SEPTEMBER 25-28, 2025 The Autumn season is a wonderful time of the year to be racing in Mont-Tremblant. Nestled in the Laurentian Mountain range, the changing colours of the trees are spectacular. Mont-Tremblant has become a popular tourist destination, known for its ski slopes, European-style pedestrian village, and an array of summer outdoor activities. As a result it has also attracted many cottagers & […]
The Sanders Motorsport team arrived at Calabogie Motorsport Park on Thursday to set-up. The track is located 100 Km west of the capital city of Ottawa and is the longest road course in Canada, at 5.050 Km in length and consisting of 20 turns, with a very abrasive surface known for shredding tires.
Friday’s practice sessions were very productive. We spent the day fine tuning the balance of the car and learning some new things about the Nankang CR-S tires. The last session of the day was the official timed session and as expected the #34 Mini Cooper JWC and #7 Hyundai Veloster N topped the timing charts respectively.
On Saturday the fans began pouring-in. More Racing For Kids swag was handed out and more signed Helping Hands were added to the race car. One particular young fan named Carter took a liking to us and followed us everywhere. His infectious enthusiasm put a smile on everyone’s faces. Saturday Qualifying. We installed a new set of tires and the car felt good. The tires had good grip, but the motor had no power. The car would not accelerate like it normally does. Note we typically up-shift at 7000 rpm. Instead of up-shifting at the spots on the track where I would normally reach 7000 rpm, I found myself going beyond those spots and having to wait a second or two for the motor to “slowly” wind itself up to our 7000 rpm shift point.
Halfway through the qualifying session I pitted so the Team could record some tire data. During the pit-stop we cycled the electronics and hoped this would cure the abnormal lack of power. Back out on track the power was back, BUT the tires had instantly lost their grip, and I was getting terrible understeer. Losing motor power was odd. This had never happened before, but I was glad that cycling the electronics restored the motor’s performance. The tire grip suddenly falling off was also a bit of a surprise. I’ve experienced this before but never after just one heat cycle. Then again Calabogie’s unique track surface most likely played a role in this.
We qualified 4th behind the #7 Hyundai Veloster N, #34 Mini Cooper JWC, and #94 Honda Civic Si respectively. Race 1. Lining up in 4th behind the #34 Mini Cooper JWC (who was in 2nd), I had a good get-away from the standing start and got alongside him, but he aggressively shut the door by moving across the track and almost put me into the pit wall. I had to roll off the throttle to avoid contact and this allowed the # 05 Honda Civic Si to pull alongside and edge ahead slightly. Going into Turn 2 he moved over (as if to take the normal racing line) seemingly oblivious that I was still there and we made contact. I could not move out of the way because I was already right next to the pit wall.
Through Turn 3 I maneuvered around the outside of the # 05 Honda Civic Si to regain my 4th place position and set off after the three cars ahead of me. By lap three I managed to catch the #94 Honda Civic Si, and by lap five I was past and into P3. The #34 Mini Cooper JWC, and #7 Hyundai Veloster N were far up the road by this time and the rest of my race was uneventful as I brought our car home for a podium finish.
Race 2. After the roll of the Grid Dice we started Race 2 in 3rd place. I had a very good launch off the start and briefly led into Turn 1, but on the exit the #7 Hyundai Veloster N, and # 05 Honda Civic Si powered past, dropping me back to 3rd. A few corners later I was able to dispense with the # 05 Honda Civic Si and move up to 2nd . The #34 Mini Cooper JWC was also able to get by the # 05 Honda Civic Si and was now on my tail. I managed to keep the #34 Mini Cooper JWC behind me for the next few laps, but on lap 7 he powered past on the front straight.
On Lap 9 there was a huge crash on the exit of the high-speed Turn 1 which brought out the full-course yellow & safety car for a few laps while they cleaned up the mess. On the re-start, as the #7 Hyundai Veloster N was caught sleeping, the #34 Mini Cooper JWC darted to the left and I went to the right as we race three abreast down the start/finish straight. By the time we reached Turn 2 the #34 Mini Cooper JWC and #7 Hyundai Veloster N had powered ahead. The result was another P3 podium finish.
Race 3. After the roll of the Grid Dice we started Race 3 in 1 st place with the #7 Hyundai Veloster N, and # 05 Honda Civic in 2nd & 3rd respectively. I made a good getaway and managed to put a few Super Production cars between myself and the #34 Mini Cooper JWC and #7 Hyundai Veloster N.
On Lap 2 a BMW blew his motor and dumped oil from Turns 10 to 14 which brought out the full-course yellow & safety car for a few laps. The full-course yellow erased my margin because it allowed the #34 Mini Cooper JWC and #7 Hyundai Veloster N to close the gap.
At the restart #34 Mini Cooper JWC and #7 Hyundai Veloster N were close enough to power past on the 3rd straightaway. Due to their straight-line advantage, they could build enough of a gap by the end of the straightaways that I could not get close enough to launch a counterattack. So it came to pass that I had to settle for another P3 podium finish.
When we arrived at the podium for the trophy presentations, little Carter was there waiting for us, so I invited him onto the podium to hold the trophy. It’s tradition to spray the bubbly stuff, but in recent times the drivers have turned to spraying each other instead of spraying into the air. If you know me you know I don’t like getting sprayed, so I jump off the podium to stay dry. I gave the full bottle to little Carter and what happened next was one of the cutest and funniest post podium episodes. Carter had seen the other drivers spraying the bubbly stuff, so he stood there with his arms outstretched, bottle in hand, waiting for the spray to fly. He did not know he needed to shake the bottle. As he stood in anticipation of the opportunity to soak some people, he began giggling which made the rest of us in attendance giggle too. It eventually occurred to him that the bubbly wasn’t going to spray on its own, so he decided to pour the contents on the other drivers. Everyone shared in the laughter. It was a nice way to cap our weekend.
The next and final round of the SPC Championship will be at the picturesque Piste MontTremblant.
