NATHAN BLOK AND FUTEC MOTORSPORT SPC DEBUT
Futec Motorsports debut to the Super Production Challenge was met with a fair share of new team jitters to he shaken down after the opening 2 rounds to the season.
Event
number 1 saw three time Canadian champion Nathan Blok behind the
wheel for the Victoria day Speed Fest at Canadian Tire Motorsport
Park (Mosport). After some problems with brake management and some
fuel concerns arose during testing, the crew pulled an all night
operation in the pouring rain to get Blok on track. Despite missing
qualifying and starting at the back of the 17 car grid in heavy rain
conditions, Blok made an incredible drive to finish 8th in the first
event, and 7th in the second. The inverted grid would see Blok
starting 3rd for the final event. Unfortunately he lost 5th gear on
the opening lap, and was forced to retire after 5 laps.
After
having the transmission replaced 2 weeks later for the second round
at Shannonville Motorsports Park, the 38 degree weather would see the
Futec 370z deal with overheating issues along with all the other
Nissans competing in the Super Production class. Some overnight fixes
to cool the car, and cool weather helped to relieve the overheating
problems. Starting in 9th, Blok made an excellent drive in race 1 to
finish 8th on track after winning a race long battle with 2 time
champion Olivier Bedard, but was penalized for a camera malfunction,
dropping him back down to 9th.
The
inverted grid for race 2 had Futec Motorsports first pole position.
At the drop of the green, Blok stormed off into a commanding lead for
the first 2 laps, before the fuel starvation issues from Mosport
reared it ugly head again causing him to retire from the race. With
the issue fixed i Blok head back to the track for the final race of
the weekend. However the fuel gremlins appeared once again causing
Blok to fall back to 14th.
Not willing to give up despite the continuing issue Blok climbed his
way up the grid to recover for an 8th place finish.
"We
have had anticipated difficulties with the car, but that is to be
expected in any new team. Every race weekend, every session, every
lap we have gotten faster and more efficient. The crew has been
working tirelessly to get things up and running, and I'm excited for
the rest of the season. The growing pains are slowly coming to an
end, and now we can work at extracting the full potential from the
car to build upon the flashes of success we have been showing".
Blok’s next race weekend is July 7, 8, 9 at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville.
Futec Motorsports Quick Facts: Futec Motorsports founded in 2023 is owned and operated by Nathan Blok. The team is currently running a 2009 Nissan 370Z in the Super Production Challenge engineered by Maxime Vadeboncoeur (www.simplyfast.ca), and is planning on participating in several Lucky Dog races this season.