PCA Club Racing

BEING A RACECAR DRIVER was my childhood dream. In 1998, I joined PCA Upper Canada Region together with my dad, George Wong, to participate in the UCR Driver Education (“DE”) program at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP, aka Mosport). We have participated in DE events every year since 1998. The DE program provides first-class, high-performance driving training and it is an excellent stepping stone to get into PCA Club Racing.

After my 10 years of participation in our DE program, I decided to take high-performance driving to the next level. In 2007, I bought a 1989 944 Turbo S and turned it into a racecar.

The car requirement includes a full roll cage; an FIA 8855-1999 approved race seat within six years of its manufacture or an FIA 8862-2009 approved seat within 11 years of its manufacture, and installed in accordance with the FIA and manufacturer’s specifications; a five, six or seven-point SFI or FIA approved competition harnesses and properly mounted in accordance with the manufacturer’s specifications; a window net; and a transponder compatible with the PCA Timing & Scoring system.

The driver requirement includes a helmet (Snell SA or SAH 2015, Snell SA or SAH 2020, FIA8859-15, 8860-2004, 2010, 2018, or their successors, SFI 31.1, or BS6658-85 type A/FR, must be within 10 years of the date of manufacture or if FIA, expire at the end of the 10th year after the year of manufacture); a head and neck restraint certified as either SFI 38.1 or FIA 8858 or its successor; a one-piece approved fire-retardant driving suit that meets or exceeds SFI 3.2A/5 or FIA 8856-2000 or 2018 or their successors (the suit may meet SFI 3.2A/1 if fire retardant long underwear is also worn); driving gloves and shoes that meet SFI 3.3/5 or FIA 8856-2000 or 2018 or their successors and fire retardant sox. Drivers with mustaches, beards, or long hair extending below the helmet must wear a fire-retardant balaclava.

PCA has over 100,000 members and PCA Club Racing typically features more than 2,000 licensed racers with 32 sanctioned races per year (with the exception of 2020 of course) – more than any other single-make racing organization in the world. The 2024 PCA Club Racing schedule is online.

2024 CanAm Challenge Club Race will be held at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (aka Mosport) in Bowmanville on Friday Aug.2 to Sunday Aug. 4, 2024. Race registration opens at clubreg (click here to register) on Monday June 17, 20234@9:00pm Eastern Time or 8:00pm Central Time Zone. JRP (one of the UCR major supporters and Provinz advertisers) will host a track day on Thurs Aug 1, 2024 at Mosport and it will reserve a race group for our racers to do Test & Tune. Please click JRP Speed Therapy to sign up directly with JRP.

The PCA Club Racing license application provides two routes to obtaining the license.

The license can be obtained via a current FULL competition race license with NASA, SCCA, POC, IMSA, BMWCCA or equivalent sanctioning body or any vintage group that is a member of the Vintage Motorsport Council. Equivalency is determined by the PCA Club Racing Committee.

The other way to obtain a license is for the member to meet the race-track driving-experience requirements as defined in the licensing procedures in the Club Racing Rule Book. The applicant must provide a complete listing of track days within the past (24) twenty-four months which will include (12) twelve or more days of race track driving training and experience at driver’s education events, time trials, race schools or equivalent events equivalent events within the past 24 months. Of the required (12) twelve or more days, a minimum of (6) six track days must be with a PCA (or equivalent) driver’s education event. Dates, locations, sanctioning body, Chief Instructor, Run Group data, and instruction status (e.g., signed off by instructor after the first two sessions) data should be noted. Eligibility and equivalency will be determined by the PCA Club Racing Committee.

Here are some tips on what a PCA Club Racing applicant should do:

1. Read the 2023 PCA Club Racing Rule Book to find out which class your race car will compete in. Read the “class weight tables” section of the rule book, which lists the cars in the various classes and the minimum allowable weight in each class.
2. Fill out the 2024 PCA Club Racing Competition License Application Form (or the 2023 renewal form if you already have a license from the previous year) and submit the form to Susan Shire, PCA Club Racing program coordinator.
3. Fill out the 2024 PCA Club Racing Competition License Medical Evaluation Form (including vision check). Book an appointment with a family doctor and an optometrist, so they can sign and date the medical form.
4. Complete the 2024 Technical and Safety Annual Inspection and 2024 PCA Club Racing Vehicle Compliance Form. Take both forms to your first PCA Club Race of the year.

All these forms can be found online at https://pcaclubracing.org/forms/.

If you are a first-time racer, bring two photos of your racecar to the club race. When you check in at the event, a PCA scrutineer will give you a log book that includes your personal information and the two photos of your racecar. The PCA scrutineer will then review the two forms (Technical and Safety Annual Inspection and PCA Club Racing Vehicle Compliance Form – see No. 4 above) and check your race car to ensure it is in compliance. If your race car is in compliance, the PCA scrutineer will sign your log book and the two forms and give you an approved sticker, which allows you to participate in the race. The log book and two forms must be kept inside the race car during the race event.

If you have any questions on PCA Club Racing, please send an E-mail to our Club Race Co-Chair, Kathleen Wong and Club Race Registrar, Sylvie Neill at club-race@pcaucr.org. </>

Photo by Samantha Tam, PCA UCR member