Mosport Competition Update (NHMS Finale Preview)

[blindsidefive0]

Mosport (now Canadian Tire Motorsports Park) was just plain awesome. 50 COMSCC competitors let it rip on the 10-turn, 2.5-mile legendary circuit known for dramatic elevation, gutsy corners, and decades of racing history across all levels of motorsports. The top competitors AVERAGED over 100mph across an entire lap, a number of battles were settled by just a few tenths (or less), and a couple insanely gutsy calls were made - the kind of stuff we'll be talking about years from now. "Exciting" doesn't begin to cover it.

Before we get to the updates, check out the upcoming COMSCC Canaan Invitational, Saturday, September 19th - Canaan is a brand new road course in New Hampshire, opening for clubs like COMSCC in 2016. We're getting a sneak preview and the opportunity to shape the final details of the track before full opening next year. The event is limited to licensed drivers (no instruction available), and there are only a few spots left: https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/ca ... ecqF_ZVikp

Now on to the Mosport results, lap records, season standings, and highlights...

Mosport Event Results: http://comscc.org/events/results/view/?id=2015-09-01
Lap records: http://comscc.org/events/track-records/
2015 Class Championship standings: http://comscc.org/events/results/view/?id=2015-final

Super Unlimited - Let's get started with the best: Bill Washburn and his homegrown "240RS14 Maxi". Bill is having quite the summer, dropping a :54 at Lime Rock earlier this year and now running a 1:29.7 FTD at Mosport with COMSCC. For the COMSCC historians, Washburn is the first competitor to run under 1:30 at Mosport since 2006.

Super A - Butch is back! Completing his first TT since NHMS-1, Charles King Sr. ran a 1:31 with a reported top speed of 159mph...movin'. Benoit Pepin (2nd) finished ahead of SA points leader Dana Johnston (3rd) who was running his "back-up" car. Johnston's 9 points now seal the deal for the 2015 Super A Class Championship.

Super B - Always nice to see 2014 Super B Class Champion Cassie Johnston - she drove to victory in her first event of 2015. Sandy Washburn (2nd) is running the MG just a couple more times before he completes his Shelby GT350R build - sweet car! When we return home, John French and Daniel Preston will pick up where they left off in a fight for the Super B Championship. French holds a 2-point lead over Preston, who needs a win and a 3rd place or worse finish by French to take over the lead.

Super C - After a late-night adventure to pull the MoTeC data, Pete McParland was able to get some virtual coaching from his brother (Paddy, where were you?!). It was worth the effort as McParland picked up his 2nd straight SC win with a 1:36.2. After barely missing the podium at Palmer, Peter Fontana's 1:36.9 earned him 2nd place, bumping Fontana to 3rd in the 2015 SC standings. Your SC class leaders Will Martins (3rd, 1:37.7) and Gordon Andrade (4th, 1:38.1) are now tied up...for the 3rd time this season! Everything will come down to NHMS - if Martins finishes ahead of Andrade, he'll earn his 6th straight COMSCC Class Championship. Or will Andrade finally get the better of the Martins in what has become a decade-long battle?!

Super D - Greg Hosselbarth (1st, 1:41-flat) is on cruise control, picking up win-after-win. However, Hosselbarth should keep his foot on the gas as Mark "Smiley" Swinehart (2nd, 1:42) is closing the gap in his Miata (...still can't get used to saying that). Timing & Scoring Chief Bill Hosselbarth rounded out the ultimate momentum class with a Most Consistent trophy (3 laps within 2 tenths...on a 2.5 mile track no less). With the 2nd place finish, Swinehart is now tied with Bill Hosselbarth for 2nd in the SD standings - they will run their Miatas one more time to settle it at NHMS.

Touring 100 - Apparently Bob Cairns didn't want to try out his new aero pieces on a track with four 90-100+mph corners...too bad. Donald Piette showed up and crushed it with a 1:29.8 that was just a tenth off of FTD. Look for Cairns and Piette to face off at NHMS, meeting for the first time since Cairns bested Piette at Palmer.

Touring 90 - Nick Derosa's M3 got some new aero pieces, helping him keep momentum against the high-powered vette of Bob Brooks. While Shake-N-Bake's 1:34.5 was actually 0.1s faster than the old SSU record set by fellow C5Z driver Kenneth Smith, Derosa's 1:33.4 was fastest in T90. Now that Laura Fleming has T90 wrapped up, she didn't "need" to go to Mosport, instead enjoying a romantic comedy on the couch with Bob.

Touring 80 - former STi driver extraordinaire Ryan Catucci brought the family across the border to run his beautiful new F80 M3, but running sans cage in an ~85-point car likely kept him from catching Nick Fontana's e36 M3 (1st, 1:32.9). Perhaps Mario Fallas can put a "gone fishing" sign on his Lake George storefront and head to NHMS to run with Catucci and Fontana to finish the season?

Touring 70 - Intense. It's stressful just writing about the year-long T70 battle - BMW driver Jon Cowen and Mustang driver Stephen Tise Jr. have shown no mercy on their respective machines all season, and Mosport was no different. These guys were cruising, each running 1:36's, but Tise Jr.'s 1:36.6 was a tenth faster, getting him the "W". Also in the mix was DJ McArdle running his Nismo Z at 1:37 pace for a solid 3rd place finish. Cowen and Tise Jr. were tied coming into Mosport, and now Tise Jr. carries a 2-point lead into the NHMS finale. Here's what you need to know: if Tise Jr. wins at NHMS, he'll win T70 Championship with a 4-point margin over Cowen. If Cowen wins at NHMS, he'll tie Tise Jr. in points, but Cowen would win the tie-breaker (# of 1st place finishes) and the T70 Championship. Intense.

Touring 60 - Roe Cole came just 0.2s away from taking down COMSCC rookie Vic Larin, but Larin hung on to win with a 1:40.3. The victory secured the T60 Championship for Larin - a huge accomplishment, especially for a newly licensed driver. Cole's 11-point finish and Howard Roundy's 9-point finish (3rd place, 1:41.1) mix up the season standings, moving them into 2nd and 3rd place, respectively. With just 6 points between them, Cole, Roundy, and Heath Speckman all have a shot for the 2nd place spot in the T60 Championship.

Touring 50 - This is a move that we will talk about for years to come... Dave Wittmer, Jeff Wasilko, Troy Velazquez, Chad Fox, and Dave Lemoine composed a stacked time trial run group. With the tighter spread between the cars, Lemoine had a catch and was given a choice: keep a 1:39-flat, or throw it out and re-run later in the day. Not knowing what his competitors ran, Lemoine tossed what would have been a 0.8s victory - Timing & Scoring couldn't believe it! This goes to show the respect that these guys have for each other in T50: an absolutely alien lap time is no longer considered a "sure bet" in class that has a collective 4 COMSCC Overall Driver Championships. In the end, Lemoine put down a 1:39.6 in his re-run which bested 2015 Overall Driver Champion Chad Fox's 1:39.8. Was Lemoine's move ballsy or stupid? Either way, we'll be talking about this one for a long time. In the 2015 standings, Troy Velazquez's Mosport podium (3rd, 1:40.2) secures him 3rd place in the 2015 Championship. While it wasn't the result that points leader Jeff Wasilko was looking for, his 0.1s margin over Dave Wittmer for 4th netted the 7 points that Wasilko needed to seal the 2015 T50 Championship.

Touring 40 - The competition between 2014 champion Derek Tangard and 2015 points leader Scott Rosnick is so tight that even a missed practice session (yes, we're talking about practice!) could be the difference between a win and a loss. While Rosnick chased down an unfortunate and pesky power steering leak (BMW's...), Derek Tangard stayed focused and capitalized with a narrow victory (just under 1/4s). While Tangard's hours of prep paid off at Mosport, it was too little, too late for the championship - Rosnick's 11-point finish at Mosport guarantees him a hard-earned 2015 T40 Championship. These guys love competing against each other, so look for them to drive hard and have some fun at the NHMS finale. And let's not forget about Tom Cannon who earned a 3rd place finish at Mosport, bumping him from 6th to 3rd in the 2015 championship standings.

Touring 30 - Let's finish-up with something never seen with COMSCC before: a Canadian "day-trip". COMSCC rookie Mikhael El-Bayeh traveled 20 hours round-trip just to run the TT day - after maximizing his time with COMSCC instructors in the morning, he got the win over defending champion Stephen Hosker in the afternoon. What an incredible season for these guys - with 0 points between them as we return home, it's winner-take-all between Hosker and El-Bayeh at NHMS!

2015 COMSCC Overall Driver Championship - with a number of fantastic performances all season long across both Touring and Super classes, the following 6 competitors are still mathematically in the running for Driver Champ at the NHMS finale:

1) 74.17 points: Nick Fontana (T80)
2) 72.50 points: Greg Hosselbarth (SD)
3) 72.00 points: Scott Rosnick (T40)
4) 71.00 points: Donald Piette (T100)
5) 69.50 points: Stephen Tise Jr. (T70)
6) 69.17 points: Jeff Wasilko (T50)

Buy your tickets now - Mosport was as-advertised, but at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway 2015 COMSCC Season Finale, there are 3 winner-take-all 2015 Class Championships on the line. While the old ST4 class competitors typically steal the spotlight in the T40 and T50 classes, the action this year is in the T30, T70, and Super C classes. At the 2015 Finale, we'll be running the chicane/chicane configuration - the top competitors know this track inside-and-out so it will come down to who can perform at their best with the weight of the championship hanging over their heads. In case it's not obvious, this event is going to sell out fast...register now: https://www.motorsportreg.com/events/nh ... ecs0vZViko

[ED9man]

Great write-up as always Nick! Can't wait for the finale!

[blazer178]

Nick
great write up as always

[Bobc]

Great write up as always!!! But we were not on the couch, we were replacing the clutch and bell housing on her car after Palmer......and that is after finishing the repair of the red october the week before.... We also put aero parts on the SB's car......NHMS should be fun!!!
Bob

[blindsidefive0]

Sounds good, Bob - just return my copy of Pretty in Pink when you're done...