekend in September. Here are some pictures of some of the cleanup work we have performed over the last few days here at Subject Motorsports worldwide headquarters in Burlington.

The car will be off to Vallis Motor Sport during the last week in August for some finishing touches in preparation for last race of the season.

As always, a very big thank you to our sponsors; STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions, and to Bill and Shirley Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport for their excellent maintenance and track side support. Stay tuned to our Facebook page and to our website for ongoing updates.

And last, but certainly not least, we want to thank our long suffering and tormented family which follows us from race track to race track and allows us to continue to do this crazy racing thing……….

​Group 9 heads out for qualifying session #2. See our #77 Formula Mazda in the mix....

​Our video from Race 1 of the SVRA Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational at Indy – we finished in 8th place!!!

​Photos from our race weekend at the SVRA Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational at Indy

​The STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had an outstanding  weekend at the SVRA 2019 Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational at Indianapolis Motor Speedway We ran in Group 9 – all open wheel cars on slicks from 1972 2014 from early F2 cars to modern F1 cars, and everything in between. The weather was perfect for the entire race weekend, with a mix of both sunny & humid days, ranging from the upper 20's to the mid-30’s Celsius. 
We saw some amazing vintage race cars during this event, in particular this 1971 McLaren M8F caught our eye – an outstanding example of the extreme level of automotive race car engineering in the 70s.

​1971 McLaren M8F

​Over the course of Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 10 times; 4 on-track practices during the Wednesday test day, followed by 2 practice sessions, two qualifying sessions, Race 1, and Race 2. Our race class included some outstanding vintage open wheel race cars:

​Group 9 – Formula Cars on Slicks

With our Mazda 13B rotary engine rated at 200 horsepower, once again, we were very much under-powered for our race group. We definitely had our work cut out for us at this very high-speed facility!!!

Given that this was our 1st time at the road course at Indy, we had to make the most of our 4 practice sessions on the test day. In the weeks prior to coming to Indy, we reviewed track notes and lapping videos to become familiar with the track layout and the sight pictures for each corner. We chose to practice on old tires to conserve the 2 new sets of tires that we brought along for this race weekend. In our 1st test session, we drove around the track at about 80% of optimum lapping speed shakedown the STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda and to get a feel for each corner and its respective sight picture. During this 1st session, our best lap time was 1:40.299. During our data review immediately following practice session, we realized we had lots of improvement available. During our 2nd test session we improved our best lap time to 1:37.775. Once again, our data showed us that there was more improvement available. During our 3rd test session, we improved to 1:36.808 – our data review told us that we were getting close! During our 4th and final test session on Wednesday, we improved our lap time to 1:35.308 – just off our theoretical best time by a half a second. After finishing practice for the day, Bill Vallis and I decided that we would leave the used tires on the car to complete the two practice sessions the next day.
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In our 1st practice session with our race group on the Thursday, we ended up being 5th fastest in our group and 1st in our class with a lap time of 1:33.105!! A 2 second improvement – an awesome accomplishment! Our 2nd practice session was shortened due to a muffler failure, however, we managed to be 3rd fastest in our group during that session and 1st in our class with a lap time of 1:34.000.

​Our Failed Muffler – it’s a good thing we have spares!

Friday started early, with our 1st shortened qualifying session – only 5 laps due to a damaged car stopped on the race course. We posted a fast lap time on sticker tires of 1:33.500 placing us in 9th position in our group and 2nd in our class. In between sessions, we decided to make some chassis adjustments to optimize our rear tire wear and to improve front grip and understeer. In our 2nd qualifying session, we posted a new personal best time of 1:32.917 placing us 10th on the grid and 2nd in our class!! Clearly our adjustments worked!

Race 1 started at 10 AM on Saturday. We gridded in 10th position and had a very good start at the drop of the green flag. We made up several positions on some very high powered cars that were braking early for corner 1. At one point, we were in 6th position. Late in the race we were overtaken by 2 of the cars that we had passed at the start to finish in 8th position, 3rd in class with a personal best lap time of 1:32.681!! Race 2 started at 11:10 AM on Sunday. Because our finish on Saturday, we were gridded in the 8th position for the start of the race. Once again, we had a terrific start passing several cars at the turn into corner 1. At one point we are up to 5th position. Unfortunately, over the course of the race the higher powered cars that we had passed at corner 1 re-passed us late in the race. We did finish race 2 in 8th place, 2nd in our class. Our best lap time was 1:33.628 – a little slower than our best time on Saturday, but very respectable given our tire wear. Overall, an awesome race weekend and a terrific showing for the STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team.
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Our race group featured some unbelievable, high powered vintage formula cars - it was a pleasure to be on track with them.  Outside of our muffler failure, our car performed beautifully during the entire event - a very big thank you to our sponsors; STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions , to Bill Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport and to our biggest fan Teddy Subject Murdoch. 

​Teddy Subject Murdoch at the Drivers Meeting, Thursday morning

Click here for more photos from this race weekend.
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A very big thank you to SVRA 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……….

Our two race videos from the HMSA/HSR 2019 le Sommet des Legendes at Circuit Mont-Tremblant!!

Some amazing video of vintage F1 race cars at the HMSA/HSR 2019 le Sommet des Legendes at Circuit Mont-Tremblant.

​Photos from our race weekend at the HMSA/HSR 2019 le Sommet des Legendes at Circuit Mont-Tremblant

The STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had an amazing weekend at the HMSA/HSR 2019 le Sommet de Legendes at Circuit Mont-Tremblant. We ran in Group 4 – Monoposto Classis & Formula Libre.  The weather was perfect for the entire race weekend, with a mix of both sunny & humid days, ranging from the 20's to the mid-30’s Celsius. 

Here is a few pictures of a Talbot – an amazing vintage single seater!!!

​1946 Talbot Largo T26C

​Over the course of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 10 times; 4 on track practices during the Thursday test day, followed by one practice, two qualifying sessions, Race 1, and Race 2. Our race class included some amazing open wheel race cars:

​With our Mazda 13B rotary engine rated at 200 horsepower, we were very much underpowered for our race group. We definitely had our work cut out for us!!! We mounted a new set of tires for the first qualifying session – we qualified in 6th position with a 1:39.788 – better than our best time last year by ½ a second!!  10th. In the second qualification session, we backed off our speed and qualified 7th, however our fast time from the first session guaranteed us in the 6th grid position for Race 1. We were fortunate to finish Race 1 in 5th position, doing much better than we expected with such a high horsepower field. For Race 2, we decided to flip both the full set of race tires so that we could have the best possible tire surface for the race. In Race 2, we were gridded in 5th position, unfortunately we did not have a great start and ended up 9th by the end of the first lap. The STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team exhibited a lot of understeer during the race which did not allow us to make up any ground on the race cars in front of us – although we were always in contact with them. Clearly, we just missed our chassis setup – we probably should have had a new set of tires mounted – the Mont Tremblant racing surface is very tough on soft tire compounds. We will know better for next year. In the end, we finished 9th during Race 2, with a disappointing but respectable best lap of 1:41.00. Our race group featured some unbelievable vintage formula cars - it was a pleasure to be on track with them.  Our car performed beautifully during the entire event - a very big thank you to our sponsors; STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions , to Bill Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport and to our biggest fan Teddy Subject Murdoch. 

Click here for more photos from this race weekend.
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A very big thank you to the HMSA and HSR 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……….

Photos from our race weekend at the 2019 VARAC VGP .

The STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had another eventful weekend, this time at the 2019 VARAC VGP at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Clarington, Ontario.  We ran in Group 6 – Formula Classic – a fine collection Lotus’s, Crossle’s, Lola’s, BRD’s, Chevron’s and Brabham’s.  The weather was perfect for three of four days, with a mix of both sunny & cloudy/slightly rainy days, ranging from the 14's to the mid-20’s Celsius. It rained all day during the practice on the Thursday test day – a perfect day for us to break in our new engine.  On the Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 5 times; practice and qualifying on Friday, a fun race Friday night, followed by Race 1 & 2 on Saturday and Race 3 on Sunday.  We did not start Race 4 – more on that issue later.  It has been a year since we were last at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park – over the course of the four days, we improved our lap times substantially to a respectable 1:26 while breaking in our new engine.

Practicing in the rain on slicks at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park!!

 During Friday in practice, we placed 1st of 26 race cars with a time of 1.29. In the qualifying session later that day, we qualified 1st of 33 race cars. Friday evening, we participated in a fun race called the open wheel challenge – there were a total of 24 race cars on the track for the event – we started in 1st position and lead each of the 13 laps to the checkered flag!!   Our best lap was a 1:26.683 – lots of fun.
Saturday started out quite cool at about 15°C, we were joined at the track by our VIP guests, Bender Chu and his brothers, Desh and Mosh. Bender had won a “Day as part of the Subject Motorsports Team” as part of a prize we donated to the Nelson Youth Centre in Burlington.

Our VIP Guests Bender, Desh and Mosh

 We started Race 1 at about 10 am – in 1st position.  We led every lap to the checkered flag with a best lap time of 1:28:796. After the finish of the race, we were stopped by the Stewards on pit lane due to smoke on our exhaust. There was a small amount of oil seeping onto our muffler which caused the smoking problem. Our crew chief, Bill Vallis and I worked on the car to find the leak, we found about an ounce of oil laying in the pan underneath the engine – we thought that the oil pressure sender may have been part of the problem – Bill removed the sender and used new Teflon tape to reseal the unit. We removed the pan and cleaned it in the hopes that we had found the problem.

In Race 2, we experienced a complete comedy of errors!! We were late to the grid as a result of a misunderstanding of our starting time. By the time, we got to the grid the rest of the competitors were on track behind the pace car, about to take the green. Due to a miscommunication at pit-out, we were sent out just in front of our entire race group that had just taken the green flag!!! What a mess race – we were very fortunate that no one injured. As it turned out, we were already a lap down as we did not take the pace lap. We started in 26th place and managed to unlap our self by passing a majority of the field. It started to rain during the last few laps of the race – were fortunate to finish in 10th place setting the fastest lap at 1:28:698.  After the race, Bill and I found more oil in the pan underneath the engine – we had thought we had fixed this problem!! Once again, we cleaned the pan and put it back on the race car – this oil leak was turning out to be a real pain.

The weather on Sunday was simply stunning – perfect weather for racing – mid 20’s and a bright blue sky. For Race 3, we started in 10th and quickly made it to the front by lap 5 with a best lap time of 1:26:922. Unfortunately, ou roil leak reared its ugly head and we were black flagged on Lap 5.  When we stopped in pit lane, Bill told us that there was a lot of oil sitting in the pan which was blowing onto the muffler causing a lot of smoke. At that point, we made the decision to come in to the paddock for the remainder of the race. Bill and I spent about 30 minutes trying to locate the leak, when we didn’t have any luck, we decided not to go out for the last race. We will be pulling the engine in the coming days to determine the cause of the oil leak!!!

Overall, the weekend was a partial success – the track as fantastic, the #77 Formula Mazda was a dream to pilot, the event was packed with competitors and the entire weekend was very well run. Despite our engine oil leak, our race car performed very well.  Of course, we need to give a big shout out to our sponsors; STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions.  A very special thank you to Bill and Shirley Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport for their excellent track side support, to their ongoing commitment to our race team.

Click here for more photos from this race weekend.

A very big thank you to the VARAC for hosting such a great event!!  And last, but certainly not least, we want to thank our long suffering and tormented family which follows us from race track to race track allows us to continue to do this racing thing……….