Down But Not Out! Blanchet Motorsports back for 2021

Blanchet Motorsports, Down But Not Out!

2020 was a weird year in motorsports. Blanchet Motorsports had finished the abbreviated Canadian Touring Car Championship season with a mid-pack finish and feeling the need for speed they decided to go endurance racing by entering the 66th running of BEMC’s 3-Hour Late Summer Trophy Race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Partnering longtime Blanchet Motorsports driver Damon Sharpe was PWC Touring Champion, Michael Di Meo who last raced with the team in 2013. Considering that was where he took his first sports car win we are excited having Michael back with us.

All the good vibes the team felt going into the race came to nought when Sharpe was involved in a huge accident at that started at Turn 8 and finished at Turn 9 during Friday practice. Heavy

front end damage pretty well ruled the car out for the weekend but the team was more worried about Damon who required a trip to the Lakeridge Health in nearby Bowmanville.

Sharpe was stabilized on arrival and the Lakeridge team liaised with one from St. Mike’s in Toronto. His injuries were pretty severe which was only to be expected considering the accident started at around 220 kph and finished at 0 kph. As they poked and prodded Damon the list of injuries grew, five broken ribs on his left side, with a wayward rib or two tearing into his left lung and collapsing it and finally a fractured T11 vertebrae.

“Anyone who has broken a rib will tell you it is no fun” Sharpe said, “ I had five of them! I’m not a guy that likes Opioids to kill the pain so the first while in hospital was interesting to say the least. And I think that by refusing them I advanced my recovery quite a bit. They must have hated me there, normally someone with my injuries would be sedated and not much work for them. I actually ‘Broke Out’ of my ‘prison’ three times. I was then transferred to Newmarket which is closer to home and by the second day I was up and walking, and I mean serious walking around the hospital. Considering my injuries I recovered pretty fast and only recently have had some issues the doctor is wanting to check up on.”

To say the team were down in the dumps was an understatement but on the 12th of January this year I got the chance to talk to team principal Frank Blanchet. “It was a bit disappointing to say the least” before going on, “The team was really getting the hang of this Audi RS3 LMS TCR.

“We have more or less been involved since the CTCC started 15 odd years ago and when we built our own cars we always were wondering whether we had we brought enough to be competitive. If we were lacking in horsepower we just had to run it harder and that tended to cause issues, so during the race weekend we tended to be focused on keeping the car running and that took time away from other more important things like car setup.

“Our Audi RS3 LMS TCR has been a dream to work on and race, it is a Global platform after all and the BoP format makes us more comfortable knowing the cars are all running in the same ballpark. The cars are well developed, all the electronics have been developed to suit racing without any of the advanced driver assistance systems (nanny systems) that are pretty well seen on most road cars these days interfering.”

Damon Sharpe agreed, “We never really progressed with our own cars, it was just a long slog getting them to where we were competitive but working on them the whole time. Our Blanchet Motorsports crew is just a great bunch of enthusiasts who want to go racing.

“The TCR cars are perfect for a team of part-timers like us, they give us more value for the money even with the purchase price being pretty high. We get more laps for the money, we have the time to hone in and develop the car from out data and there is no more wondering if we have got the aero setup right, we just have to run what we brung.

“As a driver it is an easy car to drive up to a point. Betz Pools have a slogan on the rear of the car saying ‘For A Life Time Of Fun’. It is talking about the swimming pools they build and install but when you see me climb out of the Audi after a race the smile on my face tells everyone just how much fun the Audi is to drive.”

I talked to both Frank and Damon about the 2021 season and what were the plans for the team.

Frank has been chasing down the TCR specific parts required to complete the rebuild. “While is has a pretty hard hit, the car stood up to it well,” he said. “We had Pfaff Autoworks look at the car and with their wealth of experience they gave us the nod that is was rebuild able and did not require a new shell. Jeff Pabst up there is a racer and his guys have have the Betz Pools Audi back looking as good as new.”

When asked about a schedule the duo did what many racers are doing this year, shrugging their shoulders and with a blank look on their faces. “Obviously it all depends on what happens with Covid and how soon the government will open up the tracks,” said Sharpe. Blanchet added, “We are approaching the year as if it is a regular race season. Once Pfaff gets the car back to us, we as a team have a bunch of work to do to get the car ready. When that’s done and if the government allows track to open we are ready to go racing! We do this for fun and with the TCR Audi we have seen how rushing things like we used to is no longer required. Just a case of ‘Git ‘er done, load ‘er up and let’s hit the track”

And with the recent announcement that FEL will also be running a TCR/GT4 series in Southern Ontario and Quebec the team can pick and choose what events they want to do. Blanchet elaborated, “When we first started racing with CTCC many moons ago I never really intended to race the whole season, my goal was always to run at the Molson Indy as it was called in Toronto. Running as a support series at that event was so special, it was the ‘Big Show’, it was in our backyard and a great place for family, friends and sponsors to see us racing on a huge stage. They were great days back then, running in support of the Indy and the Canadian Grand Prix and Grand Am/NASCAR in Montreal.

Now with two series we can choose where we race. FEL is hoping to pick up TV and create a prize fund. That sits well with me, after all these cars are not cheap to buy or run. Things have changed big time from the start of CTCC and having pay drivers like Damon on the team means that his marketing partners might dictate the direction we go. After all they put up the money to get a return on investment and it has to be worth it for them.”

One thing is for sure, the small Blanchet team will be putting every effort into their racing program in 2021. Some teams struggle to get back from a catastrophic accident like they had. Damon is well again and as we have heard many times in racing, ‘Cars can be fixed’. This Stouffville, ON based is one that any marketing partner would be proud to partner with. They look the part, act the part and best of all are fun to be around!

Find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook. com/blanchetmotorsports

FEL is excited to announce that they are officially in the racing business for 2021

After several months of research and speaking with sports car teams in Canada, FEL is officially announcing their launch of a new sports car platform for 2021 and beyond. “The support from the racing community has been truly awesome,” said FEL President, Chris Bye. “We hadn’t planned on making the announcement until February but the swell of support including 18 paid registration deposits made it clear that we are going in the right direction. It’s time to get busy, we have a lot to do,” Bye continued.

FEL has a “Tentative” 2021 schedule in place. This schedule will remain tentative with dates firming up as the current COVID situation allows. Each weekend will consist of 2 - 40 / 45 minute sprint races.

Tentative 2021 Schedule

May 21, 22, 23 – Victoria Day Sprints – CTMP July 16, 17, 18 – TBC August 6, 7, 8 – Calabogie Motorsports Park August 27, 28, 29 – ICAR Mirabel October 1, 2, 3 – Celebration of Speed – CTMP One additional weekend TBD

FEL is excited to work along side Canada’s best sports car teams and drivers at Canada’s best race tracks in 2021 and beyond. Series sponsors will be announced as commitments are firmed up.

Contact: Chris Bye / cb@feldrives.com / 905.704.8585 Jessica Benevides / jb@feldrives.com / 905.401.1138