Turn 17 Grand Prix - a comeback story.

All photos in this blog entry: © Tyler A.W. Burke. 2022.

September arrived this year with smoke-saturated skies and the inaugural race weekend at Rocky Mountain Motorsports - a brand new race track north of Calgary. My brother - Zac Burke - had been forced to take August off the race circuit as he repaired, replaced parts, and re-set-up his #13 Spec Miata after blowing a transmission in July. This weekend would prove to be a return to form for Zac.

I shot this weekend with my now-proven race/travel kit: the fixed-lens Fujifilm X100V and an X-T3 with a XF 70-300mm lens. All paddock and BTS photographs were made with the X100V, and all race-action photos were made with the X-T3.

The race weekend started off with the sun fighting through thick clouds of smoke, blown over from the forest fires burning in British Columbia. Temperatures didn’t dip much though, as the air temperature climbed into the 30s (maxing out around 35C/95F) and we recorded track temperatures over 40C. The only upside: the orange hues made for interesting light.

My dad, Peter, getting Zac strapped in for practice and qualifying. It’s a family effort.

From the outset of practice, it was clear that the car was feeling a lot better and Zac was back in fighting shape. He qualified in pole position while setting a new qualifying track lap record for Spec Miata.

A return to form indeed: Zac held off the pack to win the first race of the weekend Saturday afternoon.

However, it became apparent we had a front-left puncture as we checked tire pressure after the race. Peter drove to Calgary and back to retrieve a spare set of tires and the Turn 17 crew on-site mounted and balanced them that evening. After getting the wheels back on the car, we packed up and called it a night.

Sunday began much like Saturday: hot and smoky. Another hiccup came when the Miata didn’t start that morning - Zac quickly found the issue: a bad connector. After some cutting and crimping, we had electricity again and were off to the races.

Zac had a great Sunday: snatching up a big points-race win (with an 18s lead no less) and the race track lap record for Spec Miata.

Two track lap records (race and qualifying for Spec Miata) and a place atop the podium made for a very satisfying end to the 2022 race season! I think I speak for the whole Burke clan when I say I’m looking forward to resuming racing in 2023.

If you enjoy this blog, you’ll likely find some value in the Photo of the Week feature I send out with my newsletter every week. You can subscribe to the newsletter for free below!

Until next time, take care!