Our racers included: Sam ("Faster than Light") Ang, Joe ("Watch Me Win, Win! Watch Me Nae Nae!") Acceturo, Martin ("Alain Prost") Claeys, Alain ("Gilles Villeneuve") Tranchemontagne, Alex ("Ayrton") Silva de Balboa, John ("Jam") Kiang, Ash ("Linebacker") Saddul, Jean-Yves ("Il Commendatore") Carpenese, Guillaume ("Schumacher") Lepine, Michael ("Mark Donohue") Brown, Caroline ("Smooth Speed") Sauve, and myself.
We raced three "qualifier" races to amass points that would determine the starting positions for the final, trophy-determining final race.
I'd like to say that the racing was clean and genteel, but that would be a bald-faced lie! It was physical and dirty with lots of bumping, plenty of crashing, and a fair number of both warnings and penalties. And it was a blast! I wish I could count the number of times I entered the hairpin on the racing line only to have someone try to sneak down the inside at way too fast a speed, taking us both out!
In the end, Joe ("Watch Me Win, Win! Watch me Nae Nae!") Acceturo put an an amazing final performance to take the victory for the second year in a row!! There will be no living with him now, Christina. Was there any living with him before?? Joe also posted the fastest lap of the day in the final race with an incredible 20.996! We can't wait to see what decorative scheme Mia and Sophia will have for the trophy this year!
Second place went to Martin ("Alain Prost") Claeys who also posted the second fastest lap time of the day with a 21.192 in the third qualifying race. He claimed that he hadn't kart raced in ten or so years, but absolutely no one was believing it for a second. Alain Prost's nickname was "The Professor" and I think it is very appropriate for Mr. Prost-Claeys. In a moment of insanity, Mr. "Prost-Claeys" resigned from FASRI to take an open F1 driver seat with the resurgent Renault Formula 1 team for 2016. But then he found out that he would not have a Mercedes or Ferrari powerplant and quickly asked for his position at FASRI back. Wise choice, I think.
Our third place winner was Alain ("Gilles Villeneuve") Tranchemontagne, a friend of both the ACF and me. Hailing from Montreal, Alain's finely Barber Motorsports-honed track driving skills were on full display. Alain laid down a blistering 21.434 lap to take the fastest lap of the second qualifier race. And he wins "husband of the day" award too for being the only one of us to successful get his wife out onto the track! Caroline ("Smooth Speed") Sauve may be the real winner of the third place title!
A huge thanks to all who came to participate and to watch. For some terrible video (narrated by my son, Marshall ("Murray Walker") Vernon and his friends Charles and Ian), but a taste of the action:
Those who know me may feel I have a certain penchant for a particular brand of vehicle. Maybe people think I'm a bit too focused on it. But in honor of Guillaume (Schumacher) Lepine, here is some proof that despite me ribbing him about the funny logo on his helmet, I do pay at least some attention to the lesser, I mean, other German makes.
