MONT-TREMBLANT SPRING CLASSIC MAY 29-31, 2026 The second Round of the season took us to the picturesque Circuit Mont-Tremblant. After a fairly successful first Round a fortnight ago at Mosport, we were excited to see what this weekend would bring because we had an upgrade for the #12 Racing For Kids Subaru BRZ. As part […]
A new season, new Team, and new hope. This year the Racing For Kids Subaru BRZ will be prepared & contested by MD Autosport. Late in the off-season the SPC Series officially released their new 2026 technical regulations which resulted in a mad rush to get the race car in compliance and optimise its performance. How late was it? It was so late that trees were starting to sprout new leaves and the migratory birds could be heard chirping in the warmer mornings. Simultaneously our graphics mastermind, Antony Bernadou, was creating a new race car livery for the 2026 season. Yes, at the end of January the SPC officials were talking about changes to the 2026 technical regulations and we could have started working on the changes at that time, but we did not want to invest in those changes until they became “official”.
New for 2026 are the mandatory throttle restrictors which every competitor is required to have on their cars. Each make of car (with different engines) will have a different sized restrictor. In theory this is supposed to keep everyone’s power output the same. How will this affect our performance relative to our competitors? Between the many days of mechanical prep at the shop and the car spending a week at Joker FX to get the new livery applied, we weren’t left with any time to test the car before the first Round of the 2026 season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
We arrived at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with the hope that our prep work would keep us competitive, but without any testing prior to our arrival we did not know what our pace would be. We were about to find out. Attendance at this year’s Victoria Day Speedfest was HUGE! The track was packed with fans, motorhomes and campers filling the venue. Come noon on Sunday and there was still a long line of cars outside the main gate trying to get inside to watch the races. Fan interaction this weekend was amazing with many families coming by the MD Autosport trailer to chat with the team and get their Racing For Kids swag. Many commented how much they like our new livery. The kids also loved signing a “Helping Hand” decal and putting their names on the car.
Little Landon (who’s grown since the last time I saw him) came by to visit . This little champ, who is typically shy, got to hang-out with the Team and tell us about his recent vacation. He showed us a video of himself going down a giant waterslide; so cool! It was great to see him and his family and spend time with them.
We started the Qualifying session on a new set of “Sticker” tires. The plan was to do two gentle laps to scrub the tires, come into the pits to let the tires cool-down, then go back out for a flyer. As I pulled into our pit for the tire cool-down the Red flag came out. The session was halted due to an accident. I knew my competitors were already turning hot laps and we were not sure if the accident clean-up was going to be completed before the end of the 30-minute Qualifying session. Luckily the session was restarted with a few minutes to spare. We waited for a clear lap and went for it with less than a minute on the clock. The lap was going well and we were pushing hard, but I pushed a little too hard in the last turn and slid off the track on the exit. I kept my right foot in it as the car bounced across the grass on the Start/Finish straight and we ended up qualifying P5. That little off- track excursion probably cost me half a second. Ahead of me were the usual suspects from last year, #41 Honda Canada Civic, #72 Toyota GT86 V6, #7 Hyundai Veloster N (2025 Champion), and #34 Mini Cooper S JCW respectively.
Race 1.
The #7 Hyundai Veloster N had a great getaway from his 3rd place spot to slot into 2nd place by the time we reached the first turn. For a front wheel drive car, the #7 Hyundai Veloster N consistently makes rapid starts. Launch control is not permitted but it makes you wonder. The key to a good start in the Racing For Kids Subaru BRZ is managing wheel spin (with my right foot). We made a good getaway, passing 2 cars and moving into P3 by the time we exited the first Turn. On lap 3 the #72 Toyota GT86 powered past on the back-straight relegating me to P4, and that’s where we stayed to the end of the race.
Race 2.
Remember, the SPC Series uses a random position reversal system to determine the starting positions for Races 2 & 3 of the weekend. For Race 2 we started in P3 with the #22 Toyota GT86 and #34 Mini Cooper JWC ahead of us. We got away cleanly from the Start and held our position, then with some determined driving, by the exit of Turn 2 we were in the lead! Coming out of Turn-5 I spotted the Turn-5C marshals in the process of deploying the Full-Course Yellow Flags. This is a signal of danger of any nature (a car had stalled on the start/finish straight) that requires the racing to be suspended – overtaking is not permitted, slow down, cars are to remain single-file behind the pace-car. Normally I would continue at a somewhat slower pace (mindful of where the cause of the full-course yellow could be) until we caught-up behind the pace car, which was at pit exit waiting us, over half a lap away. This time I stayed to the side of the track the marshal station is on and lifted off the throttle pedal. Sure enough as I had hoped, the #41 Honda Canada Civic and #7 Hyundai Veloster N went accelerating past me. “Suckers”, I mused, “You’re going to get penalties”. I immediately radioed to my crew to let them know of the infraction so they could report it to the SPC Officials. As we circulated behind the pace car, I kept asking my crew what are the SPC Officials doing about this? There was however no clear answer from the Officials.
When the racing resumed a few laps later, I had to assume the SPC Officials weren’t going to do anything, so I was fighting for on-track position. The #41 Honda Canada Civic was very quick on the
straights as was the #7 Hyundai Veloster N but I managed to stay with them for the rest of the race. As we neared the end of the race I began inching closer to the #7 Hyundai Veloster N. On the last lap I was able to really close-in going into Turn-5 and a good exit out of Turn-5 got me in a better place to challenge for the lead. This was the closest I had been to his rear bumper going up the Andretti straight but it still wasn’t quite close enough. I knew my only chance to overtake would be to get closer through Turns 8 & 9, close enough to launch an attack into Turn-10 (the last turn on this track). I gained a lot of ground through Tiurn-8, and I was right on top of him through Turn-9. I used my extra momentum through Turn-9 to send it up the inside into Turn-10. I carried so much speed into the final turn that I barely kept it on track, but it was enough to get me in front of the #7 Hyundai Veloster N. The #7 Hyundai Veloster N fought back and it was a drag race to the checker flag. He was gaining but we held-on to cross the finish line ahead. At the end of the race the SPC Officials announced that #41 Honda Canada Civic and #7 Hyundai Veloster N would be penalized 1 position each for passing me under a yellow; which meant that that last lap, last corner pass was effectively for the win!
Race 3.
We made some set-up changes to the car for Race 3 in an effort to limit the understeer but the changes actually made the car understeer more. However we ended-up posting our fastest time of
the weekend so go figure. We started in P5 with all the quick cars ahead of us. We made another good start and gained a position in Turn-1. A lap later and we were in P2 behind the #7 Hyundai Veloster N. On lap-4 we were overtaken by the #72 Toyota GT86 V6 which had found a lot of speed and quickly caught the #7 Hyundai Veloster N. On lap-5 there was a full-course yellow so the safety crews could remove a disabled car from the side of the track. This allowed the field to bunch -up and put the #41 Honda Canada Civic right behind us which led to him getting by on the re-start. On lap 9 the #72 Toyota GT86 V6 and #41 Honda Canada Civic relegated the #7 Hyundai Veloster N to P3 with us sitting in P4. On lap 12 we had a good run through Turn-2 and pounced on the #7 Hyundai Veloster N into Turn-3. As we drove by, I could see flames shooting from under his car – not good. A few moments later he had to stop the car as it was engulfed in flames. The race was Red-Flagged/stopped and never re-started since it took too long to put out the fire and remove the car – we had run out of time. The race regulations say in the event of a Red Flag (i.e. stoppage) the finishing results will revert to the lap before the Red Flag was deployed. This meant that even though I had passed the #7 Hyundai Veloster N for P3 before the Red Flag, timing & scoring classified him in P3 and us in P4. We felt the #7 Hyundai Veloster N should have been classified as a DNF (did not finish) for causing the Red Flag, hence we protested the results but the Series would not change it. So although the #7 Hyundai Veloster N caused the race to end early, he was able to keep the P3 position. Geesh!
All in all a good weekend. We were competitively running at the sharp end of the field and we won Race 2! See you at the next round of the SPC Championship at the picturesque Piste Mont Tremblant.
