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| Porsche Club of America at Mosport - Racing North of the Border |
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by: Dr. Frank Celenza, GT5r
The annual Porsche Club of America CanAm Challenge is always a special Club Race for many of us, that's why so many teams make the annual trek to the most northern locale on the schedule. Mosport Park is a legendary facility, steeped in motorsports lore and history. The original CanAm series visited it annually, as did the TransAm, and Formula Atlantic series back in their heydays. Most notably, Mosport Park was host to the Canadian Formula One Grand Prix for a few years. How such powerful cars managed to tame this challenging and daunting race circuit is worth pondering, but to Porsche Club Racers, Mosport remains one of the most thrilling tracks to race on. Sustained high speeds and changing topography punctuate a lap here, and the racing is always exciting. Further, great spectator viewing is afforded by open access and great sight lines. The facility has seen much improvement in the last few years, since the Panoz organization has taken ownership, and this helps to make it even more hospitable to visitors. Technically, they've changed the name from Mosport Park to Mosport International Raceway.
As a former resident of Canada, I vividly recall how passionate Canadians are when it comes to racing. Hospitality is the name of the game at Mosport. The fact that the race director for this event, Susan Davis, is from Michigan is not lost on that. She can be seen all weekend moving around and taking special care of endless details and thoughtful little gestures to make everyone feel at home. She and her staff really look after everyone. Her staff is always highly competent and cheerful. The event runs very smoothly, and the fact that Saturday's racing was rained out was only a minor glitch. They reacted perfectly by combining sprint race groups from three down to two, and shortening the enduros from ninety to sixty minutes, so that the full race schedule could still be run. In addition, the advanced DE group was also accommodated, so it made for a busy and full schedule on Sunday, and everyone was rewarded with beautiful weather and great racing.
There were many extra features, carefully organized to make this event memorable. First clue came long before the race weekend, a voice-over promoting the event played on the race website featuring Tom Hnatiw of Dream Car Garage and Sports Car Revolution . Next thing to greet racers on the Friday practice day was a camera crew from Speed TV roaming the paddock area. Peter Klutt, Hnatiw's side kick was in attendance, and interviewing drivers and teams for a spot that will air in the early spring on Speed TV. Saturday night, at the dinner banquet, Hnatiw himself was the guest of honor and featured speaker. Attendance was at capacity, and after a great buffet dinner, Hnatiw took the microphone and presented a wine-fueled session of automotive memoirs and editorials that proved to be hilarious and appreciated by all, judging from the roaring show of approval. Raffles followed, and virtually everyone went home with commemorative caps, shirts and other swag, courtesy of the event sponsors (Tireworks Pirelli, BRG/88 Autosport, El Dorado Rum, Mobil 1, Downtown Porsche, Pfaff Tuning and Targa Newfoundland). Moreover, the El Dorado Rum girls were present to distribute samples of their very best spirits, capping off a memorable evening. It didn't end there, though. Hnitaw stayed on to mix with any member that cared to bench race and share a few laughs.
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