Ferrari Challenge Montreal: The Epic Week End.

It was an epic, epic week end for Team Axis in Montreal as CG raced in both IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup and Ferrari Challenge before the Formula One paddock, a tracktard's dream.

Exclusively for you Axis readers, we have onboard pictures from the Sunday Challenge race. Read Carlos' story and catch part 2 of the race after the jump. 

Along with Montecarlo, Montreal is my favorite venue for an F1 race. A track in a beautiful setting, close to a walk-around friendly city makes the whole experience better (and definitively wife approved, so you get an eager companion for the race weekend)

A year ago, the 2011 F1 weekend in Montreal was the very first race in my then brand new Porsche GT3 Cup but the big monsoon we got that day left me wanting a good dry race for 2012 in that non-ABS beast.

I have always been curious about racing Ferrari Challenge, especially since the 430 Scuderia has been my favorite and the best street/track car I've owned. I do love the midengine platform as I have tracked and raced mid engine cars (Lotus Elise, Exige S, Cayman S) for the last 8 years, which is a lot longer than what I've been racing Porsche 911s.

Lucky for me, one of my NGT Motorsports teammates who now races Ferrari Challenge, could not make the Canadian races this year so, one last minute phone call to him and another to Scuderia Corsa and we were all set to race in Montreal.  Ferrari Challenge is sanctioned by GrandAm so my having a Rolex GT license from the Daytona 24 eased everything.

Ferrari, being an active Formula One player gets two races during the F1 weekend while our IMSA Porsche schedule gets restricted to only one so, despite a bit of overlap and the need for some quick car changes it was very feasible to race both series on the same week end.

Had to show up as early as Thursday for the mandatory Ferrari PR events. All dressed up in our official driver suits (provided by Ferrari) we went to the start finish line to have our picture taken with the F1 team. Alonso, Massa, Domenicali and Marco Mattiacci, head of Ferrari N.A. were there with us and a had chance to chat briefly. Coolness factor so far: 110%!

Back to civilian clothes for a track walk with Ferrari driver's coach Didier Thyes. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is relatively simple to learn. It's a sequence of three basic chicanes where the trick is to get on the power early on exit, two left - right complexes that require a lot of patience on exit of the second part (Turn 2 for example), One slow hairpin (probably slowest corner on any track I've raced on) and just one fast corner that requires commitment and throttle modulation (Turn 5).

Casino de Montreal

I can't figure out why I've been cool towards F1 recently,  after all, seven winners in seven races,  that's special.   Perhaps because once again after Monaco we had another objectively dull race.   Sure Hamilton fans will be jumping up and down and I don't mean to take away from his drive which was  great but, reality is that most passes were in the DRS zone or in the pits.
I simply don't find that exciting any more.

Couple with a nagging feeling tires are a lottery, that there is an an element of luck in getting a consistent set of PZeros  on any given race day.  

Having  said that, kudos to Hamilton who drove the right strategy to perfection despite more pit stop shakiness.

Epic fail from Ferrari who cannot hide behind performance excuses for the newly developed F2012 any more.  Not after Massa qualified sixth and was moving up, like the old Massa until the new Felipe (or should I say, the new Button) returned.

Why Ferrari would be covering Vettel  behind rather then Hamilton in front remains a mystery.  Why when the writing was on the wall they did not stop,  even more.  Alonso may come away from Canada only two points behind Hamilton but  that may be the championship right there.  Strategy seems to be Ferrari's weak point right now.

Ferrari's wasn't the only epic fail of the day, Button, Webber, Mercedes.

Mixed feelings aside, being at the track in Montreal was great  (and a full report on the Axis CG epic week end in Ferrari Challenge and Porsche GT3 Cup is coming...) ,  sure you miss a lot in the chaos but you also get  things you just miss on TV.

A good example is sound and how exhaust notes change though out a week end.  In qualifying the Renault engined cars, Red Bull in particular, had a clear honking resonance as they accelerated out of turn 2 and a buzzing sound on the overrun.   These were absent in the race.

I put the question to someone who would know and they confirmed that indeed RBR used different maps in qualifying and for the race, different ones at different stages of the race too (and not always the correct one at the correct time).  This of course, all in an effort to preserve tires.  Think of it as traction control through engine mapping.  I never did get a good explanation about the buzz on the overrun though....

Also with some access to the pit you  catch small details you never would otherwise.   Ferrari's Pit signal board box contains the names of all the 2012 runners and one more,  Robert Kubica.

And all of a sudden your faith in the humanity of Formula 1 is restored.

Please comment on Ferrari's strategy or your view on the championship so far,  love to hear from you guys.

Gone Fishing....

Regular programming will resume when we return...

Canadian GP Preview

Photo: Victor Burnett

You have to feel web sites devoted exclusively to F1 in the past two weeks, there really has been very little to fill pages. What news has been out there has been, at best, thin: Luca Montezuma says Ferrari must win, Hamilton says he should win, web sites guess drivers salaries following an obvious tip from Red Bull trying to counter their image as the spendiest team.

Axis Invades Canada: 2 Axis cars to race in Montreal

Photo: Bradford Speers

There will be two Axis of Oversteer branded cars competing on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal this coming week end.

Axis of Oversteer scores top ten finish in Montreal

Carlos Gomez (Bogotá, Colombia) driving the Axis of Oversteer/Capital Managers 2011 Porsche GT3 Cup, scored a fantastic sixth place finish at the IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama race in Montreal. The race marked the first time IMSA GT3 Challenge has returned as support to the Formula 1 Canadian GP since 2008.

Gomez, on his first visit to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and in his first race with a Porsche GT3 Cup, started the race in P9 and survived an incident filled wet race to finish in 6th place. A remarkable performance, especially considering he had had no wet weather testing at all before the race, the first time he drove the car in the rain was on his out lap before the start!

The Axis of Oversteer GT3 Cup was expertly prepared by Spencer Cox of SpeedSport Tuning and supported by the mighty TRG team.

The next appointment for Carlos and the Axis of Oversteer Porsche will be at Lime Rock Park on July 9th in support of the American LeMans Series race. We hope to see many of you there and thank you again to all those who sent us pictures of the car in action!

Check out the slide show after the jump and don't forget to "like" Axis of Oversteer of Facebook.

For more information on the Porsche IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama please visit the official site

Montreal Marshals

With all due respect for our Canadian friends and volunteer marshals, I can understand it was a long day with long delays but guys, lay off the brews eh? :)

Home

Bienvenue au Quebec, Sebastian!

Sebastian Vettel tasted the famed Montreal Wall of Champions only eight laps into the first practice. Only his pride was hurt, looks like the marshal who inexplicably fell going to his aid probably suffered more damage.

Vettel wasn't the only one who gained some intimate knowledge of the Gilles Villeneuve track, Kamui Kobayashi, Machete Sutil and Jerome D'Ambrosio experienced the walls up close and personal. Kind of a funny radio transmission from Machete....check it out after the jump but don't miss Heikki Kovalainen's epic scandinavian flick save!...Perkele!

So how do you prepare for a track you've never been to?

More to the point, how do you prepare for a track very few have ever driven on?

That's the problem facing CG this week as he prepares for the IMSA GT3 Challenge by Yokohama race this week end on Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

What do we know about Montreal? We know it's a point and squirt track that demands much from brakes and tires. The figures for Formula 1 cars are , of course, staggering as this Pirelli video makes clear.



Sure you can look at lots of Formula 1 onboards but, really, what's the use for CG? Footage from relevant cars is pretty scarce. One is a rather low quality one with Andy Lally driving a Grand Am spec Porsche:



rFactor is one tool and I know CG has been spending a lot of time at the secret Axis training facility (Mclaren's headquarter are nothing compared!) pounding out the virtual laps.



But there is one reality that will be first and foremost on CG's mind, a characteristic unique Gilles Villeneuve: The Wall of Champions!



Here is how the track guide CG was provided clinically describes it

Turn 13&14:
 The last chicane.
 Position the car track-left, as you head for the brake zone.
 You’ll be going over 150 mph. So, apply a hard brake application at the 400 marker (just before the bridge).
 Downshift from 6th to 3rd Gear.
 Be very careful with curb strikes in this chicane. Inside the flat rumble strips are two large bumps at each apex. Striking these humps can cause quite a bit of damage.
(Davies Motorsports Services)

This is what it looks like:



Bonne Chance CG, we'll be there rooting for you Sunday, Just watch out for Lewis Hamilton in pit lane!



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Axis IMSA GT3 Challenge livery revealed!

A week from today, on June 11th, the Capital Managers-Axis of Oversteer Porsche GT3 cup will make its debut in the IMSA-Yokohama GT3 Challenge race on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

The race will be run in support of the 2011 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix.

The 75 car will be driven by series rookie Carlos Gomez, our own CG, and is set up by our friends at SpeedSport Tuning.

Below is video of CG testing the car at Monticello Motor Club recently.

If you are going to the Grand Prix, go early, the IMSA GT3 race starts at 9:05 AM. Follow Axis on Twitter and on Facebook for updates and please make sure send us any pictures you may have of the car on track!

More pictures after the jump

And now for something more analog...

While you wait for the Chinese GP, have a look at something distinctly more analog.

Alex King is one of Axis's oldest friends and from time to time he will share a little gem with us tracktards. Have a look at JR Hildebrand working a set of Avon wets hard on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last June before the Grand Prix.

JR is onboard the 1976 Penske PC4 which won the Austrian GP that year with John Watson and it was restored and is currently looked after by Doug Mockett.

Love the chest cam. Thanks Alex!

(photo:JR Kortez, Video courtesy of Alex King))


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Been There, Done That...

BMW and Mclaren did the F1 on snow thing before but Red Bull did have a helicopter and fancy editing!

Big Balls and mutton chops

The discussion I had with badbadM about Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren's choice to take the risk for the win in the 2005 European GP got me thinking about some of the more colorful and basically did it for fun and passion.

Before the start of this Formula 1 season, Kimi sneaked off to Finland and without telling Ferrari's management who would have most certainly have had a cow if they had found out, entered a snowmobile race. He signed up with a pseudonym: James Hunt.








Now Hunt was the ultimate slacker genius of F1: girls, cars, booze and cigarettes, it's safe to say he would not have fit well in a corporate environment. In fact he had a clause in his Mclaren contract that he would not ever have to wear a suit or got to sponsor events.





I don't need to go into the James Hunt story which you can find elsewhere online but I did find this fantastic period clip starring Dickie Davies an announcer who looks like a cross between a Michael Palin character and a porn actor and must surely have been the inspiration for Brian Fontana. The graphics alone are hilarious.
It's a wind up to the 1976 season final at Fuji Japan a race that would be held under such torrential rain that Niki Lauda decided to quit after two laps even though the championship was on the line. I guess he gambled that Hunt "the Shunt" would throw it all away and that he would win by playing it safe. Of course you can't fault Lauda for bravery, not after missing only two races after his horrific accident at the Nürburgring, an accident shown in graphic detail in this clip.

the volume is kind of loud on this clip, you might want to turn the speakers down before you hit play...




I saw these cars in person at the last Monaco Grand Prix Historique. A fantastic event and a great chance to see all these amazing cars driven, in most cases, just as hard as back when they were new.




thanks to stavelot7

Fernando's axis of oversteer

Tomorrow's qualifying will be exciting but I think McLaren and especially Alonso look to have, as I imagine Ron Dennis might say: "optimized our synergistic driver-car interface in conjunction with our technology partners".


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Heikki Kovalainen decided do a fireworks show to celebrate his success with Renault this year


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and Adrian "Air" Sutil shows Spyker's aeronautical heritage still alive and well.


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thanks to AEF1 for the rips