Formula Ford at the Montreal Grand Prix

Matt White's lack-of-power issue yesterday was not entirely resolved overnight - the crew replaced his fuel pump but not the exhaust system.

But he managed to avoid the front-of-pack carnage typical of F1600 to finish fourth.

The race was won by Olivier Bonnet, who had a race-long dice with his father Olivier, who finished second. Those must be interesting family dinners. Steve Pickering finished third.

Why am I following Matt? Three reasons - he IS the three-time (and defending) Canadian Formula Ford champion; he won the support race to the NASCAR event here last year; and I used to race as a teammate to his father David, an ex-cop, ex-Young Drivers of Canada executive, and a Formula Ford champion in his day.

Comments

[Gord Ross]

Sorry Jim,

Matt didn't win the Nascar support race as his team refused to allow the car to be teched after the race. I was waiting in my car in the tech line when they walked away after refusing to have the cam checked.

The Montreal race(s) were both fun. The kid to watch is the winner from Saturday. Xavier Coupal who ran with the very fast Britain West Van Diemen In only his second time on the track, he blew the field away. Very nice kid too.

[Jim Kenzie]

Hi Gord:

Sorry for the delay in responding.

Matt White's reply to your comment: "That was the same engine we had used all season. It had been torn down just two weeks earlier by the same tech people after a race in Trois-Rivieres, and was found to be perfectly legal - because it was. The car owner - who is NOT me - decided after the Montreal race that 'enough is enough', as he put it. We were not running for points in the Quebec series, we had won the race on the track, and it simply wasn't worth the considerable cost to tear it down again."

Racing, eh? It's not over until the committee says it's over.

Coupal indeed looked good. I understand he is your teammate?

But I bet if Matt's car wasn't two seconds a lap down on power compared to the year before, it would have been a more interesting fight!

Cheers,

Jim Kenzie

[Gord Ross]

Jim,

Glad you took the time to get Matt's response, there are always 2 sides (or more...) to any story. You should come out to an OFFC event soon. It's my second year running with them and it's a hoot. I switched to the fords after running Targa Newfoundland for 3 years (in the orange P1800ES). Look for the orange F1600 (same colour as the Volvo) and say hi if you get a chance.

Coupal is a teammate when I race in Quebec. He runs with Britain West Motorsports, which is the same company that maintains my car. We do run in different divisions though, as his car is an 'A' in Ontario and mine is a 'B'.

Cheers

Gord

Cheers

Gord