A Covid Championship Year

2020 has been a year like no other, that is for sure! It started on a huge high for us when I travelled with James Houghton to COTA for the Gridlife Touring Cup that was part of the second ever SuperLap Battle USA. With Northern Speed purchasing Houghton's standout Acura Type R late last year James had sourced an Acura TSX that Unit 2 Fabrication reworked and created into a well thought out wheel to wheel race car that perfectly fitted into Gridlife's GLTC rule format.

With a quick stop at the NCM Motorsport Park to test on the way down the team was really happy with the minor issues that affected the K-Tuned supported TSX during the shakedown. Houghton arrived at the Austin Grand Prix circuit as the only one taking advantage of the 200TW or higher tire rule and with many racers shaking their heads it was up to the Time Attack expert to prove it was the right move! He explained his thought process, "The whole GLTC package is to equalize cars using weight, power, aero and tires. The TSX only has 237 whp and with the limited aero we chose to run the 200TW tires factored in to allow us to weigh a number we think will make us competitive. We have been thinking about the package for almost six months and we think it will work, I guess time will tell."

And that statement was indeed true. The 200TW tires came into their own right from the get go and Houghton pulled out a gap large enough to handle his opponents once their slicks came on and it was their turn to challenge. A dream weekend and debut faltered when a connector on the TPS dislodged as James was leading the field to the green in the third race. But winning three out of four races and talking the event championship proved the Canadian had made the right moves regarding the cars specification.

The long trip back to Canada was a happy one with great discussions about chasing down a Championship in the GLTC series. How little did we know just over a month later out racing schedule for 2020 was going to take a hit big time. And it came about because of something none of of us suspected. Covid 19 struck the world with a vengeance, the annual car show in Toronto got shutdown after the Friday and Saturday. It tends to be a high point of the Canadian winter where we can get together and talk cars. This year it was all about when we would get out racing?

As time went on the magnitude of the pandemic brought more and more shutdowns and stopped social gatherings. The Canadian - US border was closed and as I write this in September I see the closure has been extended to October 21st. That meant no Gridlife for Houghton in a year that promised so much. Normally in Canada it is May before the weather or tracks are good enough for racing and this year was no different except we headed to the track with a whole new set of rules in place. No photographers! Only two crew! Masks! And social distancing! And worst of all for the tracks, no spectators. The track concessions were closed and you had to bring your own food. Some tracks outlawed overnight camping. It really was a whole new World!

So what did Houghton chose to do? His heart was in chasing a GLTC Championship but the schedule now allowed him to learn some more about the car and wheel 2 wheels racing. He still showed up at the Canadian Sport Compact Series Time Attack opener and set a new production car based record. He competed in the Northern Speed Time Attack event at Shannonville Motorsports Park where we challenged for the overall win before settling for second. "That TSX is just amazing to told everyone. I've never driven a car so good!" He competed in the CASC Sprint Series where he juggled classes between GT3 and GT2 before moving to GT1 at Shannonville and taking his first CASC win.

It was not the year he had expected, heck it was not the year anyone of us expected. There were no championships won which was odd for a competitor like Houghton but we are all healthy, we got to the track and had some fun.

Now all fingers are crossed that 2021 is going to be a better year, one where we can chase championships and hang out with friends who now use the term "You've been 2020'd when things go bad"