well it’s been one heck of season so far…..a few ups but mostly downs it seems. we are working with our new Pro Formula Mazda this year. it’s a pro level car and in the beginning of the season it looked liked we were in deep but after all is said and done, it’s a race car like most all other open wheel race cars. we have had teething problems to say the least. bad set up baseline given to us to start with, the car was horrible to drive, couldn’t get heat into the tires and on and on it goes.

we parted ways with our crew chief of the last few years so that was a bit of a setback but we have moved on, no more crew chief on our team as I have taken on the majority of those tasks. we have a new race car mechanic / data guy by the name of  garry maclean. although he is new to race cars and data he is keen and seems to be picking up the required knowledge very quickly. we have also added a few more hands to the team in nathan hill and then we picked up two automobile engineering students, shawn madro and matt glanzer, from the university of calgary who are also very keen and are heavily involved in the Formula SAE program at the university and can’t wait to use our data collection from the car to augment our set up but both of these young guys will first have to learn a bit more about the car. welcome garry, nathan, shawn and matt. we will post photos of the new team members very soon.

so whats been happening in so far as race results…..well we have won every trophy race we have started this year (3), we seem to have the car going faster all the time. we set a new qulifying track record at race city, we set a new race track record the same weekend then went out and went even faster 3 weeks later at the same track but the sweet spot in the car still proves to be hidding on us. the car and i are still looking for each other. i cant wait to find the elusive sweet spot!

mechanically the car was just not what it was represented to be! over 600 hours went into the car to get it race ready and everything we took apart, rebuilt or replaced has been fine. it’s things that we took for granted that are letting us down….things like the MOTORS! we got 2 with the car, one was reported to be fresh and the other a little older. well, we blew up the fresh motor and when we went to install the spare, we found one of the worst cared for motors I have seen in a long time (and this car and spares came from a PRO team, shame on them) so it simply will not see the car until it is freshened and we are confident it’s a solid part.

the car looks very good, seems to be reliable for the most part and it does appear that it can take the punishment of road racing, it’s quite robust in that regard. it accelerates very well and each time we come back from the track we have made the car go faster.

we will get some photos of the new car on the site along with some video real soon but when our crew chief was released so was our web site guy! we now have a new host and site admin guy who will be uploading more photos and videos real soon so please come back and check on us mid september.

as of now, we have a fresh motor in the car, all is well and we are off to the namao air force base for a test / race this weekend. i am really excited about this weekend for a few reasons, first we will be stopping by one of our sponsors SEKO CONSTRUCTION to show the car, some photos and pr. we have a fresh motor and clutch in the car, we are going to a high speed track that finally, hopefully will allow us to put more aero into the car and get it pushed down to the ground and maybe….just maybe we will get some heat into the tires and get to see just how this car does perform because there is way more in the car than what we have been able to extract from it so far. max corner g force we have been able to get is 2.78 G, i think we should be way over 3 but if the tires don’t get hot and sticky, just when you push a little harder the car pushes through the turn and adios to the lap time. i know this is us not hitting the sweet spot in the setup just yet but we will get it…we will get it! and finally i am excited to see the new team members work with the established guys on the team. last time out i was surprised to see just how efficient the guys were with new surroundings but other than taking longer to do changes on the car than it should, the guys did a heck of a good job. i expect they will do even better as they get more comfortable in the team.

the last time we were at namao military base we did a 1:09 lap time in our formula continental car. we have to improve on this and i look forward to the post race report that hopefully will have quicker times at the same track with the new pro formula mazda! race report, pictures and video to come…..

a bunch of fun was up for the taking at the recent BUILDEX show in edmonton on march 23/24. of course ROBERTSHAW RACING was there on behalf of all our advertisers but given the fact it was in edmonton the top advertiser honours had to go to SEKO CONSTRUCTION, www.sekoconstruction.com and for the trade show it was SEKO RACING. and as always the advertisers for the 2010 racing season were on display in concert with SEKO RACING.

we had a new participant in the promotion category for the BUILDEX show and i am happy to share with you it was the HARDWARE GRILL ( www.hardwaregrill.com ) in edmonton and although they were only with us for this show they made the contest a huge hit just by being the host dinner gift certificate contest  winning prize! if you don’t know of HARDWARE GRILL in edmonton you should! great food, cool atmosphere, the waiters are freindly but you don’t feel like you just found a new best friend for 2 hours and now they boast a cruvinet wine machine (they call it something else but they are the same). A cruvinet machine affords the proprietor the opportunity to offer very high end as well as a vast selection of wines by the glass without the wine going off once opened. it does this by way of injecting a gas into the bottle. that gas occupies the place of the wine (it does not mix with the wine) just poured so the wine maintains it’s integrity from the first to last glass even if it’s been opened for a month or two. anyway that’s the readers digest version…if you seek a better explanation you need to go to the wine spectator!!

the manager is Sarah and she was very helpful in getting the HARDWARE GRILL give away gift card handled, of course it couldn’t have happened without the green flag from the owners, larry Stewart (chef) and his wife and business partner Melinda. the night I went to pick up the gift card i couldn’t resist the opportunity to dine at the restaurant and of course couldn’t resist the many, many  3 oz. samples of all kinds of great wines paired with my food selections.

my waiter was shane and he was very knowledgeable, in tune with the menu and had some great recommendations of wine to compliment my dinner selections. i could go on about the whole night but i wont. i will tell you that if you go there the menu is seasonal and if i were you i would get there soon because the butter lobster braised with sage and mascarpone cheese risotto was ….well….fantastic!!! i paired that with a pinot gris and wow…… the dish was created by sean o’connor, a good italian guy….just kidding of course. he is the guy on the right in the pictures posted in the gallery page, larry is the guy on the left and we have ryan in the middle.

when the race team is in edmonton racing at the air force / army base i take the guys to HARDWARE GRILL on saturday night. they work very hard and after all, a little fun, great food and the company of all the guys having some laughs is a win in of itself, i can’t wait to get back to HARDWARE GRILL this summer.

on to the show…what can i say, BUILDEX www.mmpiwest.com is a trade show that showase’ new building products, building techniques and trends in the building industry. the cool thing for is that we are there representing all our advertisers and we don’t sell anything other than the message that our advertisers on the race car are, open for business, healthy companies serving the building sector well, in western canada, for many many years…and a dinner gift card to the person who correctly answers the skill testing question!

it’s kind of kooky, people think that we have some other motive for getting them to enter the dinner gift card draw but we don’t, just some fun to add to the trade show. anyway i am sure you are on the edge of your seat wondering who won the draw but first you need to know what the skill testing question was this time;

(now picture the race car sitting there, the engine cover is off, full wings front and rear, the left pod top is off exposing the engine)

this race car uses a FORD 2.0 litre engine. what FORD model of car is the engine from?

the answers given were;

1)FORD RANGER 2)FORD PINTO 3)FORD FIESTA 4)FORD MUSTANG 5)FORD PANTERRA 6) FORD FOCUS. the entrant was to circle which answer they thought was correct, here are the results;

147 entries total, 4 answers for #1, 55 answers for #2, 14 answers for #3, 10 answers for #4, 5 answers for #5 and 59 answers for #6 and the correct answer was #2, FORD PINTO, and we all know PINTOS ROCK!

and now the winner of the $200 dinner gift card at the HARDWARE GRILL in edmonton is……………drum roll please…….the winner is BARRY YEREX  from the edmonton area…..tadahh! congratulations BARRY, i am confident you’ll enjoy the HARWDARE GRILL.

 so that’s about it for our recent trade show activity, the ARRIVE and DRIVE racing experience is heating up and our PRO FORMULA MAZDA is coming along so we will have alot more to report over next few weeks. so until then…

Blairica

hello race fans,

well it’s been a very busy off season, so busy it seems we have had no time off at all! we just recently attended the MMPI West www.mmpiwest.com BUILDEX trade show, held in calgary on behalf of all our advertisers and it was a huge success. we have also started to plan the trade show and promotion schedule for 2010 and we will be busy in 2010 to be sure.

now to the headline………

2 cars are better than one! well that could be debated but we are about to find out. robertshaw racing entered into a purchase agreement back in october last year, to acquire a PRO FORMULA MAZDA race car with all the bells and whistles to compete in the STAR MAZDA PRO RACING SERIES www.starmazda.com. go to the site, check out the video of the opening lap from the Sebring race from last year, that will give you a good idea of just how fast these cars are. we are trying to get into the series, whether we do or not is yet to be seen but regardless we now have a two car race team, the formula continental as posted on the web site and the soon to be posted pro formula mazda.

the mazda is a 2006 model year with current 2010 specifications. it’s a carbon race car complete with no lift shift, traction control, fuel management system to name just a few of the car features. the car is much faster and quicker than the continental car but it needs a ton of work. you see the car was represented to be in “race ready condition” but it definately was not, in fact i was shocked to see the state the car was in when it was delivered to us at the montana border. this was such a hassle just getting the car to the border we said screw it, take the car, get it back to calgary and sort it out with the vendor. well  i have to tell you, the vendor, mike hacquard from langley / whiterock bc has been a real stand up guy, a real champion in so far as the state the car was delivered versus what he thought he was selling. i look forward to reporting a favourable outcome when the dust settles.

in other news you may remember we had an advertiser who developed luekemia and i am happy to report that thankfully it looks like he is in remission following a gruelling treatment regime , our thoughts, prayers and good wishes will continue for him and his family.

so that’s about all i can reveal for now but rest assured we have alot more things to share with you once we finalise all the details.

as usual, we cannot thank all of our advertisers enough for the support you have given us over the past 2 years. i hope to continue to serve you and your business’ well in 2010 and beyond. thank you, thank you so much, we couldn’t do this without you.

an additional bonus for the 2010 season is that all advertisers on the car now, who renew for the 2010 season will be given additional signage on the second car at no extra cost so really it does appear that 2 cars are better than one! we are in discussions with a few new advertiser’s currently and i look forward to announcing their participation soon and the complete advertiser line up for 2010.

we are also launching a new program this year and if you go to the site navigation bar you will see the addition of the “ARRIVE AND DRIVE RACING EXPERIENCE” and when we aren’t promoting your business, testing or racing, the  fc car will be rented out to qualified drivers so a busy season coming our way for sure.

more very positive news is in the works and i can’t wait to share it with you but a few more loose ends need to be tied up before we announce.

blairica

that’s right, race cars, lawyers and beer! no were not getting sued, that’s the tag that our friends at MMPI, the kings of presenting “premier conference and trade show expositions”  for real estate management, construction, renovation, architecture and design sectors went with in their most recent pre show headline teaser update!

http://www.mmpiwest.com/temp3/bc/bc_091014_construction.htm

yes you read correctly, we have formed a relationship with MMPI in an attempt to bring a little different twist and some additional fun to the BUILDEX trade show circuit. we are starting our newly formed relationship in calgary november 3 / 4 at the roundup center. the next stops will be edmonton and vancouver in spring 2010.

we have been working with paul maryschak of MMPI in vancouver and i have to say, this guy knows the trade show and conference business. really easy to work with and dedicated. i spoke with him last week and man was this guy sick….but still in the office…… i see a raise coming his way!

we hope to add some additional sizzle to the show with the car on display, all our advertisers flags up and flagging, streaming race video and even sound!

we also have a cool draw that will take place!

oh noooo, not another draw? yes my friends another draw but you have to have more than blood running through the veins to win this one!

insert drum roll……….here’s how it works…….

we ask conference guy / conference girl a question about the race car and offer up 5 answers of which, you guessed it, only 1 is correct….ooohhh we are a tricky bunch, then we review all the ballots and (we choose the one that has been stuck to the bottom with gum, kidding, just kidding) the correct answer ballots of the quiz get tossed in a drum, shake shake shake, pull out a ballot and credit card bob’s your uncle, we got a winner!, and for that very smart and lucky individual a $200 dinner cert at il sogno http://www.ilsogno.org/ in bridgeland, not bad, not bad. (oh, by the way the cert is brought to you courtesy of MMPI, Il sogno and XPS CONTRACTING, Calgary http://www.xpsconstruction.com/). you can get a good dinner for 2 for $200! and wait….there’s more, we’re also going to do the picture in the race car and email them off to those who dare to do the dream thing! that’s always cool, not many get really close to a real race car let alone get their picture taken in one!

seriously, this is a great opportunity and i am happy to have you all with me. the guys at MMPI have been great to work with. above, near the top, is a link to the most recent show update that MMPI created, that went to thousands of recipients in the construction world, supply to the construction industry, purchasers of  construction services, new products in the industry and on it goes. please visit the link and explore their site. i’m sure you will find it informative. another cool thing about the BUILDEX trade show is the broad base of topics, products and construction related services that are presented, seriously go to their site and have a look. I am sure if you have yet to attend one of their shows you may want to re think it! tons of great information, displays of new product, changes in the industry, contract law, design trends, architectural advances and don’t forget a race car! now you have to go don’t ya?

usually we spend this time of year tearing apart the race car, replacing parts, confirming current advertisers, getting additional advertisers, getting ready for the next season and this year is no different but as you can see we have a little additional activity and i cant wait for us to be there so come on down, have a chat, get a picture of you in the car and enter the draw! who knows you just may be the “lucky” who gets to enjoy the fine dinning offered up by MMPI, Il Sogno and ROBERTSHAW RACING!

see you at the show!

PINTOS ROCK!

Blairica

Well we are ready for the last race at race city but I guess we should be as our trip to Vancouver / Mission had to cxl’d. I don’t enjoy the track much as conditions sure aren’t that nice but it is better than no track at all. Ash, Jes and Myles were over to set video camera angles, change aero settings and the gear cluster back to Race City requirements.

Last time out I could not get the car into the 1:19.99′s, try as I might. We normally are in the low 1:18′s to mid 1:17:5′s but we suffered some ignition battery issues last time out. The car had nothing, zero, no punch at all. I think we have the problem sorted now!

My back is quite a bit better today and I feel I will be 100% by the weekend. Sure hope so.

Car is well prepped, clean and ready to go so here’s hoping we have a safe, fun, weekend full of victory!

PINTO’S ROCK!

Blairica

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