Motorsports in the Ottawa Area (especially EV!)

A few of us Tesla owners are trying to convince Calabogie Motorsports to install a couple of high power chargers for Roadster and Model S.

My first attempt two years ago was rebuffed. Even after saying I'd cover all costs I was told, "it's not worth it".

We have a few more allies to the cause now, and are going to try again. We'd like to have more names to put behind this. If the owners could see it is to their economic advantage it would certainly help.

Please let me know if you'd be willing to put your name forward. Also please pass this along to any other Tesla owners that might be interested.

Thanks!

We want to run the track, of course!

inottawa and toto_48313 could you please PM me with your real names and email addresses?

Also anyone else who'd like to join the list.

Thanks!

@Steph_S, this isn't for "timed events". There will be no timing. Worst-case scenario is you have no insurance while on track (although special insurance can be purchased for the day).

If it is a "driver education" event, with instructors etc., then your regular insurance does apply.

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To give you a better idea of what a day at the track is like, here's last summer's "Tesla Track Day" at Shannonville Motorsports Park:









Here I am running my nearly silent Tesla Roadster at Shannonville:


And here for comparison I am running my rather noisy Honda S2000 at the spectacular Calabogie track:

Again, we're talking driver education, not competition.

I spoke directly to one of the owners - from what I understand the largest shareholder. He was receptive enough to say they would prewire the new building, but not receptive enough to actually go ahead and install one. Progress seems to have stalled. I was thinking of talking to one of the people renting a garage to see if he'd be willing to install a NEMA 14-50.

You can get one-on-one instruction on any of the Entrack days that say they're open to novice drivers, but that is a more expensive route. A much better deal is to go to one of the Motorsport Club of Ottawa track days; they are less expensive days and they provide instruction at no cost. Here are the dates: Motorsport Club of Ottawa View topic - Watch this space.. 2014 EVENTS!!!!

I'm heading out to the track tomorrow for the GT racing series "Test and Tune" day. I am however running my Corvette as the Tesla doesn't have the endurance for racing (heck the Corvette didn't either without adding coolers! Serious problems with overheating last year.).

If you'd like a ride around the track, to help familiarize yourself with driving it, I'll be there for the evening (5 pm - 7 pm) 1morelap sessions on May 3rd and 24th. I'll take you around for some laps. Just promise not to scream lol.

Yes, you just have to sign a waiver at the front gate.

If we can find you a helmet, and with the permission of the people operating the event, I might be able to take you around the track. But in the morning I'm going to be testing-and-tuning, so probably better to come in the afternoon. (I have a spare XL helmet if you have a big head like me.)

The first MCO autocross event is on the 10th. I'd really recommend coming - a great place to start into motorsports. That's where I started out myself. They'll have people available to ride along with you a couple of times to show you the ropes. It's mega fun, and you'll find yourself going MUCH faster by the end of the day. Also a bit later in the month there's an MCO autocross school - highly recommended. In fact you'll probably get more out of it if you do an autocross event first, before the school. Also you don't have to worry about charging for autocross, you'll only use a tiny fraction of your pack.

That's awesome! Last year there was a Neon that did very well. I've been pondering getting into Chumpcar, but I'd have to buy a seat... don't have time to build something.

Tip: if you've never run Calabogie before, it's hard to learn. There are 21 corners and half of them are blind. My first track day was really hard because I found it hard to remember all that!

What I found really effective to help learn the track was to do 50-100 "laps" on YouTube. I'll get you started:

My Tesla Roadster Tesla Roadster at Calabogie - YouTube

My now-defunct S2000 Lapping20130608 - YouTube
And another run: October 13 lapping day at Calabogie, S2000 - YouTube