The 2023 PFAFF Can-Am Challenge Club Race took place at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP – aka Mosport) during the Civic Holiday weekend of August 4-6.
Firstly, on behalf of the Upper Canada Region (UCR) Board of Directors and racers, we express our sincere thanks to our generous sponsors:
Presenting Sponsor: Porsche Centre Markham | Porsche Centre Vaughan
Trackside Tire Sponsor: Braidan Motorsport
Shared track cost by hosting a separate BMW Club Race: BMW Car Club of America/Trillium Chapter
Thursday Track Day Host and Test & Tune: JRP Speed Therapy
Beer Sponsor: Steam Whistle
Volunteer T-Shirts Sponsor: G TEK Automotive
The Club Race weekend included practice sessions and a qualifying session on Friday, three 30-minute Sprint races on Saturday, and a 90-minute Enduro race on Sunday. Under the local UCR rules, trophies were presented based on the combined score of the three Sprint races. See Figure 2 for the list of racers with podium finishes, and we presented the trophies to them at the awards banquet on Saturday. Note that under the PCA National Championship Points System, only the last two Sprint races and the Enduro race have points.
Congratulations to the following PCA racers who achieved podium finishes:
PCA NATIONAL SPONSOR AWARDS
Awards by PCA National Sponsors At the Saturday awards banquet, the coveted Workers Choice Awards sponsored by Porsche Cars North America (“PCNA”) were also handed out to a racer from each sprint race.
Winners of the non-contingency related awards by the PCA National Sponsors:
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SOME OF THE PCA CLUB RACERS
“This was my first time at Mosport. What an incredible track and well-run event. For speed and excitement, it’s at the top of my list along with Watkins Glen. It is no farther than several other great tracks from my Downstate New York home, and the border crossing was easy. Class F in the Northeast has great racing and great racers, and we had a blast. I can’t wait to come back.”
— David Nissenbaum, F Class (Red Hook, New York)
“It was my second time at Mosport. If it’s not my favorite track, it is certainly in my top 2, having raced at 16 tracks, that is high praise indeed! You folks run a great event, I only wish more people knew how great a track it is, so that they would make the journey and increase the field size. Your trophies are great by the way. I cannot speak for everyone but it’s nice having some kind of recognition for the time and $$$ we all spend racing even if it’s on an amateur level. I constantly joke to my wife, ‘honey look what US$50,000 gets you!’ My team and I will be back next year for sure.”
— Ben Wallace, F Class (Ridgefield, Connecticut)
“Although my time at the Can-Am race was far too brief, thanks to a blown engine. I had a tremendous experience. The PCA volunteers did an outstanding job of organizing logistics, and they were incredibly friendly and welcoming to all the racers. It was my first time to CTMP, and I had all the information I needed as soon as I got there. The track was fantastic to drive, the events at the end of the day were a great way to get everyone together, and the gifts to the racers were a wonderful cherry on top. And these free pictures too – how cool is that! An extremely, extremely well put together event, easily the best PCA race I’ve been to this year. Kudos to every person involved in putting on this event, and I can’t encourage enough anyone interested to attend next year!”
— Adam Golightly, SP1 Class (Beavercreek, Oklahoma)
“Mosport is one of the truly great historic tracks. In the modern era of point-and-shoot track designs, Mosport, much like Watkins Glen, VIR and Road Atlanta, is a classic high speed rhythm track. And the best of the lot to boot! With breathtaking elevation changes thrown in. Spread my ashes on the epic 8-9-10 combination of corners. The attendance figures from the US are just baffling. The only thing I can speculate is a reticence to cross the border. On the contrary, all it requires is a valid passport.”
— John Paton, SP3 Class (Sterling Forest, New York)
“I’ve had a life-long obsession with driving and speed and my first on- track experience was actually with motorcycles in the mid 2000’s while in Med school. More than a decade later, during COVID in 2020 I bought my first Porsche – a Carmine red 991.1 C4 GTS Cab – and decided that I should take it to the track to learn to drive it the way it was meant to. I instantly fell in love and continued with HPDE events for another year and in 2021 I had my first racing experience in the Lucky dog series with Driveteq. That was even more fun and educational! Less than a year later, in 2022, I was applying for my PCA club racing license and haven’t looked back since, with my first PCA club race being the 2022 Can-Am Challenge. 2023 PFAFF Can-Am Challenge was very well organized and deserving of the amazing track that is CTMP. The SPC Cayman class had hard wheel to wheel (but clean!) racing in each of the three Sprints and the Enduro race, with many position changes and challenges occurring. I definitely will race again next year if the event is on again.”
— Waleed Chehadi, Spec Cayman Class (London, Ontario)
“In the Enduro, I was doing well, pretty close to the front of the field. I did well on the pit stop and kept fairly consistent laps in the last third of the race, remembering to keep my attention super-sharp for turns 2 and 4. I got the last lap signal from start/finish and then right out of turn 2 my car stutters, and I’m running out of gas! That lap was excruciating, getting little tiny blips of power here and there. I think it took four minutes to get to the checker, watching for Spec Caymans in my rear-view mirror and dreading a DNF the whole time, it turns out that the cars behind me were down a lap, and so I was safe if I could make it. I crossed the line at 40 kph. First in class and 3rd overall.”
—Eric Hjortshoj, Spec Cayman class (Boston, Massachusetts)
“This was my first PCA race weekend and it was amazing! I’ve been driving a GT3 RS on the track and it is a great car, but I have to admit that driving a purposefully build spec Cayman race car is next level. The car is so analogue and raw with so much more to manage. Take away all the new tech and nannies of the RS and the Cayman really forces you to learn how to drive. The thrill of qualifying, gridding up, taking the pace lap, and then racing on the green flag was exhilarating. It takes complete focus to drive and navigate the field, especially with multiple classes racing at the same time. There is nothing like driving a real race car.
I am hooked! I would like to compliment the PCA organizers and volunteers for their friendly welcoming attitude and hosting a first class event. I also have to thank my team at RaceTeq for their coaching and trackside support.”
— David Palmer, Spec Cayman Class (Mississauga, Ontario)
THANKS!
Thank you to the Event Staff. Thank you to the trackside fire, rescue and medical teams for keeping everyone safe for the weekend. Thank you to Robb Dobbie and his team of 26 flaggers at the Motorsport Marshalling Services for providing excellent on-track services.
Thank you to BMW Car Club of America – Trillium Chapter – Al Norrie (BMW Trillium Club Race Chair), and Alan Lewis (BMW Trillium Club Race Registrar), who cross promoted the event and executed the BMW club race.
Thank you to the PCA and UCR Volunteers. The 2023 PFAFF Can-Am Challenge Club Race was a huge success, and kudos to the team of over 50 PCA and UCR volunteers, who worked tirelessly during the three-day club race weekend.
• Special shout out to our PCA National team who flew from the States to oversee our race weekend: John Poor (Chief Steward, Minnesota), Steve Coomes (Scrutineer, Texas), Mark Gohlke (Scrutineer, Texas) and Roland Nieves (National Timing and Scoring, Nebraska). Both Steve and Mark were the scrutineers and Roland did the timing in this race for several years. This was the first time John was our race steward, and he is contemplating to participate in the 2024 club race at Mosport!
• Our marketing team (Jon Dunski, Matt DiStefano and Brion Charters) actively promoted our race by reaching out to the race shops and talked to the racers while they were racing at other PCA club races in the US.
• Thanks a million, to Jackie Metcalfe and Terry Cassan (two experienced race chairs in our previous races) for managing the club race weekend, so Jon Dunski (2023 club race co-chair) and I (2023 club race co-chair) could focus on our racing. Thanks to Terry Cassan and Pierre Knobbs (JokerFX) for designing the Can-Am trophy.
• Thanks, Matt DiStefano, for the track walk Friday to show racers the tips to go faster at each corner.
• Sylvie Neill was such a dedicated club race registrar (this was her second year) and her excellent organization skills and all the prep work made a smooth check-in during the club race weekend. Sylvie was also a great help to me during my planning of the inaugural UCR Family Day at Mosport on the Sunday August 6, the last day of the club race weekend.
• Thank you, Larry Funnell, for leading his team of
10 volunteers in the grid.
• Special shout out to Adam Holland (DE instructor) for stepping up to run the Advanced Solo Lapping (ASL) . He also drove the pace car and led one of the three parade lap run groups on Sunday Family Day. Thank you David Billo for taking pictures of the parade lap on Family Day.
• Special shout out to our photographers, Joanne & Rob Martin, and Frank Tsang who must have walked 12,000 steps each day during the weekend to take pictures for us. Thank you, Eshel Zweig, for dropping by on Sunday to take pictures of the Enduro race.
• With a heavy heart, a very special thank-you goes out to Graham Jardine who passed away on August 12, six days after he volunteered in the tower during our club race weekend. Graham was a 19-year UCR member and a dedicated volunteer for a long time. He was our track treasurer for many years and participated in all our DE (Driver Education) weekends every year. He started helping with the tower duties at DE a few years ago. He volunteered at our annual club race for many years and took stunning on-track pictures. He always came to UCR monthly socials and annual banquet together with his wife, Margaret. Graham was a very thoughtful person and planned everything well in advance, and it was always a pleasure working with him. He spent his last weekend volunteering at club race on August 4-6 together with Margaret, and he was surrounded by many good friends at his favourite home track. We will all miss Graham and cherish all the great memories we had with him.
The ongoing success of our club race weekend is a true testament to the hard work and dedication of the PCA and UCR volunteers, the sponsors, and the participation by PCA and BMW Trillium racers, and ASL participants. This weekend was a true testament to PCA’s slogan, “It’s not just the cars, it’s the people.” Planning for our 2024 Club Race already started on Sunday August 6, the last day of our 2023 club race weekend. </>
By Kathleen Wong, 2023 PFAFF Can-Am Challenge Club Race Co-Chair
Photography by Joanne & Rob Martin, Frank Tsang and Eshel Zweig
