Kaemmer in Canada

 
Tony Johns shadows Kaemmer's Lotus in the early laps
9/18/98 - Looking like he was in a class of his own, Dave Kaemmer roared back to an undisputed lead in the Papy Cup with a dominant win in yesterday's Grand Prix of Canada. But for a single mistake, Kaemmer would likely have lapped the entire field in a virtuoso drive through the forests of Ontario.

After challenging in the early laps, Tony Johns faded to a distant second, while Randy Cassidy and Scott Sanford battled for the final podium position for much of the race until a spin by Sanford gave the place to Cassidy.

Alison Hine put in the comeback drive of the race. After qualifying her Eagle third, she failed to make the grid and was forced to start from the pits, some 30 seconds after the rest of the field had departed. She clawed her way through the field, passing everyone except Johns and Kaemmer, but was scored fifth as the stewards discounted her first lap because her pit stall, from which she started, is after the start/finish line!

 
Racing through the picturesque Canadian countryside
Practice

Dave Kaemmer put in another stunning qualifying performance, the Lotus topping the field by nearly a second with a scintillating 1:22.93.

Tony Johns laid down a 1:23.81 to put his Lotus second on the grid, while Alison Hine hauled the cumbersome Eagle onto the front row with a 1:24.45. The Ferraris of Scott Sanford and Randy Cassidy rounded out the top five, with the third Lotus, driven by Matt Masala, in sixth.

Bill Betts' Ferrari and Sean Turbitt's Coventry bravely brought up the rear of the thin grid. Series regulars Matt Sentell, Rich Yasi, Sean Wise, and Kevin Wasson were unable to make the race.

Practice Results

The Race

 
The field storms away from the grid at Mosport
Dave Kaemmer led away from the flag, with Tony Johns in hot pursuit. Cassidy was third, with Sanford, Turbitt, and Marsala behind, while Betts and Hine waited impatiently for the stewards to release them from the pit lane.

Sanford ran wide at 5A on the first lap and Cassidy took the opportunity to open up a gap, while Scott found Matt Marsala's Lotus looming in his mirrors.

For the next several laps Johns stayed in touch with Kaemmer, keeping the pressure on but never quite looking like being in a position to make a passing attempt. On the fifth lap, Johns' fine challenge for the lead came to an end, as the Lotus snapped sideways down the hill through Turn 4, touched the curb on the inside, and Tony had to lock up all four to gather it back up.

 
Johs stalks Sanford midway through the race
The sliding green and yellow car clouted the barrier on the outside of the entrance to 5A. The Lotus continued, apparently unharmed, but in fact it had suffered suspension damage, and Tony spun at the exit of Moss Corner after the car snapped sideways when he tried to put the power down. By the time repairs were effected, Tony had lost contact with Kaemmer, who from that point on drew away into an unassailable lead.

Meanwhile, Sanford had drawn away from Marsala and closed on Cassidy. Sanford's cause was helped when Cassidy slid wide at 5A on the third lap, and when Randy's Ferrari skated off the outside of Turn 3 on the following lap, Sanford was through into third. Further back, Hine ran a string of laps in the 24's and 25's, and caught Marsala for fifth on the track, although with the stewards not counting her first lap she would not take the position officially until later when Marsala went two laps down.

 
Sanford locks the Ferrari's rear wheels after the hump into Tnrn 8!
The order stabilized until Johns slid wide Turn 3 on lap seven and Sanford got by for second. Tony's race went from bad to worse, as a succession of mistakes on the following lap let Sanford draw away and Cassidy close the gap. When Tony went off at 3 again, Cassidy demoted him to fourth. At the line beginning the ninth lap, Hine was only seven seconds behind the struggling Johns on the road, though still officially a lap behind.

That would be as close as she got, however, as Tony cleaned up his act and began to hunt down the Ferraris ahead. On lap twelve, as Johns had Cassidy in his sights, Sanford slid wide in Turn 8, and by the time he had gathered it back up, Cassidy and Johns were hot on his tail. The three flashed across the line to start the next lap nose to tail, with poor Marsala, a lap down, sandwiched in between.

 
Johns capitalizes as Sanford spins
Moments later, Cassidy slid off at 3 and Johns was up to third. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before the flying Lotus caught Sanford's Ferrari, but Scott was driving hard and well, and Tony could not quite close the gap. On lap 16, Sanford did a 1:24.42, his fastest lap of the race to that point, but on the next lap he spun going over the hill at Turn 2, and Johns was past and gone.

Cassidy was not far behind, and now engaged Sanford in a thrilling duel, which was resolved when Cassidy got the better of Sanford after a pair of formation spins by the two Ferraris.

 
Kaemmer puts a lap on Hine...
The flying Kaemmer now began to overtake these cars, one by one putting them a lap down. Moments after getting by Hine's Eagle, Dave's Lotus had contact with Sanford's Ferrari at Moss Corner and the Ferrari slid wide. Although Scott lost little time, it was enough for Alison to go through and into fourth on the road.

A lap later, Kaemmer made a rare mistake at Turn 4 as he dove under Cassidy, and the Lotus went into a lurid spin. Randy locked up all four in a huge cloud of smoke to avoid the Lotus, and the delay allowed Hine's Eagle to get the Ferrari in sight. When Randy overcooked it into Turn 1 and slid into the gravel, Hine was through into third on the road, but of course still officially a lap down.

 
...but then spins moments after putting Cassidy a lap down
The final seven laps featured a stirring nose to tail battle between Hine and Cassidy, as the Ferrari hounded the Eagle for lap after lap. With three laps to go, the red car's nose touched the gearbox of the blue and white car in Turn 3, sending the Eagle into a half spin, but the gallant Cassidy refused to take advantage and go for the pass under the circumstances.

Hine quickly recovered, but was rattled and in the wrong gear for Turn 4. With the Eagle moving slowly down the hill, contact was inevitable, and a light tap sent the Hine into a wild spin at the entry of 5A. The Ferrari moved ahead momentarily but went wide at Moss Corner, letting the Eagle past again.

In the closing laps, Hine's Eagle edged away from Cassidy's Ferrari, Hine setting her second fastest time of the race on her last lap. For some time, Kaemmer had been shadowing this two-car battle, wisely refraining from attempting to lap the duelling pair. In White's Corner on the final lap, Cassidy's car snapped sideways, and Kaemmer passed the Ferrari to put the red car a lap down at the flag.

 
Hine and Cassidy duel as Kaemmer lurks
Like life, racing is full of "what ifs". Hine was in third on the road at the end, only four seconds behind the second-placed Lotus of Tony Johns. Given that she started thirty seconds after the green flag dropped, it is interesting to speculate where she would have been had she started with the rest of the field. In the post-race interviews, Tony remarked to her, "I was having trouble staying with you in qualifying. If you'd made the grid, I think you would have finished second."

With her first lap not being scored, however, Hine had to be content with fifth place points.

The moral of the story is, make sure you get to the grid on time!

The Mosport race again served to underscore Dave Kaemmer's remarkable skill. Like Jim Clark in the original series, at times Kaemmer's driving sometimes looks to be on an entirely different plane from most of the other drivers in the series. He seems to be able to turn lap after lap at a pace that is simply impossible for most other drivers to match even over a single lap.

 
Hine uses all of the road and more
Matt Sentell has also put in a number of brilliant drives, demonstrating the same kind of dominance in races where Kaemmer had technical problems. It will be fascinating to see a head to head battle between the two under equal conditions.

Next week we return to Europe for the Italian Grand Prix. The historic Monza circuit has been the scene of many thrilling drafting battles. Rich Yasi and Tony Johns have shown that they can challenge the talented duo of Kaemmer and Sentell. Pre-race testing suggests that this may be the one venue where the Eagle has a clear advantage over both the Lotus and the Ferrari in sheer speed, giving the Eagle drivers cause for considerable optimism. The characteristics of the Italian circuit, with its long straights and excellent passing opportunities, are likely to foster the development of stirring wheel to wheel battles.

We look forward to what should be a very exciting race!

 
Two points reward a solid drive
Official Standings

Fastest Lap

17 D. Kaemmer LOT 1:22.92