Canadian F2000 Championship

[a. pettipas]

Announced yesterday… http://eformulacarnews.com/news_info.php?n=13327

[RSS]

Maybe ontario f2000 championship would be a more accurate name.

[Jean-Sebastien Stoezel]

Indeed.

I've also heard people calling Ontario F1200 Champions "National F1200 Champions", which is somehow true since they only run F1200 in Ontario. Anywhere else (Western Canada for instance) it's referred to as FV. A bit like Monster Jam World Finals...

Maybe ontario f2000 championship would be a more accurate name.

[a. pettipas]

Face it fellas, you live in road racing hinterland, as do I, no sense complaining... you travel to race in a series with good competition or you don't.

[RSS]

Well when we all want to have a real Canadian Championship race we can meet you all in Gimli. With a promise of free beer we could probably scratch together 10-12 F2000s from our end of the country.

And after reading the article again its not called the Canadian F2000 Championship so I have no idea what we are talking about.

[gcoffin]

R.....save me a spot in the potato for a day truck if we are going to gimli to kick A ....... Nothing like an merican in a French car to add some flavo

[a. pettipas]

And after reading the article again its not called the Canadian F2000 Championship so I have no idea what we are talking about.

No one said it was called the Canadian f2 championship... my heading in the OP was meant as a reference to the f2 championship that will take place on Canadian soil in 2014; I have not heard what the the series will be officially named yet.

[RSS]

Greg I think we have enough trouble with the french we already have here. (Checks over shoulder for francohone wife)

Well if we are ever in Ontario with the car on a race weekend count us in.

[gord leach]

I'd go buy another for a Gimli run-off

Ever seen this Roger?

Think how many cars are around now..........

http://www.autocourse.ca/index.php?file=results.html

[GAR]

Does anybody know where I can go or who to call to get more information such as entry fee's, what the tire rule etc. Thanks.

[JeffW]

Thanks for posting the link Gord. Brought bunch of great memories.

BTW, do you know the Canadian driver Doug Titus (raced in the 70 and 80s) - from the Toronto area I think.

Jeff W

[Comp89]

Does anybody know where I can go or who to call to get more information such as entry fee's, what the tire rule etc. Thanks.

jasons@movemotorsports.com

[a. pettipas]

http://www.autocourse.ca/index.php?file=results.html

Claude Bourbonnais won a fairly astonishing $96,500 on his way to the 1989 Export A Canadian FF2000 Championship… the good old days when smokes money was flowing liberally… and that has to be the top-grossing 87SF - and most likely F2000 in general - ever!

[JeffW]

Bourbonnais and Vandal were sponsored by Export A - the series sponsor - so liberal amounts of cash and a cast of thousands. Very professional team. And obviously the Reynards were the cars to have. The team also had a geeky guy who wore Stetson and collected........data. Who knew?

JeffW

[Purple Frog]

The Captain and I were sitting here in the swamp thinking...

What if the Canadian Series and the F2KCS were to have an agreement where one race in the 'other' series would count for points in the competitor's home series.

That way the Maple Leafs could enter one of the WGI events (so every one of their races doesn't have to be at Mosport), and US competitors without drunk driving convictions could go to Mosport and drive one of the greatest tracks in North America.

just saying... YMMV

[gcoffin]

Not to say the Reynard was not a great car....they are....but lets not forget that after the 85 year of domination by some old guy in a Swift.....the rules got changed to mandate different body work on the rear of the Swift taking away a bit of the advantage and paving the way for the Reynard years.....when they got changed back the 89 Db3 was disallowed due to front axel relative to foot position......maybe by the same person.....and thus was born the DB-6 which dominated.

[problemchild]

Not to say the Reynard was not a great car....they are....but lets not forget that after the 85 year of domination by some old guy in a Swift.....the rules got changed to mandate different body work on the rear of the Swift taking away a bit of the advantage and paving the way for the Reynard years.....when they got changed back the 89 Db3 was disallowed due to front axel relative to foot position......maybe by the same person.....and thus was born the DB-6 which dominated.

The biggest advantage that DB3 had was the old guy driving. After Bob Smith conquered all in 85, he found other things to do instead. He was a "shoe".

[gcoffin]

You were there mate.....I have the car.... And my mate just purchased what we think is the second Esso car.....back together after 28 years, what were the odds

[problemchild]

You were there mate.....I have the car.... And my mate just purchased what we think is the second Esso car.....back together after 28 years, what were the odds

The ESSO-Powell team made a deal to run RK Smith in a second car so they could get the new Swift for Peter Lockhart, one of the top drivers in the Series. Little did they know. By the time Peter got it figured out, Smith was coasting to the championship.
He was just as fast in the Corvettes that Powell ran him in later, but struggled in the enduros after dark. Nice guy too. Still looked good at the 40th BP.

The late-80s was a cool time to be involved in that Series. Much like the Formula Atlantic days before, there were a lot of people moving through who would make it, and were having a good time getting there.

[a. pettipas]

Here you go memory-lane-tripping oldsters… conveniently came up on FB this morning

1985?

[LAJ]

Wow those 85 Reynards were so bad that one is qualified 7th out of at least 25 granted there are some at the back but so is a DB3.

[problemchild]

Wow those 85 Reynards were so bad that one is qualified 7th out of at least 25 granted there are some at the back but so is a DB3.

The DB3 at the back was Smith, who qualified on pole, had a problem on the grid, started last, then won by 16 seconds.

The only reason there were any 85 Reynards out there, were that the works Reynard team could not find any older cars to use. That was Race 1, and they had already parked some 85s in favor of whatever 84(and 83s) they could dig up. Spenard was always entered as an 85 but I don't remember if he ever raced one.

[David Clubine]

I don't remember exactly, but I think you will find the 85 Reynard was driven by Betrand Fabi, he would have qualified about there in a 10 year old Crossle 33F. He was special, and such a tragedy when he lost his life. He should have made the big time.

[problemchild]

I don't remember exactly, but I think you will find the 85 Reynard was driven by Betrand Fabi, he would have qualified about there in a 10 year old Crossle 33F. He was special, and such a tragedy when he lost his life. He should have made the big time.

Fabi was in England by then. He had endured the 84 VD, as the David racing team were good at choosing the wrong car. The 85 shown was Sylvain Perigny who did two races and quit.

[BLS]

Neat picture with the big eyes on the billboard looking from behind.

[David Clubine]

Fabi was in England by then. He had endured the 84 VD, as the David racing team were good at choosing the wrong car. The 85 shown was Sylvain Perigny who did two races and quit.

Ah yes, you are correct Greg, I was a year out. I remember Bertrand using a less than stellar car for the year, and then moving to a 84 Reynard for the runoffs and doing very well with it.

[Dennis Valet]

Neat picture with the big eyes on the billboard looking from behind.

[Johnny B]

Any chance of Rice Racing participating in the Canadian version of F2000 ?

John B.

[problemchild]

Any chance of Rice Racing participating in the Canadian version of F2000 ?

John B.

Too soon to tell. The great part about our border location is having two dozen good events to choose from every year. Narrowing it down to a dozen is tough!

I'm sure I'm not the only one waiting to find out the tire rule.

BTW .... that Honda billboard has been there since atleast 1984 and usually gets modified with bloodshot features by the first night of a Pro weekend.

[brownslane]

Both ran out of our shop. RK was a great guy; quick and tidy driver. He was engineered by John Hayes, a super guy. He and his brother Rick were super smart and I learned a lot about them

Titus ran out of our shop as well. I lost track of him; last I knew he was counsel for DeHavilland aircraft prior to their sale to Boeing. I remember "installing" toilet paper on the cockpit handles Doug had on his March Atlantic....on the grid for Trois Riviers.....

AND, if you remove the letters "U" from Doug's first and last name, you will know what his car was lettered for the GP one year.....he was soooo easily upset!

John Hayes was one of the smartest guys I have ever met in motor racing. And a PRINCE of a guy! Does anybody know where he ended up? I know Rick was running Lites a few years ago.

And RK had a team mate in the first two years. A fellow from Florida. Nice dude, tore up a LOT of race car parts and just LOVED LIFE!!! He used to pay each week in cash.....turns out he was the "Gentleman Bandit" from Florida....his name escapes me right now.


Ahhh memories!

[John LaRue]

I ran into John at Daytona 24 he was engineering for PR1 on the spec car.

[problemchild]

Both ran out of our shop. RK was a great guy; quick and tidy driver. He was engineered by John Hayes, a super guy. He and his brother Rick were super smart and I learned a lot about them

Titus ran out of our shop as well. I lost track of him; last I knew he was counsel for DeHavilland aircraft prior to their sale to Boeing. I remember "installing" toilet paper on the cockpit handles Doug had on his March Atlantic....on the grid for Trois Riviers.....

AND, if you remove the letters "U" from Doug's first and last name, you will know what his car was lettered for the GP one year.....he was soooo easily upset!

John Hayes was one of the smartest guys I have ever met in motor racing. And a PRINCE of a guy! Does anybody know where he ended up? I know Rick was running Lites a few years ago.

And RK had a team mate in the first two years. A fellow from Florida. Nice dude, tore up a LOT of race car parts and just LOVED LIFE!!! He used to pay each week in cash.....turns out he was the "Gentleman Bandit" from Florida....his name escapes me right now.


Ahhh memories!

You are confusing RK Smith with John Dekker.

[Purple Frog]

I lost track of Hayes after the season ended in 2005 with John turning the wrenches on Jay Howard's car under the Aiken Racing tent. They basically swept the F2000 series that year.
On my way to the 05 Runoffs, I stopped in Cumming GA and John spent a few hours with my Tatuus on the scale pad. Wow!
I heard he was maybe in Colorado. A setup genius.

[brownslane]

You are confusing RK Smith with John Dekker.

My Bad. Absolutely correct. It was Dekker. Their sponsor was a bar in Colorado "after the gold rush" as I remember..... Dekker was a good driver!

[brownslane]

I lost track of Hayes after the season ended in 2005 with John turning the wrenches on Jay Howard's car under the Aiken Racing tent. They basically swept the F2000 series that year.
On my way to the 05 Runoffs, I stopped in Cumming GA and John spent a few hours with my Tatuus on the scale pad. Wow!
I heard he was maybe in Colorado. A setup genius.

Colorado was home for John. You are right about his skills/knowledge. Super detailed, super smart! And a cut-throat when it comes to the rule book

[CDS]

Bourbonnais and Vandal were sponsored by Export A - the series sponsor - so liberal amounts of cash and a cast of thousands. Very professional team. And obviously the Reynards were the cars to have. The team also had a geeky guy who wore Stetson and collected........data. Who knew?

JeffW

I did not wear a stetson and did a lot more than "collect data"
What a season to remember. We won every pole, led every lap, and won every race.
A season never to be duplicated!

[JeffW]

Well CDS (or whoever you are) clearly you did more than collect data - the results speak for themselves. Back then, having someone on a team collecting and interpreting data was, in my perspective at the time - pretty radical. As your logo says get results not just collect data. I think I need you on my team.

JeffW

[CDS]

Well CDS (or whoever you are) clearly you did more than collect data - the results speak for themselves. Back then, having someone on a team collecting and interpreting data was, in my perspective at the time - pretty radical. As your logo says get results not just collect data. I think I need you on my team.

JeffW

We had a lot of fun in that series. The level of competition in 89 was unbelievable thanks to all the Export Eh money. I believe there were 62 entries for the season opener at Shannonville. With the standing start there were several rows of cars that started in the hairpin!.

Not only was every race televised across Canada, the final qual on Saturday was also live.
Truly the "gilded age" of F2000.

-Peter Kelly