HUNTSVILLE - At three hours, the Canadian Automobile Sports Clubs - Ontario Region (CASC-OR) BEMC Indian Summer Enduro at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sept. 15 in Bowmanville was the greatest test of driver, car and crew of the season.
The Garage/MBRP’s 110 Viper put in its fastest qualifying time for this track.
Unfortunately, that time was .008 seconds over the permitted top speed for the GT2 class. As a result, what should have placed the Viper at pole position pushed it to the back of the starting grid in 26th place.
Remarkably, driver Martin Barkey was able to work his way to the front of the pack by the 10th lap and remain there until his first pit stop on lap 36.
After taking on fuel the Viper was back on the track with all of the other GT2 cars ahead of him.
By the mid-point of the race Barkey had worked his way to second place overall with one other GT2 car in the lead and held that position until the 70th lap when he pitted again, this time for a full tire change as well as refueling.
The pit crew pulled off a flawless stop with no penalties and after Barkey got a cold energy drink, he headed back onto the track.
Having built enough of a lead over the third place GT2 car he was able to remain in second place within his class.
With a full course caution and quick calculations by the pit crew, Barkey stretched his fuel mileage enough that he would not require a third stop. By the end of the race he had completed 107 laps over a gruelling 263 miles (423 km) and successfully held onto second in class.
And while almost all other race teams ran with two or three drivers Barkey was able to complete the race on his own.
“I felt I was prepared mentally and physically for this long race, I was really pumped to see the flag drop” said Barkey, who is CEO of The Garage and co-founder of MBRP Inc. “Once again I was most impressed with our team and our pit stops. We may have been the only car on the grid that had two pit stops and had to change tires on this race. It was great to see the guys working in unison with not a single issue or time loss in either of our pits. Thanks guys.”
There is just one race left in the 2012 season, the CASC-OR/CTMP Celebration of Motorsports.
Along with The Garage/MBRP at least two other teams have a strong chance of taking the GT2 championship.