Results
TORONTO
MOTORSPORTS
PARK
BRIAN SMITH
Qualifiying
1:24:826 Fastest Lap
8th
Final
1:23:529 Fastest Lap
5th
Positive Signs and a Top 5 Finish in Toronto
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Brian Smith finished 5th on a hot day with 81% humidity in the afternoon
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First run in Super Street class was a success
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Debut of the Accelera 651 Sport 100tw tires exceptionally well
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Debut of a new data recording system to cap each session
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The team was able to run 100% of the laps and sessions, gathering valuable data leading into round 3
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The team found success with a new way of understanding the suspension settings provided by Fortune Auto
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With a solid understanding of the vehicle's performance, the team looks forward to returning to Toronto Motorsports park for round #3
Brian Frozone, Driver
It’s been a great weekend. To have this consistency on track and be within striking distance of the podium is fantastic. Bumping up to a new class is a big change. It means this car is open for development, and the new techniques for gathering data seem to already be providing fruit for us.
Switched the pad compound from the HAWK DTC-70 to the DTC-60 variant, and it's like I’ve unlocked another gear in the car. It’s hard to go fast if you can’t slow down, and the DTC-60s are what I was looking for. A strong pad that allows for modulation under duress and these pads provided. I still need to get used to the changes in the braking zone, but overall the performance is right where I want it.
In the midst of those changes, we made a significant one by going up a class. Now that we compete in Super Street I’m free to use different tire compounds, and we had a lot of success this weekend using the 100tw variant of the 651 sport. The steering was on point, and the grip was excellent throughout the circuit. Impressed with this tire and its large step in performance over its 200tw variant. Excited to learn more about its capabilities throughout the season.
We didn’t quite have the pace today to challenge for more. It's been 3 years since we last competed at this track, and I knew it wouldn’t be our strongest showing as we got up to speed with the new competitors and worked internally to get the most out of our systems. We still have a lot of work to do to add more performance and efficiency. We are slowly chipping away at those ahead. I do believe we will get there at some stage. 100% going in the right direction.
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Kionna Morrison, Operations/Media
Before this race weekend, I had posed two questions to myself:
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What changes need to be made to our packing spreadsheets?
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How can we fine-tune our data acquisition in between sessions?
Both of these goals were accomplished and had an overall positive effect on our race weekend. I decided to use some templates from our GridLife season, where we would be packing for 2-3 days at a time and streamline it for our one-day event.
In terms of data acquisition, it was even more important this season because we will have multiple rounds on the same track. Therefore keeping track of weather conditions, pre and post-session tire pressures, and wing angles will give us a head start at our next round. This is our first season using the 100 TW Accelera 651 sports for a full season of competition and gathering as much data as possible about how these tires respond to 5-6 sessions a day in grueling heat will be important for our ongoing development.
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Making sure to capture events from the team's perspective is also important to us. We want to continue showing people interested in time attack and or motorsports what a track day might look like from start to finish. We are working to share some content later this season that showcases what else running our team looks like. Sure, we love to go fast, but much prep goes into preparing us for a race weekend.
Brian Smith, Team Principal & CEO
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Today’s race was an encouraging one for the team. We knew that Toronto would be one of the more difficult circuits for us. To come away with a top 5 first-time of asking is a solid result. We aren’t too far from the podium positions and a bit closer than expected at the beginning of the season. TMP is the home circuit for many of the outfits in the series, and the margin to those top teams is still larger than we like. We are on a positive trajectory, and the new updates we brought to this round clearly work.
We got a bit unlucky with a coolant leak going into the final sessions, and we were a bit unsure of the performance going into the finals. Very impressed with the driving as we got our fastest lap of the day on the last lap. That's 1000% down to our incredible pit team doing everything they could to give us the best shot given the circumstances. Outstanding effort.
It will be a tight schedule going into the heart of the summer. We are going to be relying heavily on our partners and the exceedingly capable team at A&K Eurowerx to keep the car running in optimal form. With their help, we will have the tools to continue to fight for class wins.
