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 […]
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 & residences to the area.
Circuit Mont-Tremblant was built in 1964 and is the second-oldest existing race track in Canada. This renowned circuit was home to the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix and has hosted many top categories over the years such as Can-Am and IndyCar. Unfortunately, as the cottagers moved into the area and began building homes, they also started complaining about the sounds of the race cars and lobbied for the closure of the track. This lead to a class-action lawsuit by the new residents and the first municipal noise ordinance for Circuit Mont Tremblant was adopted in 2003.
While those efforts have significantly impacted racing, they have not yet resulted in the permanent closure of the circuit itself. It’s been a battle ever since to keep this fantastic circuit.
Thursday Testing. The plan was to spend the day testing and setting up the car for the weekend but we awoke to rain. It’s been a while since I last raced at this circuit and believe it or not I’ve never raced here in the wet! The track was very slippery in the wet. Since the forecast called for the rest of the weekend to be dry we forsook today’s plans for testing & chassis set-up and made scrubbing new tires our priority. In the dry it only takes a few laps to scrub a new set of “Sticker” tires. But in the wet it takes a little longer due to less heat being generated in the tires. Between sessions while I was walking into our paddock, our canopy/awning had accumulated a lot of water and decided to dump it just as I walked beneath its edge. I got soaked! Not funny; but I’m sure somebody was laughing.
Friday Official Practice. There were only 2 practice sessions today. Since yesterday was wet these dry sessions were going to be crucial for setting-up the car. Throughout the first practice session there was some rear-end instability in two of the high-speed corners so we made changes to the dampers and camber settings while we tried to optimize the car.The 2nd practice session in the afternoon was Red-Flagged after two laps so we weren’t able to verify the adjustments we had made.
Since it’s well known that there are people in the area who want the tack gone, it was surprising to see so many spectators at the circuit. I did not expect to see such large numbers; it was great! In retrospect it would have been interesting to find out if they were locals or vacationers/visitors to the area.
Many fans and families came by the Sanders Motorsport hauler to chat with the team, see the Racing For Kids race car, and have their young ones sign a Helping Hands Decal. The crowds and the interactions throughout the weekend were remarkable, exceeding our expectations.
Saturday Qualifying. During the opening laps the balance of the car felt the same as it did on Friday, so I pitted and asked the Team for an adjustment to the left rear suspension, but before we could go back onto the track there was an accident which put an end to the session.
We qualified 3rd behind the #34 Mini Cooper JWC, and #7 Hyundai Veloster N respectively. Race 1. The #34 Mini Cooper JWC led away from the start with the #7 Hyundai Veloster N in 2nd and me in 3rd. Something must have been amiss with the #7 Hyundai Veloster N because I was able to hound him somewhat easily. Meanwhile, as expected, the #34 Mini Cooper JWC was out front with a comfortable lead. For the next several laps the #7 Hyundai Veloster N and I ran bumper to bumper, with me looking for an opportunity to pounce.
Surprisingly the #61 Mini Cooper S which had qualified back in 6th had somehow found incredible pace and was catching us!
By lap 6 the #34 Mini Cooper JWC was leading in the distance and the #61 Mini Cooper S was now on my tail. The #7 Hyundai Veloster N, myself, and the #61 Mini Cooper S were at this moment a train of 3 circulating in tight formation. On lap 9 the #61 Mini Cooper S got by me to assume 3rd place and on lap 11 got by the #7 Hyundai Veloster N to take the 2nd spot. Later on the same lap I overtook the #7 Hyundai Veloster N going into the Cooper JWC starting directly to its straight-line speed advantage and I slipped to P4. The #34 Mini Cooper JWC also quickly dispatched the #70 Toyota GT86 before the end of the lap.
Many fans and families came by the Sanders Motorsport hauler to chat with the team, see the Racing For Kids race car, and have their young ones sign a Helping Hands Decal.
A lap later I got by the #70 Toyota GT86 to move back into P3. The #61 Mini Cooper S also got by the #70 Toyota GT86 and was now sitting on my rear. On the run down to the Turn 8 Carousel the #61 Mini Cooper S easily powered past me but I had a good exit out of the Turn 8 Carousel which kept me within reach at the end of the back straight and I launched an attack into Turn 10. Catching him off guard I successfully regained P3. However, near the completion of the lap the #61 Mini Cooper S out-accelerated me Turn 11 Gulch and regained 3rd place. I hung on to my 3rd place until the end of the race. A good start to the weekend with a podium finish.
Race 2. After the roll of the Grid Dice we started Race 2 on Sunday morning in 4th place behind the #70 Toyota GT86, #94 Honda Civic Si, and #7 Hyundai Veloster N respectively, with the #34 Mini behind in 5th.
The start was clean but a few corners later things started to get exciting. We were side-by-side with #7 Hyundai Veloster N through the Turns 3, 4 & 5 Esses but on the exit of Turn 5 he just accelerated away from us. The two of us easily dispatched with the #94 Honda Civic Si on the back half of the circuit, moving me up to 3rd.
On Lap 2 the #7 Hyundai Veloster N passed the #70 Toyota GT86 for the lead and began pulling away, while at the start of Lap 4 the #34 Mini Cooper JWC got by me due out of Turn 14 (aka Nameow) and regained P3 on the front straight. By this time the #34 Mini Cooper JWC and #7 Hyundai Veloster N had disappeared up the road. Our positions remained like this until the end of the race.
Race 3. The roll of the Grid Dice had me starting on Pole for Sunday afternoon’s Race 3. This was an opportunity for a good result but the reality of the situation was that it was going to be a huge challenge to keep the Hyundai and Mini’s behind me. For the majority of the race I successfully defended from the pressure being applied by the #7 Hyundai Veloster N. By anticipating his moves and carefully positioning my car I kept the #12 Racing For Kids Subaru BRZ in the lead. We were a train of 4 cars running bumper-to bumper that lap after lap managed to open a gap to the 5th place #70 Toyota GT86.
Alas 2 laps from the finish the #7 Hyundai Veloster N was able to stick his bumper inside me on the back straight and we battled side by side through Turns 10 & 11. However he outran me on the run up the hill to Turn 12 and I lost the lead. This was quickly followed by the #34 Mini Cooper JWC drawing alongside me on the run to Turn 14 (Namerow) and taking the P2 spot. Next came an attack from the #61 Mini Cooper S on the final lap but we kept him at bay for another P3 finish.
Our first year in the SPC Series netted us Third Place in the Championship and a host of new fans. All things considered, it was a very good result.
A deep thank you to Sanders Motorsport and all the team members who contributed to our successes. And of course, special thanks to Racing For Kids, Quantum Valley Investments, and SVEC Salaama Vocational Education Center for their collaboration and support.
