JoeT
10-25-2009, 11:49 AM
Planning aside and background stuff done, it was finally time to get out there and have a blast entertaining the public on what we do and the enjoyment factore associated with it.
Gary Wood arrived on scene at an ungodly hour of 7:00 am to the parking lot at the CNE which was located only 30 seconds east of the now famous CNE wind generator. The skies were completely dark and it resembled midnight.
To continue the theme, the tell tale Forza tent was nowhere to be found, all we saw were a few Penske trucks parked randomly in the parking lot. In conversation with both Mike Aversa and Gary Wood, a last minute decision was made by the Forza organizers to move the event indoors, and to move the performace section to the north lot.
To make a long story short, the north lot is about 30 years old, pavement was cracked, lots of divits and pits to avoid. Not to mention, the size of the north lot allocation was less than desireable in size. The allocation provided was approximately 1/2 of what was originally prescribed, but we were there to do the best that we can with what we had... And Daniel certainly put his desiner prowess to play, which resulted in a fantastix mix of technical, speed, and flowing course.
Also thanks to Anand of Mosiac for convincing the CNE grounds manager to allow the usage of a greater bit of realestate, the net result was a "Two Thumbs up" course about 20 seconds in length, but provided the participants (pro and spectator) with an adrenalne rush that was new to some, familiar to others.
The course layout basically started off with a 70 foot drag laungh into a 3 cone slalon, into a X chickane followed by a 150 ft strait run, into a left hand sweeper with a slight kink just to keep things interesting, following the kink, another 90 degree left, then into the X again a fast right then a mad dash to the stop box.
Now, here's the fun part, the slaloms were quicker than expected, and when done properly, allowed for a nice hard acceleration into the X with which will let you hit redline in 2nd gear, a quick lift of the throttle coupled with a mild flick resulted in a near perfect drift to pivot around the first cone of the sweepler, hard on the throttle to get the balance back, then it's onto the 2nd left, making the slight kink invisible, then flat out in 2nd gear through the X and then a nice drift out of it heading into the stop box.
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Cars in the field, ranged from regular sleeper type of daily drivers all the way to full out Group B rally cars, even a PGT WRX was present, thanks to Fourstar and Richard Burton. Total car count was approximately 37, with volunteers / drivers totalling 43.
Format:
As people visited the venue, they were directed into the Better Living Center, where the XBOX launch was occuring, once they went through the Forza Experience, they received a passport which allowed them access to the paddocks and let them line up for the high performance ride.
Smiles were the order of the day, huge smiles from all participants and organizers alike.
Course design was fantastic, and adrenaline factor was up in the "close to overload" for some. We heard screems and giggles from passengers, even the VP of Mosiac was so impressed that she gladly accepted our personal invitation to allow her staff to come out for the specialty rides.
Specialty rides occured after the official event was over, the specialty rides gave an extra level of fun to the organizers beyond the normal autocross, as the drivers were intructed to create their own course and to make the "Fun Factor" bump up a notch based on what they wanted to do.
Net result: Dorifto and doughnuts for some, and higher speed drifting for others.
The most satisfying thing from an organizers perspective is seeing the smiles and enjoyment factor from all the drivers. Giving back to the community can be fun, and events like this prove that fact.
Two thumbs up for all the volunteers, and Two thumbs up for Mosiac, Highroad Communications, Forza Motorsports, and Microsoft for allowing CASC-OR and SPDA to be a part of this event.
More videos here:
Google Video's of the Event - Click Here (http://video.google.ca/videosearch?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS316&q=Forza+3,+Toronto&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=i2vkSonVNMPOlAeYiN2KBw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQqwQwAA#source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS316&q=Forza+3,+Toronto&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=i2vkSonVNMPOlAeYiN2KBw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQqwQwAA&start=0)
Gary Wood arrived on scene at an ungodly hour of 7:00 am to the parking lot at the CNE which was located only 30 seconds east of the now famous CNE wind generator. The skies were completely dark and it resembled midnight.
To continue the theme, the tell tale Forza tent was nowhere to be found, all we saw were a few Penske trucks parked randomly in the parking lot. In conversation with both Mike Aversa and Gary Wood, a last minute decision was made by the Forza organizers to move the event indoors, and to move the performace section to the north lot.
To make a long story short, the north lot is about 30 years old, pavement was cracked, lots of divits and pits to avoid. Not to mention, the size of the north lot allocation was less than desireable in size. The allocation provided was approximately 1/2 of what was originally prescribed, but we were there to do the best that we can with what we had... And Daniel certainly put his desiner prowess to play, which resulted in a fantastix mix of technical, speed, and flowing course.
Also thanks to Anand of Mosiac for convincing the CNE grounds manager to allow the usage of a greater bit of realestate, the net result was a "Two Thumbs up" course about 20 seconds in length, but provided the participants (pro and spectator) with an adrenalne rush that was new to some, familiar to others.
The course layout basically started off with a 70 foot drag laungh into a 3 cone slalon, into a X chickane followed by a 150 ft strait run, into a left hand sweeper with a slight kink just to keep things interesting, following the kink, another 90 degree left, then into the X again a fast right then a mad dash to the stop box.
Now, here's the fun part, the slaloms were quicker than expected, and when done properly, allowed for a nice hard acceleration into the X with which will let you hit redline in 2nd gear, a quick lift of the throttle coupled with a mild flick resulted in a near perfect drift to pivot around the first cone of the sweepler, hard on the throttle to get the balance back, then it's onto the 2nd left, making the slight kink invisible, then flat out in 2nd gear through the X and then a nice drift out of it heading into the stop box.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/S_nwKV3Jcr0&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/S_nwKV3Jcr0&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Cars in the field, ranged from regular sleeper type of daily drivers all the way to full out Group B rally cars, even a PGT WRX was present, thanks to Fourstar and Richard Burton. Total car count was approximately 37, with volunteers / drivers totalling 43.
Format:
As people visited the venue, they were directed into the Better Living Center, where the XBOX launch was occuring, once they went through the Forza Experience, they received a passport which allowed them access to the paddocks and let them line up for the high performance ride.
Smiles were the order of the day, huge smiles from all participants and organizers alike.
Course design was fantastic, and adrenaline factor was up in the "close to overload" for some. We heard screems and giggles from passengers, even the VP of Mosiac was so impressed that she gladly accepted our personal invitation to allow her staff to come out for the specialty rides.
Specialty rides occured after the official event was over, the specialty rides gave an extra level of fun to the organizers beyond the normal autocross, as the drivers were intructed to create their own course and to make the "Fun Factor" bump up a notch based on what they wanted to do.
Net result: Dorifto and doughnuts for some, and higher speed drifting for others.
The most satisfying thing from an organizers perspective is seeing the smiles and enjoyment factor from all the drivers. Giving back to the community can be fun, and events like this prove that fact.
Two thumbs up for all the volunteers, and Two thumbs up for Mosiac, Highroad Communications, Forza Motorsports, and Microsoft for allowing CASC-OR and SPDA to be a part of this event.
More videos here:
Google Video's of the Event - Click Here (http://video.google.ca/videosearch?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS316&q=Forza+3,+Toronto&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=i2vkSonVNMPOlAeYiN2KBw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQqwQwAA#source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS316&q=Forza+3,+Toronto&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=i2vkSonVNMPOlAeYiN2KBw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQqwQwAA&start=0)