Honda Indy 2011: New Memories, Old Faces, Lots of Fun!
I spent the weekend at a ‘family reunion’ of sorts, but you may know it as something else, yes, the 2011 edition of the Honda Indy Toronto. Wow! There were a lot of changes this year to the event, a lot more grandstands, but still so much remains the same with the same people coming back year after year.
I was live tweeting the weekend for Honda Indy so you may have seen the steady stream coming from my overworked and now resting up Blackberry, and if you haven’t check it out on my Twitter account here or, the Facebook page here of even some of the video clips on my YouTube channel here.
The weather could not have been better if it was ordered in, always a potential disaster factor the event lucked out this year. I still have memories of one year when I was literally wearing my winter coat and mittens at corner 9 trying to keep warm, no , I’m not exaggerating, there are pictures somewhere.
I must say my favourite part of the event wasn’t the race, but was it ever a good one! I enjoy Dario, I’m glad he won. Woo hoo! And watching TK with the hand gestures after he crashed out, I felt bad for him, but always amusing to watch. Reminds me of the faces and gestures I’ve been known to mirror when sitting in traffic…..but I digress.
My favourite part of the event: the faces! I never realized how many people I know in racing until this event. It started on Thursday night when I was working in registration and one of my old go-karting coaches and Canadian racing superstar (and former Indy Lights driver) Lee Benthem walked in. I screeched, I hadn’t seen Lee in probably 2 years and I got my hug and a quick update on him. He was helping one of the teams in the Ferrari Challenge series for the weekend. Exciting stuff.
Then I get to see and get my hug (I’m a hugger, what can I say?) from our old teammate and multiple winner of the Canadian Touring Car Championship title Alain Lauziere. He was there with his MINI Cooper JCW and, of note and celebration, did rather well too! I know a lot of the people involved in the series and it was great to see PJ Groenke who my husband raced with a few years back (although PJ, what on earth did you do to the side of the car?), John Bondar (series owner etc.), Vic Simone of Simone Performance (my husband’s former co-driver), Ian Madden who races at Mosport in his VW named Greta, Scott Nicol from both Touring and GT Sprints who was helping out the Rapone boys in their Durabond cars, and so many more! Missed you all!!!! And lest I forget Renata and Andrew from AutoAnalyser, missed you too!
I also ran into, almost literally, Lee again on Saturday and this time he was witha guy on a bicycle, I waved and then realized that the guy on the bike was none other than my other go-karting coach (see I learn from the best) and another Canadian superstar, David Empringham. I again screeched in joy (Lee teased me of course) and got my hugs again! On Sunday when we ran into them again I managed to stay calm and then turned around and chatted briefly with another of my favourite all-time drivers, Randy Pobst! I remember Randy from the multiple times I’ve gridded him at Mosport and of course watched him on TV. He is another one of the true gems of the sport. So exciting to have met him!
I also took my Media Pass out for a spin and went up to the podium for the NCATS race. A fellow Canuck, and I’ve met him before too, Andrew Ranger won the race (YAY!) and I chatted briefly with second place finisher Scott Steckly.
In addition, for those of us who volunteer at the event year after year it really is a reunion. Just our BARC (British Automobile Racing Club) family alone constituted almost 200 people including the track marshals. Some of our officials have been there for all 25 years too. I was chatting with Bill Robb and he figured it out, he has spent 141 days over 25 years at the event. Now that’s impressive! And he’s not the only one, I’ve done around 10 years myself, the pace car drivers have been around as long as I can remember and more and many many many of our officials, pit workers, access control staff, grid crew, lunch bunch and TRS staff. Even the secruity guy, Larry, has been there for ages and does a fabulous job. It’s funny how we all fall back into our old patterns and jobs and can anticipate each other’s actions and needs when we only reunite for 3 days a year.
I took a couple of tours through Thunder Alley and made sure to spend some time with our Canadian Forces who had a big display and lots of toys to try out and see. My husband of course was in seventh heaven, I was distracted by the Navy’s Zodiac…..I’m an ex-boater who misses her boat, what can I say? 
However, I did try out the grenade, yeah, not for me, but still very cool! AutoSportGal will be having a very special fundraiser for the troops coming up shortly, stay tuned to the blog for details. The troops also participated in the parade on Sunday to the cheers of the crowd. I’m still VERY impressed at the turning radius of the LAV to get back to mock grid.
And what a great race too! I got a great view from the exit of mock grid and we had the giant tv screen behind us so we didn’t miss any of the action, NOW that’s the way to be at a race! I am very happy Dario won, I enjoy him, but it would have been great to see a Canuck on the top step .
Overall, one for the books, a great event indeed! For the pictures and videos hop on over to my Facebook page and ‘like’ me or pop on over to my You Tube page and take a peek!
More Honda Indy Memories
As I’ve been working at the Toronto Indy, now Honda Indy Toronto for probably close to 10 or more of the 25 years it’s been running so far, yes I actually sat down and tried to make a list and I think that’s a pretty good estimate so far, I thought I’d share some more fun stories with you all in the hopes you’ll share some yourself or even make some this weekend at the event.
The Oakville Connection: He’s now racing in Indy so this story is even more fun for me. A few years back James Hinchcliffe was running in Star Mazda at the event. I reember seeing on the grid sheet that he was from Oakville, my home town as well, so I decided I needed to find out more about him and cheer him on. I finally managed to get about 20 seconds free and be in his vicinity (a feat believe me) and say hi. I remember asking him, because of his age, which high school he went to as a tease. He said: ‘OT’. I told him I couldn’t cheer for him then as I am a WOSS girl. We had a laugh, all in fun! A it turns out, I continue to cheer for him, but in my heart I know he’d do better if he was from WOSS .
Seeing your name in decals: One of the very first years out when I was working pass control it was really a family affair. My sister and I and my dad were on 3 different pass control teams and members of our race teamwere even there working with us. Tom was on grids, Johnny and Lou were on pass control and guarding their tree on the inside of 8-9. A racer we knew, David Clubine, was racing that weekend at the event in his 1600 and my dad decided that based on the fact that David was a great driver, he would sponsor him for the weekend so the company name went on the car. Wow. I know it wasn’t an Indy car, but seeing your name going around the track, and doing well, is simply awesome!
Pole sitter signature: I believe it was 2007, yes, that would make sense, and at this point the event was the ‘Steelback Grand Prix of Toronto’ so we all had white hats for the event. Not the best colour around race cars, but that’s another story LOL. They kept cool though which is always a good thing. I managed to keep mine clean and while I didn’t drive in the parade this time, I managed to finagle my hat into the hands of the driver of the pole sitter’s truck for a hopeful autograph. I lucked out, big time, and got Sebastian Bourdais’ signature as pole sitter in his last season of Indy before he went to F1 and Red Bull. I have the hat saved, I think that’s a pretty cool memory.
VIP’s: And then there was the time I was helping coordinate the drivers parade from inside the building. A lot of the VIP’s started the parade from the building instead of the pits that year. They change it every year. I clearly remember turning to my left as someone called my name and there being no one in front of me. I turned back, it could not have been more than 5 seconds and I almost fell over as this guy was towering over me and looking down at me with a smile. He asked if I needed any help. I considered it, he was rather, umm, built and looked like he could definitely handle it. I think he realized he caught me off-guard as he smiled and was incredibly sweet and we shared a laugh at him throwing me off-balance. I kept thinking of that old adage about not judging books by their cover as here was this BIG guy and all and then him being so nice and genuine. Who was he? Chris Benoit.
VARAC: I believe it was also 2007 when I got another very special treat. As part of the Grid Crew that year I got to do something I had done at Mosport many times, but never at Indy. The VARAC or vintage, cars were racing as a support series and needed to be gridded, or lined up, on the front straight. The problem: we had to get from mock grid out at turn 9 to the front straight and we didn’t have transportation…well, we did, our feet. My shoes were slipping and sliding on all of the rubber that had been put down by the races over the weekend and my hat flew off at one point but wow, what a thrill! As VARAC typically ran at events I had worked at at Mosport we knew most of the drivers and teams but they had some special guests which included Peter Klutt from the show Dream Car Garage. I’ll never forget Peter, his golf cart ranover my toes in the building, LOL. Such a nice guy! One of the drivers who had his Jaguar out was Steve Moore who we’ve known for years now. Steve was at the time on K9 with the Toronto Police and seeing someone you know coming across the line is just simply amazing. We cheered him on and on. I even got a picture of the car just before it crossed the line. I sent it to him and he sent it in for the police newsletter. Kinda cool!
I’m heading down tonight and hoping to have lots more fun stories for you all to enjoy. I also hope to see a lot of you there over the course of the weekend. Tweet me hello or drop me a line on Facebook!
Happy 25th Honda Indy Toronto!
It really has been 25 years of racing in the streets of Toronto, wow! Time has flown. I’ve been involved with the event for around 10 of the 25 years, and have helped out in several areas over those years.
I started off in Pass Control as a BARC volunteer and did that for 2 years as part of a team and then had my own team for at least one year. I then moved up to Mock Grid and had a lot of fun playing with the cars. After that I moved on to volunteer registration (all with BARC), promotions and even a stint on security. It was an air conditioned position, I wasn’t turning it down LOL.
I have many fond and fun memories of the event and I thought in honour of the 25th birthday of the event I would share some with you and hopefully you’ll share some of yours with me!
My first drive in the driver’s parade. I was working pass control at the time with my sister and we were both asked to drive. What a treat! I think I wore out my cell phone telling my friends to watch not for the driver, but for me! We got the Canucks so we were even more excited than anyone else. My sister drove Alex Tagliani, and I got Patrick Carpentier. My dad had a tough decision to make, which daughter to ride with. He chose me and Carpentier. And it only got better, my dad got to very briefly say hi to Patrick and had a moment as we used to own Patrick’s old F2000 car, a Van Dieman. Patrick remembered the car! We felt all special 
. I still have my signed hat from that drive.
Another fun one is a simple image really, of the now NASCAR, formerly CASCAR series. If you’ve been to the Indy you know how tight the track is, it’s a street course, they’re all tight. Well, if you look towards turn 8 from the outside of the track at mock grid you got a real treat, and may get another treat this year as they are racing at the event: seeing them go 4-wide through. WOW! One of my favourite series to watch at the event for sure, very few chassis were in pristine form by the end of the weekend, and arguably few had as much fun as those guys did. Awesome!
A few years ago now the Canadian Forces came out to the event and had a whole hallway of displays including a demo which involved the complete disassembly followed by the reassembly of a military jeep! The entire crowd was moved when the Forces took to the track in their vehicles for the parade….the tank was my favourite, his lap time though, a little disappointing . I remember standing on the track at mock grid out and waving them in and cheering them on. That year all of the drivers were on board military vehicles for the parade.
I believe it was the last year that the TransAm series was at the event and I was working mock grid. Iwas stationed inside the building as I had a tendency to overheat and jsut wouldn’t sit down or drink enough water so putting me inside helped that a bit. I still didn’t sit down but that’s another story. Over the course of the weekend I kept seeing this tall guy coming back and forth to the doorway where I was and never with a car. Then finally he came up to the door on his scooter wearing a drivers suit so I figured something was up. After this happened about 3 more times I finally called out to him very jokingly something to the effect of ‘Where’s your car? Did you lose it? Is your team hiding on you?’. This garnered a few laughs and finally when he did come up with his team and his car he smiled over at me and I told him that I was no longer worried about him. The driver: Tommy Kendall. I tweeted him about this a few months back and he remembers it. Too much fun!
The year my hubby got to be a pace car driver for the support series for the first time is also a memory I cherish. His smile didn’t fade for weeks and he still talks about it to this day. He started off the weekend in a blue Mustang I, but on the weekend he got a real treat: he got to drive the Ford GT. It was low to the ground, shiny red and oh my, that supercharger! Wow! He drove up beside me on the mock grid and told em to get in. He was about to lead the CTCC series over to the pits. Our friend Alain Lauziere was a car or so behind us on the grid in his MINI Cooper JCW and I have a picture of the supercharger with the MINI in the background I managed to take. Wow! I sank into the car, literally, and pretty much couldn’t move, and could barely hear my husband, but who cares, it was AWESOME! He relates the story to this day of taking the car out for some fast laps and how he shifted to 4th I think it was and looking at the speedometer which read 100 while going along Lakeshore…then he realized it was in MILES, not kilometers and hit the gas again. To this day he’s not sure why the car has six gears.
That’s just a small sample of my Toronto Indy memories. I’ll shre more this week leading up to the event itself but again I’d love to hear yours too!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY INDY!
And we’re racing!
The Libre’s are on the track and while Urbano came ahead of Graham off the start, Graham is firmly in p1 now but Urbano remains a steady pace behind.
Special guest Steve Moore will be our ‘celebrity’ starter later on waving the flag he flew in Afghanistan.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
Canada Day Grand Prix of Mosport
It’s a lovely cool bright day here at Mosport International Raceway!
On tap today is a little GT Challenge action (enduro series) as well as Formula Libre and GT Sprints for the BARC Canada Day Grand Prix.
AutoSportGal will be covering the event here and on Facebook so please do connect and enjoy!
For those here, we have a special treat! The races will be started with a Canada flag, but not just any Canada flag; this one just completed a tour of Afghanistan with friend to AutoSportGal and member of BARC, Steve Moore. Steve was part of a detachment of officers from Toronto who went over with the Canadian Forces to help train the police.
We welcome Steve home and let’s get racing!
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
F1 2011: So far, so-so.
I LOVE F1, my dad raised me on open-wheel racing and between F1 and Indy I’ve always been a fan. Keep that in mind.
Now, a lot of people have argued to me that F1 is boring with no passing, no action yadda yadda yadda. I agree that during the Schumacher era (pre-retirement #1) race results were, for the most part, pretty predictable. I admit to ignoring that p1 position and watching the other cars and imagining another series that they were all running in and what the championship would look like based on that. But then something happened, Schumi retired and all of a sudden it was a new ballgame and the championship was up for grabs. It was exciting; we knew that there would be an all-new champ at the end of the season.
I’m not knocking the Tifosi, they really know how to party it up and cheer on their drivers, but F1 was really getting boring and people were losing interest.
The drivers seemed fired up too. We had some variety in our champions from Alonso to Hamilton to Button. I admit tearing up when Button won it, what a moment, but I digress.
Fast forward to 2011 and while Schumi is back (that’s a whole other story to write about in and of itself) there is indeed a new kid in town and he definitely is living up to the talk of him being ‘The Next Schumacher’. He keeps winning pole, taking fast lap and winning the races by having the rest of the pack trail him so he can for the most part cruise along.
I am in love with F1 and even I had trouble keeping my eyes open today. F1 needs a shake-up.
I do not deny that Vettel has a gift and can win races. And I like the Red Bull team, look at what they’ve accomplished over a relatively short period of time, it’s incredible. One of my favourite F1 memories was DC winning Monaco and then he and Christian Horner jumping into the water to celebrate. What I’m not keen on is one team dominating again, it’s boring for the viewers and even the fans.
I’ve grown up going to Mosport and watching many different series and seeing how they were all run from the outside and in. I don’t pretend to know all the technicalities, but I have noted a few things that F1 might want to think about.
Qualifying: Currently we have 3 sessions and more drivers are eliminated as we progress to the final session and a top 10 shootout. It sounds a lot more exciting than it is. For me, the last 2 minutes of the first two sessions cause the most excitement, and the last 25-30 seconds before the checkered and approximately 45 seconds after the checkered in the third are the only parts worth watching (unless it’s raining which always makes for a more interesting time).
What would I do? Simplify! This may seem juvenile, but think about it, it’s simple and free of bias. Put all of the drivers names in a hat or a randomizer program. There are currently 24 cars, great, 4 sessions of 6 cars each. Draw six, they go out and in the order drawn exit the pits and have 3 laps each for their best time.
Oh! And the order would be chosen at the start of each round, not the day before or hours before. Nope. Simple! And for those who would say that teams not chosen could have time to set up while they wait, nope, no one touches the cars other than tire warmers until their name is drawn. Give them all 5 minutes to get ready and out and then go for it.
The races themselves: Argue all you want, there is now passing in F1 and there is definitely more action than before. While I’m not personally a fan of the DRS or KERS or having only one tire supplier (I enjoyed the strategy behind the choices before) they have added a little bit here and there. But again, it’s minor. We have single team domination happening again and I don’t fault RBR racing, obviously they’ve got it working for them and good job, to the other teams, they’re normally quicker at catching up so I’m a bit surprised at the level of domination to be honest.
My solution to this. They do it here in Touring Car and it adds to the excitement for sure! REWARDS WEIGHT or something equivalent. You keep winning, you get rewards weight added to the car to help equal out the field a bit more. It keeps everyone on their toes and it makes teams really show how strategy and smooth lines etc. are key. Anyone who watches any racing knows how important weight is, just watch the lap times drop in F1 as the fuel burns off throughout the race and you’ll see what I mean.
So to conclude, I love my F1, I’ll be watching, it’s in my blood, but it needs some tweaking. Will any of this happen? Will Vettel stop dominating? Keep watching, but you may need a coffee.
24 Heures, F1 Montreal and more, Oh my!
What a weekend we have on tap for racing this weekend!
The 24 hours of LeMans is live NOW on Speed and among the others, AutoSportGal will be tweeting throughout the race. Also, and ironically enough in another French-speaking region, we have the F1 race in Montreal. Will Vettel take another race? Did everyone hear the amazing news that a Canuck (Robert Wickens) is now a part of the Virgin F1 team as a reserve driver? Will the weather play ball?
And there’s another French Connection as French-Canadian Alex Tagliani has the pole for the Indy race in Texas! Go Tag!!!!
I say get comfy, and keep that tv programmed between Speed and TSN (for us Canucks) and enjoy! The best drivers on the planet are all racing so no matter what, you’re watching the best!
ENJOY!
Monaco GP, never a dull moment!
To anyone who says F1 is boring, I’m ‘Gibbs slapping’ you (See NCIS).
A weekend that was never dull from Sergio Perez’s crash in Saturday qualifying to the questionable end to the race just a short time ago, it was non-stop. Oh, and the Indy 500 (with a Canuck on the pole!) is in just a couple of hours too.
People may say how the same name keeps popping up for pole positions and victories this year, and I agree, that part is annoying me too, but the races themselves are all over the place, and that’s a challenge on the narrow streets of Monaco.
We had a great start with Alonso jumping up immediately and then the always exciting/scary Schumacher passing AT THE HAIRPIN, not once, but TWICE! I’ll say this for Michael, he has no fear on that track.
Then we come to the tyres. The softs were giving better lap times but were mostly used up by the front-runners in qualifying so used ones had to be worn again. Drivers were also getting more laps out of the tyres in general during the race and extending those pit stops.
And speaking of pit stops, what was up with them today? Both Red Bull and McLaren botched a couple…they lasted around 9-10 seconds rather than the usual 4 or less. The funny part of the times at least is that they were still faster than any other series. My husband made a joke last weekend about Kimi Raikkonen in the trucks in the US and how to him the pit stops there must have seemed like an eternity after F1. NOTE: I am aware that F1 has more crew for theirs than NASCAR.
Massa, who has been struggling this year and I’m starting to feel a little sorry for actually, was sadly out of the race when going side-to-side with Hamilton in the tunnel. This did not end well for Massa as he wound up in the wall (hitting where I called my dad from a phone booth from back about 10 years ago funnily enough to me) and ending his day.
Even Schumacher who had the most experience on that particular circuit of the entire grid and was on fire at the start couldn’t hold it and was out with an airbox fire.
And then we come to the end of the race. Sutil lost control and then Petrov & Alguesuari both went into the wall. Petrov hit harder and they went red flag with a mere 6 laps to go. NOTE: As of writing Petrov is in the hospital cracking jokes with the nurses accoring to Lotus Renault’s twitter feed. At this point a few things came into question: 1. The 2-hour time limit, well we went over that, and 2. what to allow to happen to the cars while stopped on the grid. This second point is key as Vettel was leading but, had the crash not happened his tyres would have died and that would have allowed for Alonso or Button to move on up. You can argue this of course, but most would agree his tyres were definitely done. Naturally, he was able to make a tyre change during this stoppage and re-start on fresh rubber. I don’t agree with this in the least. And that’s my opinion only, but I don’t. I can see removing a piece of metal that’s dangling and is going to be dangerous, but tyres and fuel (which isn’t allowed) shouldn’t be. It takes away from purity of the race in my eyes. A red is a suspension and a suspension should be just that, a pause in the action only.
I’m also not sold on the DRS or KERS, but that’s another story altogether.
So with only 6 laps to run the victor was, yes again, Vettel. Whoopie doo.
Take that out of the equation (at least for me) and what a race!!!
Now to take a quick breather for breakfast before the Indy 500 starts with yes, a Canuck on the pole! Woo hoo Go Tag Go!
Gas Prices and an experiment in conservation
As we all know here in Southern Ontario gas prices are becoming, well, insane. Last week I was paying $1.39, thank goodness I babied the car and got it for $1.33 yesterday, but still, OUCH!
Keeping those numbers in mind, I decided to try an experiment. I was inspired by an article in the Toronto Star about a week or so ago by Ian Law who talked about how changing lanes saved big on fuel for him. Now I budget pretty tightly on gas as it is, I was averaging about $40-$43 per week for the past year or so in my happy Suzuki SX-4 Hatchback but with the new prices I was going through more like $55 per week. INSANE!
So last week I coasted to my client’s in Brampton and put in $41 that I was going to try to make last. Of note, this was a week where I didn’t have a grocery shopping trip added to my mileage, it’s a small thing, but it makes a difference. I drove home that night and put the L/100km display on so I could see how much I was using when I hit the gas and got on my way. I also typically get on the 410 and head on over to the left lane as it tends to be the most consistent on the way home and means I don’t have to change lanes until I get to the 403 and then again I don’t have to change until I get home. This time, I stayed in the centre lane and did not get that speedometer above 115.
The next morning I was in typical stop and go (have I mentioned how I loathe the 403?) and babied my speed again. On my way in I stick to the centre lane as a rule. For some odd reason it is the most consistent. And I consistently get stuck behind a transport, every single day, no joke, it’s actually something I’ve turned into a mini game: how far before I’m the one behind the truck. Seriously, it’s usually before I hit Winston Churchill.
Then once I got to the 410 it opened up as per usual and instead of hitting it like I usually do, I stayed at 110-115 and made my way up. I must admit this took some doing as patterns are hard to break, but I forced myself to do it and it looks like it paid off. I kept to these patterns of lane choices and speed and lo and behold, on Thursday the fuel light came on, but not until I was about 10 minutes from home. So I made it, on $41.
Yesterday I filled up (yes I babied it for my quick little runs on Friday and Sunday) at $1.33 (WOO HOO!) but only put in $45. It got me about 7/8′s full. I attempted to continue my habits but got a little screwed over by a stalled car and having to make a few quick maneuvers etc. but am hopeful that this week the fuel light won’t come on until I get all the way home, or better.
So my little 4-cylinder happy ‘Lucy’ as I call her and I had a successful time with our fuel conservation efforts. And for those who say it takes longer to get where I needed to be, nope, it worked out pretty much the same. I’m a believer and I’m taking that to the bank!
