It started out well, and ended well, but the part in between? I must say, it was challenging.

To start at the beginning, our test days at Mosport were quite encouraging. As you may have read in the posts here, once we got the car imported into Canada (no small feat, I may say!), Crew Chief Ian McQuillan started sorting our new BMW Z3 Coupe. A wholesale change in the rear suspension was first on the agenda, and our results reflected the mods: over three seconds a lap better. So, we were looking forward to our first "solo" run with the car at Tremblant.

Ontario Regional racer Shaun de Jager signed on for the event, and based on our test days, we were looking good. Shaun wasn't quite as quick as me, but given some time with the car, my hopes were high.

We showed up at Tremblant for the Thursday "Promoter Test Day" ready for action. My brief to Ian was to have the car ready to race off the trailer, and (no surprise) he delivered; the Z3 in perfect condition mechanically and visually. Both Shaun and I had a good series of laps, and the car felt good.

Having never been at Tremblant, my goal was to learn the track on the Thursday and then perfect my lines for qualifying on Saturday morning before the race. And I must say, Tremblant is one of the most wonderful tracks I've driven on. If you check the "photos" section, you'll see some of Paul Bruch's great shots of this circuit, which undulates its way through the Quebec countryside. It's home to some truly remarkable corners, including the complex off the front straight, which we take nearly flat-out at top speed, flying up and over turn one down into turn two, hard on the brakes for the right-hand turn three which transitions quickly into the left-hand turn four. It's a real roller-coaster ride that's truly fun, requiring nerves of steel and cohones to match.

At the far end of the track there's a tight hairpin that's very important: get that one right and you have good speed up the back straight. Part way through my second stint I came out of this turn, and the red oil pressure light stayed on. After our experience at Daytona you'd think I would've known enough to turn the car off, pull to the side of the track and wait for the tow truck. Instead, though, I turned to the radio, and called out to Ian and the crew, asking if I should stop the car. Unfortunately we had some troubles with our radios and no one answered me. Augh!

I slowly turned two corners until I heard Ian yelling "shut it off!", by which time I was pretty much in the pit. I arrived there, shut the car off and hoped for the best. Needless to say, Ian rightfully gave me the evil eye. You'd think I'd know better. We pushed the Z3 back to our paddock and pulled the oil pan off, which told the bad news; a whole pile of metal in the pan. Ian and I spent the next while yanking the rod bearings off, all of which were scored, but not badly. There was hope!

As the evening wore on, we managed to find a set of bearings from another competitor and attempted to fit them into our engine. By midnight on Thursday it was clear this was futile; I'd fried the crank. :-(

The thing that caused all this? A tiny nut holding the oil pump cog had backed itself off, causing a drop in oil pressure. It's a really minor thing to fix, and with a little Loctite and a safety wire, it will never happen again. The worst part? If I'd shut the engine off immediately and been towed back to the pit, we could have repaired the problem in about an hour, and been back out for Friday's practice. An important lesson to learn!

So Friday morning saw Ian and I pulling the engine, another one having been ordered from a dismantler in Toronto. We recruited the services of southern Ontario's best courier, Critical Path, to haul the engine on its eight-hour journey. We were set by 2pm that afternoon, the replacement didn't arrive until nearly 6pm. And -- I know you won't believe it -- the replacement was the WRONG KIND of engine. AAAAUUUGGGHHHH!!!

We called the wrecker, and he agreed to get the right engine sent out, as long as we had someone to help him, as he had a kidney stone operation earlier that week. Porsche Club buddy Raymond Lum rose to the occasion, and by 7pm Friday the two new engines (why send just one?) were on their way. The team went to a nice dinner thinking of the early start that lay ahead.

At 4:30am Saturday the second courier called; he was waiting at the Tremblant gate. Ian and Paul Bruch headed out to meet the courier and start the transplant. I was amazed that by the time I arrived three hours later, the two of them had the engine installed in the Z3. Our friends at Istook/Aines Motorsport (who field two Audi S4s in GS class) loaned us an engine crane that made a world of difference. Thanks very much!

Ian got the engine installed, and after a mis-start (and mis-fire, which required a change in spark plugs and coils), the car ran flawlessly. And so, without benefit of much practice at all, Shaun de Jager took to the grid, starting for nearly dead last. 53 cars were registered for the race, and 21 started in just our class, ST.

Without the benefit of much practice time, Shaun fell back, but not appreciably. He did a fine job of piloting our Z3 around while not getting into any trouble. His lap times came down, stabilizing at around 2:01, a fair bit off the pace of the front runners, but consistent. He drove for 44 laps before we brought him in.

As soon as I got in the Z3 I realized how confident it felt on the track. Ian really had done his homework and our car was right on the money. Unfortunately, it had also not been filled with gas. For some reason during our pit stop, the fuel hadn't found its was from the fuel rig into the gas tank, and so I was let out with the same fuel load that Shaun had come in with. AAAAUUUGGGHHHH!!!

Six laps later I pipped back into the pits, nearly out of fuel. Ian and the crew filled the car perfectly this time, and I was set to go for the race. I drove consistently in the 1:56 range on old tires, picking off a few Mazda RX8's and a Dodge SRT-4, along with the Lexus of JF Dumloin before race end. Up the road, the next two places were just 6 seconds ahead. At the checkered flag we were 14th in class, and 32nd overall out of 53 cars. Having started at the back of the pack, this was as good as a podium to us. I pumped my fist out the window as I passed the pits as a thank-you to our crew.

To recap, we started from the very back of the grid and finished 14th in class, and 32nd (30th after DQs!) overall, having very little practice time. Shaun did a good job, but real kudos must go to Crew Chief Ian McQullan and Paul Bruch who got the car running with an hour to spare. That kind of dedication is truly unusual. Thank you, guys.

And so our finish at Tremblant was quite good -- after all the challenges --although a bit less than I'd hoped. The extra fuel stop cost us an extra lap, which would have meant an 11th or 12th place instead of 14th. And if Shaun had driven in the 1:56s for his stint, it would have put us in 7th or 8th.

But no worries. Our goal is ALWAYS to start and finish the race, and once again we did. The Compass360/Racing team is now four for four races this year, and we have a really great driver scheduled for Watkins Glen and Mid Ohio. It will be interesting to see the results of these races! Especially given we have one more Mosport test day before that to get ourselves sorted.

And no driver will ever drive back to the pits with the red oil light on!

Karl Thomson