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Strachan claims hat-trick
Prince Edward County's Malcolm Strachan closed out the 2006 season
with a pole position and three race wins. The 2006 Celebration of
Motorsport event at Mosport International Raceway saw a large field of
GT Sports Cars once again, with the usual mix of Porsches, Vipers,
Vettes and BMWs.
Strachan showed his intentions from the first laps, with a qualifying
lap of 1:24.6, more that a second quicker than Ahmad Khodkar in
position two.
The first race on Saturday afternoon saw everyone on slick tires and a
dry track after several rain showers. Strachan took the green flag
and disappeared, leaving Khodkar and Nick Majors' Viper to battle for
a distant second place. The Mobil 1 Corvette crossed the finish line
with 20 seconds in hand with Khodkar second and Majors third followed
by Boekdrukker's BMW.
Sunday morning's race started in a similar fashion, with Strachan's
freshly rebuilt engine and a new aerodynamic package proving its
worth. However, Strachan was not able to coast to an easy finish as
his tires started to degrade in the latter half of the race, allowing
Khodkar to make up some ground.
The final race was somewhat more dramatic, as a water pump leak was
discovered on the Corvette, leaving some doubt as to whether Strachan
could go the distance without overheating. 'Run every lap like it was
qualifying' were Strachan's instructions, so as to build up a large
lead in case troubles required him to slow down toward the end of the
race. Strachan again left no doubt he was quickest pulling out 30
seconds on Khodkar, whose race car cried 'enough' with three laps to
go and retired. Nick Majors inherited second place with Khodkar's
demise and trailed Strachan to the checkered flag by 45 seconds. The
corvette did not overheat and Strachan wrapped up his season with the
Quebec Championship and eleven race victories in Quebec and Ontario.
In six seasons, Strachan has been runner-up in two series title races,
and now has four championships in the record book.
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