cc motorsports: round 5 weekend recap
Following a solid weekend out at the third round of the Toyotires F1600 series, CC Motorsports decided to take a needed mid-summer break and sat out from round 4 at Calabogie. With little over a month of to rest and prepare, the team was feeling refreshed and excited to get back on track for round 5 at the Labour Day Weekend Sprints. With every weekend the team is faced with new challenges and continues to learn and improve them and this weekend was no different with drastically different weather, a shortened schedule, and heightened energy in the pits with a strong fan presence.
Friday: Practice and Qualifying
P: Due to the pro weekend schedule, there was only one practice session on Friday instead of the usual full day of testing/practice meaning time on track was even more valuable than normal. Unfortunately this really effected the start to Coles weekend as he only managed to get four laps in before having to retire from the session due to a loose steering column. Conner on the other hand was able to get a full session in, setting himself up nicely for qualifying later in the day.
Q: Odds continued to not play in Coles favour as a series of red flags in qualifying significantly shortened the session time. However, despite the limited track time Cole managed to get a few clean laps in, setting a time of 1:31:423 placing him P10 for race one. Conner also made the most of the short qualifying session and was able set a time of 1:30:853, putting him P7.
Saturday: Race One and Two
R1: Both Conner and Cole pulled off solid starts in race one, however their early momentum would be brought to a halt due to a red flag in the opening few laps. After a long and hot wait in pit lane, the boys did their best to continue where they left off on the restart. They both found good pace early on and managed to run a clean and consistent race. At the end of the 12 lap, 22 minute session Cole would cross the line in P9 while Conner unfortunately lost a position to cross the line P8. Coincidently Conner and Coles lap times (1:30:739 for Conner and 1:31:006 for Cole) would line them up P7 and P10 again for race two.
R2: As the sun continued to beat down on the tarmac at CTMP, race two continued the trend of consistent running, with both Conner and Cole getting away to a good start. While Conner held station in P7 chasing down James Lindsay, Cole made steady progress inching closer to the front of the pack. By lap 12 Cole managed to get the #45 car up to P8 and made a pass on Conner into turn 8 for P7. Unfortunately in the same lap, the rear left wheel on the #45 car came loose causing the cars handling to become unpredictable and a big loss in pace. Conner then passed Cole back to take P7 on lap 12 which was soon followed by another pass by Gerry Kavanaugh, sending Cole back to P9. The three battled closely for the remaining two laps, but in the end Conner would cross the line in P8, with Cole in P9. However, with Cole setting a time of 1:31:153 he would line up P8 with Conner setting a 1:31:273 to place him P9 for race 3.
Sunday: Race Three
R3: Arriving to the track on Sunday morning felt like we had fast forwarded straight to fall, with the temperatures dropping to the low-mid teens and a light drizzle of rain falling on the paddock. With these new conditions and the boys jumping straight into the cars to go racing, it was a bit tricky to know how to approach the session. With only formation lap to get settled in the cars and scope out the track conditions, the opening laps of the race proved to be a challenge. As usual, Conner was able to find grip and great pace early on in the race and would move up to P7 in the opening lap. Meanwhile, after being forced to go off track in turn one, Cole had a difficult time finding grip and confidence and fell back to P11 in the opening lap. After a couple laps though he too found pace and started making up lost ground, making a double pass into turn 8 to bring himself to P9. A full course caution brought the safety car out on lap 5 allowing Cole to catch right back up to the leading pack. After 3 laps behind the safety car and only 6 laps of racing remains, Cole waisted no time getting to work on chasing down the lead pack. By the time the last lap board was out Cole crossed the line in P6, with Conner dropping back to P9. With the top 10 cars running closely and one lap remaining, all the drivers were hungry to make moves up the field. For a moment this gave Cole a taste of podium glory as he found himself running in P2 after taking advantage of a bobble from the cars ahead in turn 5. Unfortunately, Cole wasn’t able to hold onto this position as he was left to defend against a multicar battle all hungry for a step on the podium. As the checkered flag waved Cole crossed the line in P6 and set a new personal best time of 1:30:774, with Conner also taking advantage of the last lap chaos bringing the #45 car home in P7. This marks the teams best overall finish to date.
With every weekend that passes it’s amazing to see how the team as a whole continues to learn, grow and improve in all areas. It’s sad to say that this coming weekend at the BEMC Late Summer Trophy races will be our last of the season, but we look forward to continuing the progress we’ve made all year. Most importantly, we’re looking forward to a weekend good racing, laughs, drinks and quality time with the racing community before we all go hibernate in our shops all winter.
Thank you to everyone who continues to follow along and support this endeavour. We could’t do it without all the endless time, help, encouragment, and love you’ve given this season. We’re feeling incredibly proud and fortunate to be where we are and cannot wait to give it everything we have one last time.
Photography by John Cardillo and Cole Janeteas
