The Livengood Chronicles: Mosport Report
Going to Mosport I knew that things were going to be a bit different. How much different? To start things off, we loaded up a Zetec powered car. A Zetec powered car that required being split for clutch work before we could even get on track. Second, I knew that Mosport was going to be a legendary experience. Finally, I had to face the fact the John Walko wasn’t going be able to be there. This did not lessen my enthusiasm nor sway my constant dedication towards learning during every session.
Given these circumstances and those of an on track nature, learning was inevitable. It is circumstances like these that make you wonder if you have gone mad. If someone were to answer my literal asking of that questions I hope would it would be Alice Kingsley and the reply would be, “I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are.” Then again, we all know that Alice in Wonderland is in more than one sense a bit beyond the typical confines of reality.
Before going much further I feel obligated to conduct a bit of Pinto talk. Many have asked me why we decided to make the switch to Zetec power. It was a matter of making about one thousand extremely simple decisions.
The important decisions revolved around the rebuilding of our pinto and the number of bones, clams, skins, greenbacks, bills, etc. that is was going to take to do so. Put as directly as possible, we came across a Zetec deal that was almost too good to be true. Rather than run our Pinto for a while and drop the dough needed to rebuild the Pinto it made sense to make the switch while the opportunity to save some cash was still present. My reaction? The Zetec is a serious machine. In the long term, we are going to go faster with the Zetec. Why? Because we will be less worried about wearing it out than a Pinto and as a result will be apt to run ample laps. Can a Pinto win an F2000 CS race? I have no doubt. In fact, I encourage all the Pinto drivers with even the slightest desire to run an F2000 CS race to do so and do so as soon as possible. The Pinto represents no barrier to your success. Like I said, our switch was a matter of circumstance.
Moving on, Mosport is an awesome place. The track takes some major cojones! My favorite part of the track has to be the complex of turns 8 through 10. Good rhythm, major speed, and high importance (in terms of lap time) are all present in this complex and as a result the complex is an absolute blast! Additionally, I had to the opportunity to meet a few of the corner workers as well as the tow-truck driver after my turn 1 incident and had nice conversations with all parties involved (review the video).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RaUt0jf2YU
One thing however that surprised me was the shear number of accidents. I saw many cars on the hook with missing wheels over the weekend and I guess that can be boiled down to the high-speed nature of the track. (Editor’s note: It did rain!) When accidents happen at Mosport it appears that they tend to happen in a big way.
To conclude, we went to Mosport with an untested Zetec package and with me never having even seen the place. We had to substitute our trusty engineer John Walko with the more than competent mechanic Caleb Stream and despite these adversities put the car in the top 10 in nearly every session. The story has not changed. We have aimed to improve every race weekend. This again has been achieved. Perhaps the Mosport results have not showed that, but bad luck was bound to show up at some point. Heading to Watkins Glen I am optimistic that we will make further gains up the grid. Put more dramatically. There is blood in the water, and the sharks will come.
See you in New York!
C. Livengood