VRRA Vintage Festival August 22-24 | GTAMotorcycle.com

VRRA Vintage Festival August 22-24

Vintage Racer

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The Vintage Road Racing Association's Vintage Festival at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. August 22nd, 23rd & 24th.

What does it look like when close to 300 motorcycle racers from across the globe descend on Canadian Tire Motorsports Park?

Spectacular! This third round of the 2014 season is a "don't miss" event! It's held at the most exclusive historical road racing venue in Canada: Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

Formerly Mosport International, the track is very fast, and thanks to some major upgrades by Canadian Tire very smooth, flowing, and safe. Very often tracks that receive a "face lift" lose some of the character that was there from the original design, not so here. The 2013 Vintage Festival was the first motorcycle racing series to hit the new track, and the unanimous opinion was that the track was better everywhere, and the changes made not only dropped lap times, but provided major upgrades to safety, especially in the added run-off areas.

This year again, the VRRA is proud to host our penultimate event at this historic track, and there is plenty to come out for! Friday of course kicks off the weekend with morning practice, but at 1:30pm starts the final endurance race of the 2013 season. Each round has seen entries of 20+ teams, so there's no lack of interest in endurance racing in Canada! There's talk/rumors already of expansion in 2015 of a full-fledged series possibly with involvement from our friends at SOAR. What's the old phrase? Build it and they will come?

Saturday the excitement begins with qualifying sprint races commencing mid-morning after practice. When you come out Saturday make sure to bring some sunglasses though! The Eastern Shield division of the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group will be putting on their annual Show and Shine Concours event. This is a judged event where you will get to see the finest historical machines in existence in Canada. The machines are judged in differing categories based on their level of prep and historic authenticity. You will be able to meet and greet with the owners and builders, and ask any questions you like. The CVMG provides a platform for historical motorcycle preservationists across Canada to coordinate and meet. They make a fantastic effort to keep our motorcycling heritage alive, and we are proud to host this event as a focal point to their efforts.

Sunday is of course the finals for the sprint races, and again the racing starts mid morning and follows throughout the day. The VRRA is proud to support the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada program with a fundraiser at each event. The Vintage Festival fundraiser will be held during the lunch break on Sunday.

The event is called the T3, which stands for Try The Track. This is a chance for you to take your own motorcycle out for a controlled touring session and get a chance to see what the venue looks like from the fast side of the fence! There will be three groups, which will be based on bike size and type. Unfortunately this does mean that there is a chance that you and a friend could be split up if you are on widely varying types of machines, but this is done for everyone's safety, so no "begging" please! Each group is strictly limited to 25 machines, and the speed is limited to 80kph with pace cars and control Marshals. This will seem slow, (especially on the back straight!) but keep in mind, this is a fundraiser, and a chance to see what we see, not an opportunity to hone your racing abilities!

Registration for the T3 opens at 10:00am near Tech on the same level as the restaurant, there will be a sign. You must be over 18, present a valid M3 license, have a full face helmet, boots, gloves, jacket/pants, and submit your machine for a quick safety check. The machine does not need to be race prepped, but we are concerned not only with everyone's safety, but also that the machine is not leaking fluids which could end a racer's day in tragedy. Please go over your machine before you sign up. There is NO reserving spots in advance, so make sure you get there early, the event typically fills up within the first couple hours of registration opening! The cost to register is $25.00 per person, and again 100% of the proceeds go directly to Big Brothers Big Sisters! With your help the VRRA has raised nearly $3000.00 already this season for the BBBS, so come on out Sunday and help us support their efforts!

 
I'll be there Saturday evening and most of Sunday. For anyone interested there's usually a chance to ride as a monkey on the sidecars (bring your riding gear).
 
The T3 sounds interesting. How strictly are the rules enforced? I was there the year Lang Hindle and Art Robbins did parade laps, supposed to stay behind the pace truck but tried to settle old scores. Maybe we can do the 85 percentile thing?
 
If anyone is even remotely interested in going. DO IT!

I found the event to be simply awesome. I enjoyed it even more than CSBK nationals. If you are a gear head it is a must see. The amount of pristine vintage bikes you will see is mind boggling. Everyone is super friendly and is willing to give you all the history on their machines.

Oh, and a ridiculous amount of vintage machinery still being ridden faster than it probably should be. The grids are massive, the races are good, and a great laid back atmosphere. Although I'm sure the lads at the sharp end are still going for it.
 
Inreb, where are ya? I'm parked beside your POS.

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I just got back. What a weekend. HUGE grids in most classes. Period 4 formula 3 (my class) had something like 33 entries. I couldn't better last year's lap times (I had clutch linkage issues - that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it - Fixed it but it cost me my first and only practice of Saturday morning). Same lap times (1:44-ish) were good for 6th last year, 12th this year.
 
Inreb, where are ya? I'm parked beside your POS.

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I'm hiding behind the CMR frame display. I waiting for the goober on the Thruxton to leave.
 
Another great weekend at the VRRA. Friday was a writeoff because of weather but the rest was great. Perfect weather on Sunday and thankfully very few crashes. Such a great bunch of riders and supporters come out for this.
 
went as a spectator...raceing was good. the ride the track was a RIP OFF.... 2 groups. 1st on got 5 laps.... second grp got 1... WTF happened there...i'm ******..
 
the ride the track was a RIP OFF.... 2 groups. 1st on got 5 laps.... second grp got 1... WTF happened there...i'm ******..

Yep, I was in group 2, as well. Not sure what went on, but I was equally disappointed. :protest:angry9::banghead:
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They were behind schedule and mentioned in the rider's meeting that if there was any nonsense going on, they'd end it immediately. Someone must've screwed it up for the rest of us.
 
Yep, I was in group 2, as well. Not sure what went on, but I was equally disappointed. :protest:angry9::banghead:
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They were behind schedule and mentioned in the rider's meeting that if there was any nonsense going on, they'd end it immediately. Someone must've screwed it up for the rest of us.

Oh ok, you were with that group of riders that came off track and parked near me. I heard all that lapping yapping. That explains the weird look you gave me up at turn 2 later on when I stood next to you. I thought "oh gawd this hick thinks I'm checking him out"
 

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