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The STANMECH Technologies, Good Cars Only, Gabo Solutions #77 Formula Mazda Team had a very nice race weekend at the Summer Classic, held at le Circuit Mont Tremblant. We were placed in the Formula Libre 2 Race group. We had two change the number of our car to #177 as there was already another car registered with that number in our class. There were a total of 10 cars in our race group including, two Formula Renaults, five Formula Atlantics F2000’s, a Radical and a Formula Ford. The weather ranged from raining to beautiful sunny days with temperatures ranging from 20°C to 27°C. Over the course of Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we were on track a total of 9 times; 4 on-track practices during the Thursday test day, two practice sessions on the Friday, followed by qualifying and Race 1 on Saturday, Race 2 & 3 on Sunday. Our race class had some beautiful open wheel race cars including the unbelievably fast Formula Atlantic racecars. On the Thursday and Friday, the weather was beautiful with a sun cloud mix and a high of 20°C. Our best lap for the test day was a 1:40.3 – a career-best lap time, especially on older tires from the previous race weekend at CTMP. Saturday morning, the weather was very nice. We installed new tires for qualifying and set a reasonable P9 qualifying time of1:41.545. During Race 1, we managed to gain three spots due to retirements and shunts finishing in P6 with a lap time of 1:42.962. Bill Vallis and I spent quite a bit of time working on chassis set up during the past three days. We definitely learned a lot about the adjustments we have available to us on the Formula Mazda, and we will be applying the things we’ve learned to future suspension setups. The weather on Sunday started out cool and damp as it had been raining most the evening before and the track was, at best, intermediate. Our race group was scheduled to be out at 9:20 AM, so tire choice was going to be an issue. We chose to stick with slicks as we believed the track would dry over the course of our race. Unfortunately, number for the drivers in our group chose not to go out on track as they were concerned about the slippery race conditions. Fortunately for us, our tire decision proved to be correct as we finished in P4 in Race 2 will lap time of 1:41.340, and within sight of the Formula Atlantic in P3. By 11 AM, the weather changed substantially with sunny skies, lots of humidity and a high of 29°. During Race 3, we managed to finish in P5 with a best lap time of 1:42.529. A great race weekend in a beautiful location!!!  A special thank you to Bill & Shirley Vallis of Vallis Motor Sport for their trackside support during the Summer Classic 2021 and to le Circuit Mont Tremblant 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……….
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