Vallis Motor Sport used the ‘Regional Test Day‘ before the BEMC Late Summer Trophy Race to get the F1200 cars ready for race day. A shakedown was the right call, after the treacherous conditions the cars driven through at the Calabogie race.
The rear brake line blew out while approaching Turn 5 at speed. Daniel decelerated, down-shifted, and kept his cool knowing there’s plenty of run-off to slow the F1200 down. He safely drove back to pit lane and reported the issue to Vallis and Davis. They did not seem panicked; this is what test days are about.
Back at the VMS paddock, a 1972 VW van (converted into an RV) rolled by. It grabbed everyone’s attention, and not in a good way! F1200 race cars use vintage Volkswagen engines, transmissions and suspension, so to the ‘purists’ on the team, that trailer was just a terrible thing to do to a classic bus. Bill Davis even commented “They chopped $20,000 of value off the front of the bus!“.
Back on track in the afternoon session, The No. 12 MagiSeal car got all the wet-weather practice it ever needed. Daniel mentioned that this was actually his very first wet practice session all season, despite two rain races and ‘splash pad‘ training at Shannonville.
The track was drenched, sending rooster tails of water into the air. Visibility was limited, but for the last open-wheel session of the test-day, the only drivers bonkers enough to be out on track were two Vallis Motor Sport cars on their own private track.
Awesome pics! It is nice to see the “Vee” partially naked.
I know it sucks for the driver, to race in wet conditions, but pictures of race cars “singing in the rain” are so beautiful.
If you like seeing inside the Formula Vee / F1200 cars, wait until you see the pictures from Sunday. The Vallis Motor Sport team had to change an engine on the pink No. 95. The car looked like a skeleton with the body off and engine out.