End of an Era

The final ABR GT Superseries event turned out not to be what the racers expected when they headed to the last event of 2015! Promoted as the first wheel-to-wheel race ever at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s Driver Development Track (DDT) the race was virtually over before it had begun. It turned out the DDT was not insured for wheel-to-wheel racing but a compromise allowed the ABR Series to run open lapping with open passing! Sort of like what they do in a race anyway. It would have been nice if this had been known ahead of time especially as NEO Motorsports were on hand looking forward to the wheel-to-wheel action. They had some great displays of their products and even provided the racers with a BBQ lunch. Thanks Wei, it was much appreciated.

Alan Balinsky has done a tremendous job over the past two years and on the last event of 2015 he got screwed over when the lack of insurance never got conveyed to him. Ever the stand-up guy he offered to refund the entry fee but all the racers were behind him and refused. The ABR Series was a

breath of fresh air and it is time for people in other sanctioning bodies to look at the state of racing in Canada and make changes. Carrying on the same way for year after year is just going to drive race series into oblivion. Look at ChumpCar, how many new or retired racers come out for their races? I am not a fan of their endurance based format but people can afford to race cost effectively without having to go through a specific school mandated by a sanctioning body to get a licence, making that affordable too.

The ABR group was not just about the track; many of us spent a relaxing evening having dinner in Milton just a few weeks after the final event, it is about camaraderie, good friends having good times! Now Alan Balinsky’s vision has moved forward with the series which was to be called the Ontario Road Racing Association in 2016, when he asked to merge with the Canadian Sportscar Sprint Series or CS3 as it will be known. CS3 shared the same vision as Alan and have the infrastructure and professionalism to grow ever bigger!

There was nothing much to write about with there being no actual races but everone there had fun. Russ Bond arrived with a big stick when he brought out Kerry Micks NASCAR Canada Camry that he ran last year. His brother ran his regular ride the KartSTART Camry and wheeled it with as much brio as Russ. Trevor Goddard managed to find and install an engine in his SN95 Mustang after the carnage at TMP earlier in the year. There were lots of people lining up for rides with the day turning over to open lapping and with open passig there were lots of smiling faces coming out of the passenger seats.