When Daniel Demaras arrived at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park before 8:00 am on Sunday, he was greeted with some good news by a slightly tired looking team principal, Mr. Bill Vallis. After changing the faulty distributor, checking the throttle cable and lubricating all the carburetor linkages, Bill decided to replace the cylinder head. It was a big job, but it got done before sunset the night before.
Last year’s (rebuilt) cylinder head was re-installed in the engine, eliminated one variable. But that pu tthe team back to ‘square one’ regarding engine tuning. Demaras would just have to test it out during the race.
Mr. Bill Vallis didn’t get to be a Canadian Motorsports Hall of Famer for nothing! His 50+ years of experience really showed, and helped Daniel get a P3 finish in the Sunday morning race. After the 3-hour lunch break, Daniel would be back on track for the Final Race of the 2024 VGP. But first, a quick visit to the old karting track.
Back in 2017, little Daniel was a kart racer with open-wheel dreams. He’d won the 2016 CRKC Karting Championship and moved up to Briggs & Stratton racing at Mosport Kartways. From that karting track, he could see the race cars rounding Turn 8 on Mosport’s Grand Prix Circuit just on the other side of the fence. The allure of real racing was strong.
Friend of the family Trevor Reeve invited the Demaras’ to hop the fence and watch his driver Chad compete in the Sunday afternoon kart race. With a 3-hour gap in the schedule, Daniel and Chris visited the Mosport karting track for the first time in nearly 4 years.
Familiar faces of kart racers Daniel competed against brought a smile to his face, but those warm feelings didn’t last long. On the first lap of Chad’s race, a pile-up crash occurred that resulted in airborne karts and a racer landing on his head, upside down, with his kart on top of him. The race was red flagged as the ambulance headed to the scene.
Back on the other side of the fence, Daniel seemed pensive. It’d been two full seasons in F1200 since his first and only on-track incident. But in karting, crashes and flips happened every weekend. Demaras’ first visit to the karting track in many years made him realize that some experiences are better left in the past where the can be looked back upon fondly, as nostalgic memories.
Back at the big track, crew readied the No. 12 race car for the final races of the VGP weekend. Race 3 was the first time the new cylinder head had been run since the rebuild, and going through a heat cycle meant the valves might be out of adjustment. Vallis did his best to give Demaras the fastest car he had all weekend.
Daniel’s race started strong, and the car performed well. While in the slipstream of the race leader, Demaras was able to pull up close and execute a pass. But as with previous races, once the No. 12 car was in front, it simply didn’t have the power to stay ahead of the chasing pack. On the final lap, the No. 12 was ‘freight-trained’ by a group of three F1200s down the back straight. The speed difference was so dramatic that there was nothing left for Daniel to do but concede the position.
A disappointed Daniel discussed the situation with Bill Vallis in the debriefed. Bill suggested a test day on the road course at Cayuga before the Peter Jackson Trophy race at Shannonville Motorsports Park on July 13th. Fine tuning the carburetor, and trying different jets might determine if the engine is starving for air or not. Time will tell if the power locked in the engine can be freed up, or whether an engine swap is necessary.
Soon, the team will get on top of this engine issue and propel Daniel to the top step of the podium.
a great story even if a disappointing ending. you guys are such a positive team. clearly, daniel drove well, but the engine couldn’t get him there this time. you still have the prettiest car on the track but i am sure that is little comfort.
No…looking good is our main goal. That’s why Daniel got a new blue racjng suit. To be all matchy-matchy with the car.
You win some, you lose some, but you should always look like a million bucks and represent your sponsors properly.
you do it well