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| August 15, 2012 |
| Ontario FF: Adams Wins Again at Mosport |
 | A Saturday win at Mosport was the fifth on the season for Adams
(Photo: Flagship Racing) |
COURTICE, ONT. (August 14, 2012) - Michael Adams returned to Ontario Formula Ford action the first weekend of August, but unless you were searching for his familiar No. 59 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, you might not have noticed. Back on track close to home after scoring a major win in his first visit to Mont-Tremblant, Adams was behind the wheel of a third different car on the season - a 2001 Van Diemen on loan from a family friend in the paddock.
“First, I really have to thank Dean Baker for the opportunity to race his car in the August round,” Adams said afterward. “It was a great experience, as the RF01 is basically the same as the current Van Diemen. It was much more stable than what I’ve become used to, and it was very easy to go fast in it. The car put the power down really well and I didn’t have to work nearly as hard to do a quick lap time like I do in our own car around Mosport.”
The words definitely rang true in Saturday qualifying, as Adams put the car on pole with a time of 1:30.326 seconds, and in the race he was the only car to break 1:31, as he recorded the fastest lap in the field on his way to his fifth win of the year. His best time was a 1:30.889 seconds, and it came in a very strange race. After emerging with the lead after a frantic first lap in a split start, Adams settled in and began dropping the clock before the race concluded under unusual circumstances.
“Early in the race I knew the tires would come to me a bit so the lap times were dropping every lap,” Adams recalled. “I also had a bit of luck with how I was catching traffic in the split field, so overall it was with a bit of luck and a bit of skill that I managed to break away. Then there was huge confusion at the end. After some laps of full-course caution the pace car pulled in and we accelerated for a restart - but there was no restart! It was hairy, but we got away with it and I became the pace car for the final two laps!”
For all the things that seemed to go his way Saturday, the opposite was definitely the case on Sunday for race two. Fastest in morning warm-up and back on pole by over two tenths-of-a-second, rain came just prior to the second race of the weekend and Adams definitely knew his car wasn’t set up for it.
“We were set very stiff for the dry conditions, so when it rained I couldn’t get any power down whatsoever,” Adams said of the second start. “I definitely had my hands full. I wasn’t exactly pleased with my performance, but I had what I had. I’ll be looking to redeem myself the next time it rains for sure.”
The result was P5 as the back half of the schedule began and Adams now sits second in the Ontario championship, still working to make up for points lost in June when he suffered from a double mechanical failure. The series resumes Labour Day weekend at Calabogie, an event that will see Adams come from College for the very first time.
“We’ll have just had orientation, but classes don’t start until after the race weekend,” Adams said, admitting maintaining focus might not have been the easiest of tasks with a race weekend looming. “I’ll be starting Mechanical Engineering Technology - Design and Analysis at Conestoga College, in Cambridge. It’s a three-year co-op program and I’m really looking forward to the experience.”
The 2012 Toyo Tires F1600 Championship Series contests seven doubleheader events from May through September. Five are held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, and the Championship also visits Shannonville Motorsports Park and Calabogie Motorsports Park. For more information, please visit offcseries.com |
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