2007 Canadian Gas Nationals

Race Report

For the second year in a row, the Hamilton, Ontario based Ontario1/8 On Road Racing Club has hosted the Canadian Gas Nationals. The Ontario 1/8 Club seems to be the obvious choice to host a National level event with its professional and friendly atmosphere. A few Americans made the trip for the Can-Am Challenge/RC-Pro Series Race in Hamilton last month and more were present for the running of the Canadian Gas Nationals.

The track was open on Friday for practice and the weather forecast was perfect for the entire weekend. Saturday was scheduled for three rounds of qualifying and the infamous “Great Canadian Bean Co. Shootout”. Sunday would hold one round of qualifying and the mains. Traction was great and tire wear appeared again not to be an issue. The Ontario 1/8 On Road Racing Club has the track preparation down to a science now and all the racers appreciate the hard work. As qualifying started off Saturday there was a good chance the track record in all classes would be broken. Temperatures were in the mid 70’s and traction was great. We would see how it played out.

In 1/8 Open some heavy hitters were stacked in Heat No.1. Americans Brian Berry, Paul Ciccarello, Aaron Buran, Frank Calandra Jr., Rick Davis and Tom Firsching were pitted against Canadians Lou Vanderwey, Jordan Krupp, and Wayne Vince. If I had to pick a heat for the TQ to come out of, I’d put my money on this one!! Spread out in the other three 1/8 heats were top contenders Ted Hammer, John Elliot, James Mak, Dave Berry, Chris Bramford, Bill McLean, Mark Unger, Raye Field, Allan Lai, Peter Yu, Patrick Chan and others. After round one it looked as though a 16 lapper would be needed to seed a place in the 1/8 Open A Main event. Aaron Buran held TQ after Saturday’s action with a 16 in 5:00.4 with Paul Ciccarello and Brian Berry on his tail. Tom Firsching was right in tow with his 16 lapper. American runner Howard Bortman needed a trip to the ER on Saturday and was unable to return Sunday as he seemed to be in pain from a kidney stone. We hope Howard is feeling better.

Saturday’s Sedan action saw some 14 lap runs nailed down by Wally Edmonds, Mark Rodney, Patrick Philie, Wayne Vince, Steve Bortolotti, John Elliot and Lou Vanderwey. Ray Juhl, Steve Laliberti, Patrick Philie and Dennis Richey were all in the hunt for an A Main spot.

In 5th Scale Hugh Lawson and Alpha Ha laid down some impressive 11 lap runs with some of the others racers having mechanical problems that would need to be squared away before Sunday.

Sunday

Round four on Sunday morning seemed to mix things up a bit. After the sun hit the back straight we got into qualifying around 11am. In 1/8 Open Paul Ciccarello was able to nab TQ with a 17 lap run just nipping Aaron Buran and Brian Berry for the top spot. You could cover those three with a blanket on the track!! Ted Hammer and Corey DeLong made their only qualifying attempts on Sunday. Ted was able to make 16 lap run to get a spot in the A Main while Corey just held on for a 14 lap run just getting nipped by a few tenths at the line for a 15 lapper. Sedan also saw some improved qualifiers with Wayne Vince holding the TQ spot on a 15 lap pace followed by Lou Vanderwey and James Mak. Steve Bortolotti just got squeezed at the line missing a 15 lapper by a second. The 5th Scale boys seemed to pick up the pace as well with Hugh Lawson and Dino Delanos squeezing in 12 lap runs followed by Alpha Ha.

Top Qualifiers

1/8 Open	200mm Sedan	5th Scale
Paul Ciccarello - Ohio	Wayne Vince - Ontario	Hugh Lawson - Ontario

200mm Sedan C Main

Alpha Ha was able to grab the early lead and never really be challenged throughout the entire race. Edwin Wong and Gary Galloway were holding down the second and third spots for most of the race until around the second pit cycle when Wong ran into some mechanical difficulties allowing things be get mixed up a little up front allowing Billy Yang to move into second. The top two finishers for the bump up were Alpha Ha and Billy Yang. Rounding out the field were Gary Galloway, Michael Provot, Edwin Wong and Albere Hou.

200mm Sedan C Main Podium

Left to right: Gary Galloway, Agnes, Michel Provost

200mm Sedan B Main

On the start it was Patrick Philie and Dennis Richey grabbing the bump up spots. The rest of the field had their work cut out to catch them. Art Trinos made a steady move up through traffic from 5th to 3rd, but did not have enough time to make an assault on Dennis for the last bump up to the A-Main. The top three were separated by a lap at the finish. The rest of the filed finished as follows: Greg Tong, Billy Yang, Alpha Ha, Peter Yu, Tim Kwok, Pierre Barbeau, Lee Glick and Charly Gratts.

200mm Sedan B Main Podium

Left to right: Greg Tong, Agnes, Billy Yang, Art Trinos

Sedan A Main

Wayne Vince jumped out front with Lou Vanderwey dropping back quickly on the first pit cycle. It appeared Lou’s tune was off a bit and he was down on power. On Lou’s first pit stop his crew took a few seconds to make an adjustment and Lou really began to pick up his pace after that stop. Wayne Vince ran into problems in the middle of the second pit cycle and James Mak took advantage jumping into first for a while. Mak eventually succumbed to mechanical difficulties and had to retire on lap 52 allowing Vanderwey to take the lead and never look back after shuffling through the field from his early adjustments. Wally Edmond made a hard charge from 8th to finish 2nd. Steve Laliberte also made a hard charge from 10th to finish 3rd! Rounding out the field were: John Elliot, Steve Bortolotti, Wayne Vince, Mark Rodney, Ray Juhl, James Mak, Dennis Richey and Patrick Philie.

200mm Sedan A Main Podium

Left to right: Steve Laliberte, Agnes, Lou Vanderwey, Wally Edmonds

5th Scale A Main

TQ Hugh Lawson fell back at the start and Dino Delanos was able to grab the early lead. Hugh fell out for a while with mechanical difficulties and allowed the field to get by him while he furiously worked on his car in the pits. Alpha Ha was able to grab 2nd in close tail behind Dino. Ken Deline who was running in third dropped out at the 20 minute mark giving Hugh a shot at grabbing third since he got back on the track. At the 26 minute mark Hugh was able to grab 3rd with Ken now retired for good. The podium saw Dino Delanos, Alpha Ha and Hugh Lawson grab the top three spots with Ken Deline and Jeremy Dobb rounding out the field.

5th Scale Podium

Left to right: Hugh Lawsn, Dinos Delanos, Agnes, Alfa Ha

8th Open D Main

Dave Presnail jumped out to the early lead followed by Ron Dziuban. Ron seemed to run into some mechanical problem midway through the race and fell back a few spots. Tim Kwok moved up from 5th to 1st on the first pit cycle and held on for the win. Lee Glick was able to climb from 3rd to second passing Dave Presnail around the 50 lap mark as he ran into some mechanical difficulties. The top three spots were held down by Tim Kwok, Lee Glick and Dave Presnail. Tim Kwok elected not to bump up allowing Dave Presnail to get into the C-Main along with Lee Glick. The rest of the field rounded out as follows: Gary Climie, Ron Dziuban, Andy Bortolotti, Kirt Scammell, Danny Lo, Grant Galloway, Howard Bortman and Jimmy Lo.

1/8 Open D Main Podium

Left to right: Gary Climie, Tim Kwok, Anges, Ron Dziuban

1/8 Open C Main

Allen Lai and Sam Liu and Peter Yu were able to jump out front until the rest of the field got their legs under them. Dave Berry was making a strong charge to the front to try to grab a bump up spot into the B-Main. Dave really stepped up the pressure and was able to grab the top spot after the last pit cycle to bump up to the B-Main with Peter Yu taking the second bump up spot. The rest of the field sorted out as follows: Gary Swayze, Lee Glick, Corey DeLong, Art Trinos, Sam Liu, Allan Lai, Dan Engelbreth, Dave Presnail and Jordan Krupp.

1/8 Open C Main Podium

Left to right: Corey DeLong, Agnes, Gary Swayze

1/8 Open B Main

John Elliot and Nicholas Martin grabbed the top two spots at the start with a clean entry into the sweeper. The rest of the pack was putting pressure on them with a third of the field dropping out before the first pit cycle. Mark Unger was able to grab the second spot with a good pit stop on the first cycle. He would follow John Elliot for the reaminder of the race within a straightaway. John was able to hold his composure and grab the win with some steady driving and consistent pit stops bumping up to the A-Main along with Mark Unger. The rest of the field was as follows: Nicholas Martin, Patrick Chan, Dave Berry, Bill McLean, Chris Bramford, Steve Jackson, Raye Field, Peter Yu and Rick Davis.

1/8 Open B Main Podium

Left to right: Patrick Chan, Agnes, Nicholas Martin, Dave Berry

1/8 Open A Main

This was a show to behold! Paul Ciccarello, Brian Berry and Aaron Buran jumped out front and held the top three spots for the first two pit cycles. Aaron got by Brian a few laps in to grab second and try to hunt down Paul. Aaron was pushing Paul at every turn forcing Paul to stay tight in the corners. Just before the third pit cycle Paul nicked a dot on turn four just before the famous “bump” and flipped allowing Aaron to grab the lead. Paul was close in tow the entire race just waiting for a slip by Aaron. Aaron’s clean driving along with some steady pit stop by Rick Davis allowed him to hold on for the win! James Mak charged hard to the front to grab third. The rest of the filed rounded out as follows: Ted Hammer, Tom Firsching, Brian Berry, Mark Unger, Frank Calandra Jr., Lou Vanderwey, Wayne Vince and John Elliot.

1/8 Open A Main Podium

1st	2nd	3rd
Aaron Buran - Ohio	Paul Ciccarello - Ohio	James Mak - Ontario

Raffle Gift Draw

Following the races there was a raffle sponsored by the Co-Operators, Corporate Express, The Great Canadian Bean Co., Much Hobby, Honda House and Swayze RC. Some great prizes were up for grabs! Thanks to everyone who made the 2nd consecutive Canadian Nationals hosted by the Ontario 1/8 On Road Racing Club a success. Great thanks go out to all the racers who again traveled from the US and all the Canadian regulars. We look forward to holding the Canadian Nationals again next year!

Great Canadian Bean Company Shootout

On Saturday evening the top 10 qualifiers in 1/8 Open were slated to run “The Great Canadian Bean Company Shootout”. Up for grabs was a very nice Fossil designer watch- something coveted by every racer! Seated in the field were:

1 ~ Ciccarello, Paul - Ohio ~ 18.361
2 ~ Buran, Aaron - Ohio ~ 18.403
3 ~ Berry, Brian - Michigan ~ 18.489
4 ~ Mak, James - Ontario ~ 19.038
5 ~ Vince, Wayne - Ontario ~ 19.244
6 ~ Calandra, Frank Jr. - New York ~ 19.371
7 ~ Vanderwey, Louis - Ontario ~ 19.379
8 ~ Firsching, Tom - New York ~ 19.393
9 ~ Lai, Allan - Ontario ~ 19.576
10 ~ Liu, Sam - British Columbia ~ 19.808

Paul Ciccarello was able to hold off Brian Berry and the rest of the field to pick up the win and the prize!

Paul Ciccarello wins the Great Canadian Bean Company Shootout!

And thank you once again to our generous event sponsors: