2023 Super Production Challenge season comes to a close!

29 Aug, 2023, No comments

And with that, the 2023 Super Production Challenge season comes to a close!

The Futec Motorsports car showed promising lap times all through testing on Friday, consistently setting lap times in the top 3 in the constantly changing weather conditions.

By the time qualifying came around, an electrical issue caused the car to cut power over bumpy corners. Despite setting the 2nd fastest lap for most of the session, mechanical issues meant Blok couldn't improve his time, and qualified down in 7th. Fortunately, this issue would be fixed prior to the first race.

Starting the first race in 5th after penalties were applied, there was a extended caution for a major accident with Jacques Gravel. Once the race got started, Blok would finish in 4th, marking his best finish of the season and the best ever finish for Futec Motorsports.

The final race of the season, would have Blok starting in 2nd. Being squeezed into the inside wall in turn 2 on the opening lap by another driver in a Nissan 370, left him nowhere to go. Despite a severely damaged rim and car as a consequence, he managed to hold onto 2nd place and begin to catch up to Gabriel Lacombe in 1st. Unfortunately the electrical issues appeared to return again as he slowly slipped down the order leading to an early retirement from the race.

It was a growing season, but we know everything we need to do now for 2024. The car is fast, we just need to fix our reliability issues. It was a challenging year as a team owner, but Blok is confident we can be even faster next season!!

Big thanks to Tom Russell, Brandon Lepine, Steve Blok, Sandra Blok , and Jeff Steenbakkers for all the help and work this season!

SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR

8 Aug, 2023, No comments

Nathan Blok racing with Futec Motosports had their first appearance at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres with the Super Production Challenge, which was our best chance yet to get on the podium yet. Starting 9th for race 1, Blok was able to make his way up into 6th place and closing in on the battle for 3rd before running out of time.

Setting the 6th fastest time in race 1 with the top 7 places on the grid being inverted, Blok would line up on the front row. After being engaged in a race long battle with Todd Chiappino and Guillaume Labbe for 2nd place, an issue with the differential saw Nathan lose performance with 5 laps to go and although he fought hard, he was only able to muster up a 5th place finish.

The team tried some last minute fixes to help the problem before the final race of the weekend on Sunday. A rough start would see Nathan's 7th place starting position quickly fall to a 10th place by lap 2 after some contact & aggressive driving by some other competitors. After a full course yellow, he got himself up into 5th place before the differential began to seize again, eventually losing one spot to finish 6th.

We have a plan to work on the differential, and looks like the finale at Complexe ICAR at the end of the month will be our last shot to get a podium and a win in 2023.

CONTINUING THE FORWARD MOMENTUM

11 Jul, 2023, No comments

We had a very successful weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park even if the results didn't completely show it. First race, Nathan Blok had some slight contact with Metric Homes Racing knocking our toe out of alignment slightly, and finished in 8th.

Second race we had a good battle with Guillaume Labbe, Metric homes racing and Gabriel Lacombe to finish 8th on track, but 7th after penalties were applied.

For race 3, We would see lap times comparable to championship contender Owen Clarke and have another close battle between 6th through 10th. Eventually we would finish in 7th after post race penalties were applied.

Really big thanks to the entire crew. We all worked well together, performed positively with good direction and order, and made more positive gains as a team. We made a mountain of progress in the last 2 weeks, even if the results may not show it at the moment. We have a good game plan for Circuit GP3R next month with even more upgrades coming. looking forward to snatching that elusive podium and win soon!!

Big thanks to the entire crew!!

Tom Russell

Brandon Lepine

Jeff Steenbakkers

Steve Blok

Photo's : @cameron_forsythe7 @missmotorsportcoach @s_blok

NATHAN BLOK AND FUTEC MOTORSPORT SPC DEBUT

18 Jun, 2023, No comments

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 14^th. 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.

1st and 2nd at COMPLEX ICAR - 3rd in Championship

30 Aug, 2022, No comments

MIRABEL, QUEBEC – Nathan Blok continued his charge for the Production Class Championship in the Super Production Challenge (SPC) at ICAR COMPLEX, Mirabel this past weekend, however it was a case of winning the battle, but losing the war.

Blok headed into the final 2 rounds of the Super Production Challenge 67 points adrift of championship leader Owen Clarke, and Nelson Chan who was only 6 points behind. He needed to be flawless all weekend, and hope for bad luck to fall the way of the others.

In Friday testing, that's exactly what happened. Nelson Chan crashed and totalled his teammates car attempting to avoid hitting another car slowing abruptly. Deemed unable to race for medical complications from the crash, he would be forced to sit out for the final races. Although Nelson couldn't compete, the unique point structure in SPC meant that because it was his teammates car involved in the crash, Chan's car and Team Octane was still eligible to win the title at the hands of Carlos Tesler-Mabe.

After some performance was found by the Apex V2R team from the GP3R rounds on-wards, Ryspec’s Owen Clarke and Blok were almost identical in lap times during Friday’s testing.

Saturday morning came and so did the rain, handing the advantage back to the front wheel drive cars at Team Octane. As qualifying approached the sun came out and the track dried rapidly. Unfortunately it was Blok’s turn to have some bad luck as an ECU failure prevented his automatic transmission from blipping the throttle on downshifts. But despite that Blok managed to qualify in 3rd.

Race 1 would start after the lights used for the standing start procedure remained on, giving the drivers no warning when the race would begin. Blok would drop to 6th by the end of the first lap. Blok managed to overtake his way up to 2nd by lap 4 when a full course yellow came out, with some Super Production class cars separating himself from Owen. Blok timed the restart perfectly and was right on Owen's tail immediately, eventually completing the overtake for 1st place several laps later. After an intense display of defensive driving, Clarke eventually ran out of fuel, and with Blok’s teammate Suellio Almeida behind secured his first SPC win. Suellio would unfortunately lose the podium due to an overtake under yellow flags.

There would be no time to celebrate as the finale would take place only a few hours later. However the results from the first race gave Nelson Chan and Team Octane the points they needed to secure the production class title. Meanwhile Clarke’s DNF meant that if Blok won the race and Clarke finished 3rd or lower, Blok would finish 2nd in the championship points.

The randomized dice role for qualifying pole would see the top 7 cars on the grid be inverted. Blok would be starting 5th, and Clarke 7th. After only a few laps Clarke would be leading with Blok being right behind. Despite a race long battle, that would be the final result.

After the race Blok said, “I gave it my all, took my 2 best finishes of the season, gave Apex V2R their first ever win in real life competition, and got to share the podium in the final race with Suellio, who didn't get his 3rd place taken away this time. We threw everything at the finale, but it was unfortunately not enough. Thanks to everyone who has supported me this season. It wouldn't have been possible without you!! “

2nd place finish at GP3R

29 Aug, 2022, No comments

TROIS RIVIERES, QUEBEC – Nathan Blok continued his charge for the Production Class Championship in the Super Production Challenge this past weekend on the infamous Trois Rivieres street course, a narrow track bordered by solid concrete walls in this old Quebec city.

The weather was extremely hot and humid all weekend for the 10, 11 and 12^th rounds of the Super Production Challenge (SPC).

Practice was held Friday morning, and things weren't looking too bright after ending practice down in 8th place and 2.5 seconds off the pace. After discovering some electrical issues the team took a literal "hail mary" towards setup for the twilight race on Friday night.

Starting the evening race based on championship order, Blok would be starting 3^rd in class. He made his way up to 2nd before a full course yellow momentarily neutralized the race. Once things resumed, Blok tried everything to take over the lead but ended up settling for 2nd place podium position in the end.

On Saturday for the 2nd race of the weekend Blok again starting 3^rd in class. A terrible start dropped Blok down to 9th position before the end of the 3rd lap. He made his way up to 7^th place before the race was ended early due to a drunk spectator who had somehow made his way onto the track.

The 3^rd race of the weekend on Sunday saw Blok starting 2^nd. A short battle early on allowed for some faster cars to sneak through and get ahead. This left Blok in 4th closing down the leaders and fighting for the lead for the rest of the race. A late race caution came out, just after the overall leader in the Super Production Class passed Blok. When the green flag flew, a one lap shoot out to the end saw Blok end up losing 2 positions as 4^th through 6^th went 3 wide across the finish line, with less than 0.1 seconds separated all of three cars.

“Thanks to the entire Apex V2R crew for an amazing car, we were fast all weekend even in a track that did not really suit our car. With the points battle for 3rd being so close, the finale at Circuit ICAR is going to be intense!”

Blok’s next race weekend is August 27 at Circuit ICAR, Mirabel, Quebec.

Another podium finish and 3rd place in the Championship

29 Aug, 2022, No comments

MIRABEL, QUEBEC – After a coming off a podium finish at his home track at Calabogie in June, Nathan Blok and the APEX V2R racing team headed across the river to Complex ICAR at Mirabel, Quebec for the 7, 8 and 9^th rounds of the Super Production Challenge (SPC).

The last time Blok raced at ICAR was 10 years ago when he was competing in the Formula Tour 1600 where he won back to back championships.

Qualifying for the 36 entrants took place Saturday morning in sunny conditions where Blok qualified 3^rdin class.

The first 30 minute race of the weekend took place Saturday afternoon with the field lining up for a rolling start. Although starting in 3^rd position, Nathan had some trouble at the start of the race and fell back to 4^th position at the exit of corner 2. Being squeezed by Nelson Chan on one side and Sylvain Laporte on the other side of him, he ended up behind them both at the exit of corner 2.

On lap 2 going into corner 3, Nelson was on the inside and Kai Dalziel was on Nathan’s left. Nelson overshot the corner and when Kai made his corner entry, Nathan had his nose on the inside and the two cars made heavy contact. Kai continued on with body work damage, but Nathan’s alignment was seriously damaged and he had partial brake failure. To make matters worse, his engine went into safety mode which severely reduced his horsepower.

With 3 laps to go, despite his injured race car he passed Carlos Tesler-Mabe, however he was unable to make the pass stick. With two laps to go Sylvain pitted due to a tire issue and Nathan limped his car home to finish in 11^th.

“A bit of red mist with frustration of losing so many positions at the start led me to make a move largely out of character, and cost me valuable points, and I did the best I could to recover for the rest of the race.”

Thanks to the APEX V2R crew, Nathan’s car was repaired and they thought ready to go for morning practice. However, practice made it very evident that the car was still running in safety mode with gravely reduced horsepower. With the second race of the weekend scheduled to start in less than an hour, the crew frantically diagnosed and solved the issue with only minutes to spare.

Again starting in 3^rd for the standing start, Nathan fell back to 5^th on the exit of corner 1, but Sylvain, Nelson, Kai and Nathan were bumper to bumper and continued to battle it out over the next few laps competing for 2^nd place. Kai passed both Sylvain and Nelson, then Sylvain returned the favour by passing both Nelson and Kai. Nathan got into the action by passing Nelson, and the trio started to pull away from Nelson.

Nathan and Sylvain were battling it our for 4^th place, which allowed Kai who was in 3^rd place to slowly pull away.

With 2 laps to go Sylvain’s again had tire issues and Nathan pulled past to finish the race in 4^th place.

“I’m glad some redemption came my way shortly after, and I put on a respectable drive. Fortunately I got thrown a bone in the final laps with Sylvain’s tire puncture, and got a better result than expected.”

The final race started mid afternoon with Sylvain on pole, Owen Clarke 2^nd, Nathan 3^rd and Nelson 4^th.

Going into corner 2 Nathan moved into 2^nd place smoking up Sylvain’s bumper. Two laps later Owen passed both Nathan and Sylvain and then on the next lap Connor Bell did the same.

Nathan stayed on Sylvain’s bumper until about 1/2 way into the race when going into corner 1 Sylvain missed his breaking point trying to utilized a lap car and Nathan jumped on the opportunity and moved to the inside of Sylvain’s car to take over 3^rd place.

Continually pulling away for the rest of the race, Nathan brought his car home for a hard fought 3^rd place podium finish.

“I had a good fight all race again with Sylvain and again got the best results I could have asked for. “

“Overall, I had a very up and down weekend, but I think the team and I did the best job we could to limit the damage in the championship, and recover the most we could. We also got lucky with every driver from 2nd to 5th in the title race having some kind of problem, myself included that made the points gap very tight. With gp3r coming up, and the points race so close, things are almost guaranteed to get exciting between the concrete walls in a few weeks. I would like thank all my sponsors for their continued support.”

Despite having major problems on the race weekend, Nathan was still able to move up to 3^rd place in the championship

Blok’s next race weekend is August 5, 6 and 7 at the GP3R, Trois Rivieres, QC.

Podium at Calabogie Motorsports Park

25 Jun, 2022, No comments

After a challenging weekend at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on the Victoria Day weekend Nathan Blok returned to his home track at Calabogie for rounds 4, 5 and 6 of the the Super Production Challenge (SPC).

Blok is no stranger to the 5.05 km Calabogie track, however both Nathan and the team realized that this would still be a challenging weekend given that although there are more corners at Calabogie, the long straights still favours his competitor cars with more horsepower.

Qualifying for the 42 entrants took place just before noon on Saturday in sunny conditions where Blok qualified 16^th overall and 3^rd in class.

The first and second 30 minute race of the weekend took place Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning respectively still under sunny conditions with the field lining up for the standing start. In both of these races Nathan put out a massive drive and was knocking at the podium for both of them, but unfortunately was only able to secure 4^th place for both races.

The final race of the weekend took place on Sunday afternoon, this time with Nathan starting in 5^th place in class. At the drop of the green flag Blok moved up into 3^rd position. Fighting for 2^nd spot he gets past #44 Kai Dalziel going into corner 1, then they go side-by-side through corner 2, with Dalziel squeaking past him coming out of corner 3. At the end of the straight #17 Joel Watts also gets past moving Nathan down into 5^th.

Just ahead a car spun and Dalziel was forced onto the grass to avoid hitting him, allowing Blok to get past both Dalziel and Watts regaining 2^nd place. At the next straight, Blok and #3 Suellio Almeida, Blok's teammate had a drag race for 1^st position with Blok securing the lead.

At the end of the straight going into corner 5 on Lap 4 saw # 55 Owen Clarke try unsuccessfully to pass on the outside. At corner 6, Clarke again tried an outside pass and again Blok successfully defended. The battle continued with Clarke getting ahead on the straight after corner 6, but Blok successfully takes back the lead on the inside. A few corners later at 12 Clarke makes another unsuccessful attempt, with Blok maintaining the lead going through the quarry. Heading on the the straight just before the start/finish line both cars were able to manoeuvre around a bumper that had fallen off a competitor.'s car

With the extra horsepower, Clarke was able to pull ahead of Blok after corner 4 on Lap 5 and then Dalziel overpowered him in the same spot on Lap 6. Although they would pull ahead on the straights Blok was able to make up the distance in the corners and was still in the hunt for a 2^nd place finish.

There was a full course yellow, so the bumper could be removed from the track. This put Blok at a disadvantage, allowing #45 Nelsen Chan and #50 Sylvain Laporte an opportunity to catch up to the field. When the green flag flew with only a few laps left, Blok was under immense pressure from both Chan and Laporte attempting passes at every opportunity. And after a cliff-hanging and monumental drive Blok came home with his first podium finish of the season, moving him from 8^th to 4^th in the championship.

“The start of Race 1 was actually quiet uneventful, but the battle I had with Nelson Chan at the end was lots of fun. Unfortunately he was able to catch and pass me. A few laps less and the results would have been far different.

Race 2 was quite uneventful. I was catching up to Kai in the last few laps, but some poorly timed lapped cars stopped me before I had time to get back and try to overtake him.

Race 3 however had so much happen, its hard to put it all in words. For a lot of that race I felt like I had a good chance of winning it, but settling for a podium with all the pressure I had behind me was still an amazing result.

Overall, seeing how much of a gap we closed from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to Calabogie with only minor upgrades to the car, shows that we have the pace to fight for this championship. We aren't even half way, and with upgrades expected, the next race in ICAR we are expecting to take home a few race wins.

I would like to thank the crew for all their hard work and to thank my sponsors for their continued support Woody MVR, Arco Ltd, Sunsigns, H&H Construction, ENOES, Belder Tools, LAD’s Auto Recyclers, NAPA Pembroke and TD Products.”

Blok’s next race weekend is July 9 and 10 at the ICAR Complex, Mirabel, QC.

Challenging weekend at CTMP

29 May, 2022, No comments

Teaming up with the newly formed Ottawa based APEX V2R racing team this past Victoria Day weekend, 28-year old Nathan Blok returned to the track for the first time since 2019, wheeling a Scion FRS race car in the Production Class of the Super Production Challenge (SPC).

Given that the fast and challenging Canadian Tire Motorsport Park track favours cars with more horsepower, both Nathan and the team realized that this would be challenging weekend. The team are still doing engine development work as his engine was down 30 horse power from the other Production class competitors.

Qualifying for the 46 entrants took place in the early morning on Saturday in sunny conditions where Blok qualified mid field and 13^thin class.

Late Saturday morning the 30 minute race began under sunny conditions with the field lining up for the standing start. At the drop of the green Blok who was doing his first ever standing start race had managed to pass several cars by corner 2. On the Andretti straight 3 cars got into a collision and one car went off the track and into the barriers. This caused a red flag on Lap 2 as repairs were needed to the damaged barrier and the race was unable to resume.

Race 2 that was scheduled for 4:15 pm was cancelled due to the track being hit early afternoon with severe wind, rain, thunderstorms and a small tornado. One person was hit by lightning and another person broke an arm when the canopy he was holding on to lifted him up and then dropped him. There was over a million dollars of damage to vehicles, trailers, campers, etc. The APEX V2R team 40’ trailer was bent in the wind, causing the back door not to close. Fortunately, it was repairable and but there were 2 canopies damaged.

Mid morning on Sunday saw a wet track for Race 3 with a steady drizzling rain. With 40 cars starting the 30 minute race, the decision was made to have a traditional rolling start instead of a standing start for safety reasons. Again Blok started mid field and 13^thclass.

Going into corner 1 Blok was running 3 cars wide and by corner 3 he had moved up from 13^th into 7^th position. A full course yellow was waved as they entered corner 5, due to a crash at the start/finish line.

At the drop of the green flag on Lap 5 Blok passes Nelson Chan in his Mini Cooper, as directly in front of him Joel Watts and Shawn Greely came together with Watts spinning. Blok was forced to move right to miss the spinning car, nearly tagging the wall.

By corner 3 of lap 6 he passed two Super production cars and was on the bumper of Dalziel’s Scion. Blok passed him going down the straight moving up to 4^th position, but Daiziel remained right on Blok’s back bumper.

By corner 2 of Lap 7 Blok had caught up to Paul Gravel in his Mini Cooper, but was unable to make a pass. Going into corner 3 Daiziel makes it passed both Blok and Gravel, but Blok would have nothing of it and passed Gravel back on the left and then continued the charge by passing Daiziel on the exit of the corner, elevating him up to 3^rd place. Unfortunately by the end of the Andretti straight Gravel had pulled ahead of Blok again.

On corner 2 of Lap 8 Blok went wide, which allowed Daiziel to again get ahead. But not to be deterred, Blok continued on and by corner 5 he was back on his bumper.

On the exit of corner 5A, Daiziel goes to the inside and gets by Gravel as they exit the corner. Not to be discouraged, Gravel with Blok in tow, goes to the right of Daiziel and both Gravel and Blok make the pass.

Before corner 1 of Lap 9 Blok re-takes 4^th position from Gravel, but was force to back out of the pass when a Super Production car re-entered the track right in front of him.

On corner 3 Daiziel takes the outside of the corner and passes both Gravel and Blok.

With all 3 cars continuing to battle Blok passes Gravel as they exit corner 5. Then getting a run on Daiziel, Blok is able to get by, but then Gravel passes both of them at the end of the straight.

Exiting corner 2 of Lap 10 Daiziel gets by Blok on the outside. Going into corner 4 Blok takes back the position from Daiziel, who immediately re-takes Blok on the inside of corner 5. However, by the exit of the corner Blok is back ahead with Daiziel spinning off the track and hitting the wall while trying to defend his position.

The track was starting to develop a dry line which provided the front wheel drive cars a definite advantage and the reduced horsepower of Blok’s car was really starting to become evident in the performance, as Chan overtakes Blok for 5^th position on the Andretti straight.

Corner 5 on Lap 11 had Blok held up by a Super Production class car who had mechanical problems, which allowed Laporte to get by him on the inside, and then down the Andretti straight Greely gets by as well.

On the exit of corner 1 of Lap 12 Tesler-Mabe gets by Blok and later Lupien gets by on the Andretti straight. Positions stayed static until Lap 13 when the checkers flew with Blok finishing 9^th in class.

“We knew we needed a bit of luck to come our way due to our power problems, it's just unfortunate for everyone that it came in the form of a tornado. I did everything I could to recover from a weekend we were going to struggle in and I gave it my all, but on a drying track I wasn't going to be able to hold on to the positions I gained earlier in the race. The crew did an excellent job all weekend, and Calabogie should be a much stronger race for us. I want to thank my sponsors for their support Woody MVR, Arco Ltd, Sunsigns, H&H Construction, ENOES, Belder Tools, LAD’s Auto Recyclers, and TD Products.”

Blok’s next race weekend is June 4 and 5 at the Calabogie Motorsport Park. With the engine upgrade not anticipated to be completed until at least the 3^rd race weekend, the Calabogie event will also be a challenge.

Blok excited for the 2022 racing season

23 Apr, 2022, No comments

After a 2 year hiatus as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, Beachburg's Nathan Blok will be back behind the wheel of a race car again for 2022. The 27 year old has just signed for a full season in the production class of the Super Production Challenge with the newly formed Ottawa based Apex V2R racing team.

Driving along side Suellio Almeida, Blok hopes to lead the team to a championship on their debut, and a 4th championship for himself personally.

"It's very exciting to be back behind the wheel again, it's been a very long time out of the car. But, I haven't been sitting idly for 3 years. I've been doing coaching and lots of sim racing during the pandemic to keep my skills sharp.”

"I'm competing in SPC for one reason; I want another championship to my record. I'm not here for fun or to play games.

It will be my first full season campaign in 10 years, and 6 years since I won a championship. I have only competed in 4 full seasons since my career began at age 15, and I have won championships in 3 of them.”

“I have to thank all of my sponsors and partners (Woodys Motor Vehicle, ENOES, H&H Construction, Belder Tools, ARCO, TD Products, LAD’s Auto Recyclers and Sunsigns) for standing by my side & supporting me throughout the years. Now I just have to go and make it happen for all of them as well."

Nathan's first race in the SPC championship will take place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park at the Victoria Day Speedfest on May 20-22.

APEX V2R announces driver line up for 2022 Super Production Challenge

23 Apr, 2022, No comments

1st and 2nd place finishes for Blok

23 Feb, 2020, No comments

AUGUST 2019 - Teaming up with Speedstar Motorsports at the fast and challenging Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, 25-year old Nathan Blok returned to the track again for his one and only time this year. Wheeling a 2018 Audi R8 LMS GT4 in the GT Sport Class in the Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC), Blok brought home a pole position, a 1st and a 2nd place finish at the Chevrolet Silverado 250 on August 23 & 24, 2019.

Despite not sitting in a race car since last September due to funding concerns, and this being the first time racing an Audi R8 LMS GT4 race car Blok was looking forward to getting back behind the wheel. Blok is no stranger to driving competitively in both closed and open-wheel cars having experience in a number of disciplines from Formula 1600 to Formula 2000, Touring cars and IMSA Prototype Lites. He is the 2015 Formula 2000 Canadian Champion and a two-time Formula Tour 1600 Series Champion.

After only 14 laps of practice, qualifying for the 15 entrants took place just before lunch on Friday, in cool and sunny conditions. Blok took pole in class by 0.097 seconds beating out #6 George Staikos in his 2019 Mercedes AMG GT4 car. but would start the race in 3rd place overall.

RACE 1: The 40 minute Race 1 started late afternoon and ran under sunny conditions. At the drop of the green Blok #33 had an excellent start positioning his car on the inside of corner one. Holding the inside and going 3 abreast through corner one, Blok persevered and took over the 1st place position.

Lap 2 saw veteran driver Tom Kwok #55 take the inside line going into turn 2 and successfully pushed Blok down to 2nd place. This was short lived, when Blok re-took the top position down the Andretti straight.

Blok started to pull away from the pack until on Lap 5 when #18 Lindsay Rice went off the track causing a full course caution. Lap 7 the race re-started and Blok maintained the lead and continued to pull away from the pack, crossing the finish line in 1st place in class and overall with a 7.894 second lead over 2nd place George Staikos.

RACE 2: Mid afternoon on Saturday, the CTCC cars returned to the track for the second 40 minute of the weekend. The race saw Blok starting in 2nd, just missing the pole position by .038 seconds, based on the fastest lap from Race 1 . Similar to Race 1, at the start Blok passed Staikos #6 for the lead through corner 1, with Tom Kwok #55 pushing forward into 1st place in corner 3. As if it was deja vu, Blok again took back the lead going down the Andretti straight and then started to pull away.

Unfortunately on Lap 15 on the exit of corner 2 Blok experienced a moment of severe over steer, with the car going sideways. Blok was able to maintain control of his car, however the skid overheated the tires and being unable to maintain pace this allowed #6 George Staikos to take over the lead. With his tires starting to cool down near the end of the race, Blok started to gain on Staikos, but it was to little to late and Blok crossed the finish line in 2nd place.

This made for a near perfect weekend: 1 pole position, a first place and second place finish.

“It was a great experience to race one of my favourite cars, the Audi R8. Speedstar Motorsports is a very professional team and they gave me the tools I needed to make them and my partners proud. Winning on my debut in this car, shows that the teams faith in my abilities as a driver was not misplaced, and I look forward to achieving great things with Speedstar. I owe a big thank you to my partners who stepped up at the last moment to ensure a successful weekend: Woodys MVR, Plastiglas, SunSign Graphics, H&H Construction, Assante Financial, Belder Tool, McMillans Transmission, TD Products and Donley Pools.”

The perfect weekend - Three 1st place finishes

23 Feb, 2020, No comments

Teaming up with BC Race Cars at the fast and challenging Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, 24-year old Nathan Blok returned to the track for the his one and only time this year. Wheeling a 2018 Chevrolet Camaro in the GT1 Class in the GT Sprint Championship, Blok brought home three pole positions, three 1st place finishes and the fastest lap of the weekend at the Celebration of Motorsports Weekend on September 29 -30, 2018.

Despite not being able to race this year due to a non-racing related double wrist fracture this past May, and this being the first time racing a 490 HP TransAm race car Blok was looking forward getting back behind the wheel. Blok is no stranger to driving competitively in both closed and open-wheel cars having experience in a number of disciplines from Formula 1600 to Formula 2000, Touring cars and IMSA Prototype Lites. He is the 2015 Formula 2000 Canadian Champion and a two-time Formula Tour 1600 Series Champion.

Qualifying for the 48 entrants took place in the early morning on Saturday, in cool and sunny conditions. After only 10 practice laps and 3 qualifying laps, Blok took pole by 0.255 seconds beating out #111 Terry Fletcher in a 800 HP Camaro in the T1 class.

RACE 1: The 25 minute Race 1 ran under sunny conditions. At the drop of the green Blok still getting familiar with the car added too much power creating wheel spin and allowing Fletcher to edge past him going into corner 1. Blok stayed right on his bumper through to the hairpin at Moss corner, until Fletcher took advantage of his 300+HP difference and pulled away on him down the straight stretch.

Lap 2 saw a similar situation as despite Blok catching up to him by corner 5, Fletcher was again able to pull away on the straight. At corner 3 on lap 3 Blok tried to pass Fletcher but was unable to make to stick. Meanwhile #01 Anthony Polito in his T1 800 HP Ford Mustang was closing quickly and by the end of the Andretti straight going into corner 8 he had caught up to Blok.

Lap 4 they started to encounter lap cars. At the hairpin Blok again was on the bumper of Fletcher with Polito right behind him, but Fletcher pulled away on the straight with Polito following suit and barrelled past Blok, moving him down to P3.

Blok was able to maintain close contact and on Lap 6 the top three cars bumper to bumper, came upon 3 lap cars bunched together. Fletcher and Polito moved to the outside of the track while Blok moved to the inside. Blok made it passed Polito and then while Fletcher moved to the left of the 1st lap car Blok continued to keep to the right, as they went 3 wide down the track. The 2nd lap car kept to the left forcing Fletcher to move to the right, but Blok was already there and with the 3 cars side by side, Blok moved into the lead and continued to pass the 3rd lap car.

Blok continued to thread his way through lap traffic with Fletcher hot on his trail for the balance of the race, where he crossed the finish line in 1st place over all by 4.3 seconds and 1st in class by 31.5 seconds.

RACE 2: Early Sunday morning the GT Sprint/Challenge cars returned to a green track for Race 2 after a steady rain the night before. The race saw Blok starting on pole as the starting grid was based on Race 1 results. This time when the green flag flew, Blok was ready and easily took the lead opening up a gap by the hairpin at Corner 5. However by the end of the Andretti straight going into Corner 8 #111 Terry Fletcher and #601 Leigh Pettipas in his T1 800 HP Corvette were on Blok's bumper.

On Lap 2 Blok's dash lit up with warning lights as his power steering starting to fail. Dealing with this continual distraction, it was not until Lap 7 when his power steering totally failed. After Corner 2 on Lap 7 the trio come up to 5 lap cars, easily passing the 1st one on the right. Going into Corner 3, Fletcher moved beside Blok as they came up to #43. Fletcher went to the left, Blok to the right. Blok having to slow due to another lap car directly infront of him allowed Fletcher to move ahead into the lead. Coming out of the hairpin Blok made an attempt to re-take the lead but was unsuccessful.

Lap 9 Blok made another attempt at the hairpin, but again was unsuccessful. On the inside of Corner 3 on Lap 10 Blok got beside Fletcher and they drag raced side by side to Corner 5, where Fletcher was slightly ahead. A lap car in the center of the track on Corner 5 forced Fletcher to go to the outside allowing Nathan to move to the inside and re-take the lead.

On Lap 13 on Corner 10 heading to the start-finish line Fletcher moved to the inside and again took over P1, where he stayed until Lap 16 on Corner 5 where he got a little loose coming out of the corner. This allowed Blok to take advantage on the inside and recover the lead. He then started to pull away taking the checkered flag for 2nd time of the weekend by 1.3 seconds overall and by 41.9 seconds in class.

With the threat of showers on the horizon, the BC Race Car team work vigorously over the next 2-1/2 hours trying to repair the defective power steering pump for Race 3 to no avail.

RACE 3: So with no power steering, Blok took up his pole position behind the pace car for the 20 minute race. The end of Lap 2 saw #125 Blok pulling away from top three T1 cars who were sporting a 300 HP plus advantage; #601 Leigh Pettipas, #01 Bart Slot and #111 Terry Fletcher.

By Lap 4 Fletcher had moved from 4th up to 2nd place and by Lap 7 had gained enough on Blok to make a pass on the inside of Corner 8 taking the lead from Blok. On Lap 8 Corner 5 saw Blok attempting to re-take the lead first on the outside of 5a and then on the inside of 5b but was unable to make it stick.

Fletcher and Blok sped bumper to bumper past the start/finish line overtaking a lap car on Corner 2. Blok moved to the inside of Corner 3 as Fletcher went wide and ran off the track. Making his way back on to the track Fletcher takes up the chase after Blok but unfortunately by Corner 8 of Lap 10 he went off the track again, this time hitting the wall and ending his race.

Blok continued on wrestling with the power steering until Lap 15 when he took the checkered flag 17.9 seconds ahead of 2nd place overall and 54 seconds ahead in class for his 3rd win of the weekend.

This made for a perfect weekend: 3 pole positions, 3 first place finishes and fastest lap of the weekend!

“I've driven many challenging races in my career, but Sunday's finale was easily the most physically challenging I have ever done. Terry (Fletcher) and I raced each other very hard and very clean all weekend and having the pressure behind me for the entire last race made my difficult task harder than it already was. I owe a big thanks to Blaise Csida and the BC Race Cars team. They gave me an excellent handling car, worked to fix the power steering pump right up until that last possible moment. I owe a big thank you to my sponsors who stepped at the last moment to ensure a successful weekend: Woodys MVR, Certified Labs, SunSign Graphics, Belder Tool, H&H Construction, McMillans Transmission, TD Products and auctionacar.ca.

Double Podium finish at CMP

23 Feb, 2020, No comments

JUNE 2017 - CALABOGIE Nathan Blok headed to his home track of Calabogie for the 3rd and 4th race of the Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) June 17/18, 2017 for the Kyle Nash race weekend. The track at Calabogie has been the scene of several of Blok’s accomplishments and he was looking forward to racing infront of the local crowd.

On Saturday the Blok qualified 3rd in his Super Touring (ST) Class and 8th overall on the 2.81 km Stadium track.

The first CTCC feature race of the weekend began well with Blok overtaking #99 (GT) Chris Sahakian at the drop of the green flag. Going into corner 3 Blok moved to the outside of #12 (ST) Jean-Francois Hevey moving Blok up into 2nd place in class and 6th overall.

On Lap 4 the #99 (GT) car caught fire and a full course caution was declared. Under caution #88 (GT) Bob Attrell pulled into the pits moving Blok to P5 overall and still P2 in class.

When the green flag flew on Lap 7 #11 (ST) Eric Hoshgeschurz and #72 (GT) Mario Guerin tangled resulting with Guerin spinning off the track. This moved Blok to P4 overall and maintaining his P2 in class.

By Lap 19 the front runners started catching the lap traffic adding an additional element to the race. On lap 25 Sharpe and a lap car made slight contact. Blok capitalized on the error and moving to the inside of the corner overtaking Sharpe putting hit into P3 overall.

Blok then put his sights on to #11 Eric Hochegeschurz to chalenge for the lead of ST class. Although he was starting to gain on the lead car, without enough time left in the race he had to settle for 2nd place in class and 3rd place overall. l.

Sunday came again with very humid weather and rain threatening on the horizon. With no new slick tires for Sunday available in Blok's budget, the best he could do was to qualify 7th out of 8th in class and 12th out of 18 overall. As luck would have it, one of Blok's local sponsor's “Woody's Motor Vehicle Repair” was in attendance and wanting Blok to have a fighting chance for the final race purchased him a new set of tires. This put Blok on a level playing field going into the final race on the 5.05 km long track.

From the drop of the green flag Blok was on a mission. Corner 1 he passed #81 (ST) Michael DelleDonne moving him up into P6. Corner 2 he attempted an outside pass on #16 (ST) Jeff Kingsley and on #12 (ST) Jean-Francois Hevey going side by side through the corner, but unfortunately was unable to make the pass stick. On the straight stretch after Corner 4, Blok overtook Kingsley moving him into P5. Continuing his push going into Corner 19 at the quarry he passed #11 (ST) Eric Hochgeschurz on the inside for P4.

Lap 2 his push forward continued as he was all over Hevey's bumper from Corner 7 through 11 when he finally took him on the outside of Corner 12 to secure 3rd place.

On Corner 1 of Lap 3 #66 (GT) Gary Kwok moved ahead, leaving the three Super Touring cars battling for 1st position and #88 (GT) Bob Attrell right on Blok's bumper. On Corner 8 Attrell passed Blok getting between him and #53 (ST) Rocco Marciello who he was fighting for 2nd place with. On corner 10 Attrell gets past Marciello with Nathan attempting to follow on the inside, but he was unable to complete the pass.

Lap 4 saw Attrell pass #77 (ST) Arek Wojceichowski on the straight after Corner 4, again leaving the top Super Touring cars to battle it out. On Corner 11 Blok makes an outside pass on Marciello moving him into 2nd place.

Blok now set his sights on Wojceichowski, and by Corner 11 of Lap 5 makes the pass for the lead. Once Blok had secured a comforable lead he settled in to a rhythm for the rest of the race and brought home the 1st place trophy and the lead in the CTCC series.

“ Racing at Calabogie infront of the home crowd is always very special. Both races were very action packed, especially on Sunday's race. Coming from 7th place on the grid to win is a challenging task especially with the competition level as high as it is this year. Without the tires from Woody's Motor Vehicle Repair the outcome would have been extremely different.
To have yet another good weekend at home and to bring home a debut win and the lead in the championship for the team was a very fulfilling and successful accomplishment. There was a lot of drama in the background and even getting to race this weekend was a special opportunity and to come home with a 1st and 2nd place just makes everything that happened leading up to this event feel worthwhile.
A huge thanks to all my sponsors and everyone who put their support behind me and believed in me. I was honoured to do my job and deliver everyone the results that they wanted. “

Podium finish for Blok in CTCC Series

23 Feb, 2020, No comments

May 2017 - BOMANVILE, ONTARIO – Nathan Blok, the 23-year old, Canadian Formula 2000 Champion and two-time Formula Tour Series Champion switched gears to return to the Canadian Touring Car Championship. The two races were part of the Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend on May 19 – 21, 2017 on the fast and challenging Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Blok has limited experience on this racetrack with only two previous race weekends in much lighter race cars, one in the Formula 2000 car and the other in the IMSA Prototype Lite car. Blok is returning to the CTCC where he previously competed in two race events in 2013, but this time he will be driving the #58 BMW M235iR prepared by Sportscar Boutique of Toronto in the Super Touring Class.

The first two days of the weekend saw cloudy and cold weather. Despite having only 20 laps of seat time since last July, Blok was quick to get on pace with the top competitors in Friday's practice sessions.

Qualifying took place in the early morning on Saturday, in cool, cloudy and windy conditions. Blok was set to take P2 when on the last lap his teammate Jeff Kingsley nodged it away from him by crossing the line 6 hundreds of a second faster.

Saturday’s CTCC feature race saw similar weather conditions at the drop of the green flag. Blok moved ahead one position going into the first turn but #16 Jeff Kinglsey retook the spot in turn two. Turn 5 at the hairpin brought him some bad luck when the traction control turned on, and he was unable to turn it off. The system would cut the power available when he needed it the most, leaving him with limited capabilities to defend his position.

Hitting speeds upwards of 225 km per hour, the faster GT Sport Class #74 Glen Chaplin overtook Blok on the back straight, but on under braking going into turn 3 on Lap 2, Blok re-took the spot. With the faster straight line speed, #74 again pulled ahead on the back straight.

On Turn 5 of Lap 3 Blok overtook him again, only to be passed on the back straight. This back and forth interaction allowed the rest of the Super Touring Class to catch up, and for the next seven laps Blok was forced to defend his 3rd place position with limited power capabilities.

On Lap 11 Jerimy Daniel #10 passed him going into Turn 1 and then Jean-Fracois Hevey #12 got past him on the exit putting Blok down to 5th place. Lap 12 saw Daniel go wide on turn 8 loosing the position to Hevey, with Blok right on his back bumper going into Turn 1 on Lap 13. Under braking Blok passed Daniel in Turn 3 but was re-passed in Turn 4.

On Lap 19 a full course caution came out as a result of a stopped car on Turn one, which allowed Nathan time to re-set the traction control, and with full power his eyes were now set on catching the leading group and securing a podium finish. However, this was not to be as the safety car picked up the front running GT Sport Class Ferrari who was in front of Blok and Nathalie Henault #20. Although the top 3 Super Touring Class cars had been waived past the safety car, Blok, Henault and the other Super Touring Class cars were not. This meant that when the track went green on Lap 21 Blok was a minute and 35 seconds behind 3rd place leaving it an impossible task with only 6 laps left in the race.

On the restart, Henault overtook Blok going into turn 1, but on the outside of Turn 8 he retook 4th place position, which he maintained until the checkered flag.

On Sunday morning Blok qualified in P2 for the second CTCC race of the weekend under intermittent rain and cold conditions.

Although it rained on and off all day, around 3 pm a major rain system came through, with very heavy rain. The Pirelli World Challenge race which was to run just before the CTCC event was cancelled due to the rain. But when the rain eased up slightly around 5:45 pm, the cars were called to the grid for the start of the race, with Blok starting 2nd in class, and 7th overall.

The green flag was waved and Blok immediately overtook 2 of the faster GT Sport cars before Turn 1 and then took a third GT Sport car in Turn 3. At turn 3 on Lap 2 Blok passed the #88 GT Sport car maintaining his 2nd place in class and putting him 3rd place overall.

Blok continued to pull away from the pack and at one point had over a 30 second lead over 3rd place in class. Blok crossed the finish line in 2nd place in class and missed out on 3rd place overall finish when #88 passed him on turn 8 of the last lap.

“I am very pleased to make a return to CTCC competition this year. I was able to get up to speed with the team and the car very quick without much practice and I am satisfied that I was able to be competitive straight away. I was hoping to have a better finish than 4th in Race 1, but I was able to hold my own during the on track battles. The 2nd race was my first fully wet race since 2011 and my BMW M235iR prepared by Sportscar Boutique handled beautifully and I was very excited to help bring home a podium finish on the debut weekend for the team. I would like to thank Certified Labs, Aikenheads Pharma Choice, Sunsign Graphics, Lads's Auto Recylers, Woodys MVR, H&H Construction, MacMillan Transmission and Belder Tool for partnering with me to make this weekend happen. ”

Top 5 Finish in IMSA Prototype Lites Debut

23 Feb, 2020, No comments

2016 - Teaming up with Florida based Performance Tech Motorsports, Nathan Blok returned to the track for the first time this year bringing home a top 5 finish in his Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires Series debut at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bomanville, Ontario.

Despite having limited seat time (only one test day back in May) and this being the first time racing a 230HP 2.0 litre Prototype Lites race car Blok was looking forward to the challenge of competing head to head with drivers who were heading into mid season rounds 6 and 7. Blok is no stranger to driving competitively in both closed and open-wheel cars having experience in a number of disciplines from Formula 1600 to Formula 2000 and Touring cars. He is the 2015 Formula 2000 Canadian Champion and a two-time Formula Tour 1600 Series Champion.

In the qualifying session on Saturday morning, Blok was the top Canadian, qualifying 6th and missing out on 5th place by only 100th of a second. With less than 1 second between the top 6 drivers it was looking to be an exciting race later that afternoon.

The 30 minute Race 1 ran under a mix of sun and cloudy conditions although it had rained on and off throughout the day. At the drop of the green Blok attempted an inside pass on corner 1, but was unable to make it stick. Going side by side down the Andretti straight with #29 Michael Whelden, he was finally able to make the pass moving him into P5.

It was extremely close nose-to-tail action as the battle ensued for positions 3 through 6 for the rest of the race. On lap 16 disaster loomed for Blok as a suspension failure caused his right rear tire to go flat. Going in the hair pin at corner 5 the rim actually split in half causing the car to locked up almost hitting the tire wall before Blok was able to make the necessary corrections. He was able to limp the car back close to the pit entrance before he had to retire from the race.

“Having never raced in this series before, I didn't necessarily know what to expect, especially in the opening laps. There was contact ahead of me before we even got to the green, so I know I would have to stay on my toes the entire race. I was suffering from heavy under steer from very early on, but despite that I could tell I was faster than the cars ahead of me. As it turned out, the handling problems were due to the suspension failure which progressively got worse. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get the outcome I was looking for, but I am pretty satisfied with my performance.”

Early Sunday morning the Mazda Prototype Lites cars returned to a green track for Race 2 after a torrential downpour the night before. The race which started under yellow due to debris on the track saw Blok starting 5th out of 17. When the green flag finally dropped there was just over 40 minutes remaining.

On lap 2 Blok fell back to P6 but retook the position on the straight before Corner 8 and then started to slowly pull away. By lap 3 he was right on #29 Maxwell Hanratty's bumper, and the game was on. Lap 5 saw Blok and Hanratty side by side down the Andretti straight but Hanratty was able to maintain the position having the inside of corner 8. The fast paced action between the two drivers continued until the yellow flag came out on Lap 15, which again bunched up the field.

The green flag waved on Lap 18 but only for one lap until #18 Kyle Masson who had brake problems hit the tire wall at the hair pin at corner 5. That moved Blok up to 4th position. The last 5 laps again saw nose-to-tail action between Blok and Hanratty with Blok making a move on the inside of the last corner for the final podium spot before the checkers, but was unable to make it stick and had to settled for 4th place, the top Canadian. A solid performance for his debut weekend in this highly competitive series.

“ I owe a big thanks to the Performance Tech crew who worked late into the night to get the Tenaquip/Aurora Tools/Zenith Safety Products car back on track for the early Sunday morning race. Knowing there was very good potential for a podium, I put constant pressure on the car ahead of me, but turbulent air made it very difficult to get close through the corners. I did have several opportunities to make an overtake work coming out of turn 5, but wasn't able to make it stick. Again a big thanks to the Performance Tech crew for preparing and making the my car a pleasure to drive this weekend. I also want to thank all my partners and sponsors for their continued support. I wouldn't be here without them! I am just pleased that I was able to deliver an excellent result on my debut weekend.”

Due to financial constrictions the CTMP weekend is the only series weekend Blok is able to attend, but is looking forward to securing enough financial backing for a full season next year.

Blok geared up for IMSA Prototype Lites Season

23 Feb, 2020, No comments

A new year.... and a new opportunity as Blok competes in the IMSA Cooper Tire Prototype Lites Series!

Always looking for a challenge and an opportunity to broaden his horizons, Beachburg native Nathan Blok is pleased to announce that he will be racing select races in the IMSA Cooper tires Prototype Lites powered by Mazda series.

IMSA Lites is part of the Mazda Road to the 24 ladder system and grooms drivers for future IMSA Weather Tech SportsCar Championship competition in the Prototype and Prototype Challenge classes.

The Mazda Lites series is separated into 2 classes, Lites 1 (L1) and Lites 2 (L2). The L1 cars utilize a 2.0 liter MZR engine that puts out 230 HP. The L2 cars use a production based 2.3L Mazda engine that delievers about 200 hp. Both classes utilize the Elan DP02 chassis on Cooper Tires. These racecars weigh less than 1200 lbs and have huge tunnels for plenty of downforce. The cars are designed to FIA F3 crash standards.

Nathan has signed with Performance Tech Motorsport based out of Florida, USA. Before joining the Weather Tech and Prototype Lites Championships, Performance Tech was a mainstay in PC and GT2 competition in the American Le Mans Series. The team won the IMSA Prototype Lites L1 Driver Championship in 2009, the final Prototype Lites round of the 2010 season at Road Atlanta and the Privateer Cup as the top-finishing privateer team at the 2008 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

“I am very excited to take a step up the ladder in my racing career by competing with such a successful team like Performance Tech Motorsport. Coming off an exciting and title winning season in F2000 Canada, I learned a lot and I am ready for the challenge the Prototype Lites has to offer. I am really grateful for the continued support of Aikenhead's Drug Store, LAD's Auto Recylers, Woody's MVR, H and H Constructions, Sunsign Graphics, MacMillan Transmission, Belder Tools as well as my new partner Plastiglas.”

The first weekend of May Nathan was in Palm Beach Forida where he tested the Tenaquip/Aurora Tools/Zenith Safety Products Prototype Lites car. This was his first and only opportunity to test and practise prior to the July 8 to 10 race weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville.

Blok crowned 2015 F2000 Canada Champion

23 Feb, 2020, No comments

Nathan Blok, the 21-year old, two time Formula 1600 Champion and resident of Beachburg ON, took home the F2000 Canada Championship top honour this past weekend at the annual CASC Ontario Region Gala in Toronto, securing his third championship .

The re-vitalized Canadian Formula 2000 Championship Series, returned to the Canadian marketplace after a 20-year absence. The first and second round was held at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where Blok teamed up again with Britain West Motorsport, racing his #88 Van Dieman F2000 to an impressive double podium finish, bringing home a 1st and 3rd place finish as well as taking pole position for both races.

Heading to the next race weekend being held at Calabogie Motorsport Park, Blok dominated all weekend, again securing double pole positions, and bringing home another first place finish in the first race of the weekend. With only 4 laps to go in race 2, it was looking good for a repeat performance with Blok over 13 seconds ahead of second place Chase Pelletier, when his throttle cable broke and he was forced to pull off the track handing the race over Pelletier.

Unfortunately due to funding issues, Blok was forced to miss Rounds 5 and 6 of the F2000 Canada Championship which was being held at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park.

Heading into the brutally hot and humid Rounds 7 and 8 at the Bay of Quinte Grand Prix, Blok was determined to improve his 2nd place standing in the championship. Despite having never raced at the Shannonville Motorsport Park before, as well as having no significant testing or setup opportunities due to budget constraints, Blok pushed through these challenges to bring home two 2nd place finishes, and securing top place in the championship.

“The decision to race F2000 in Canada this year came at the last minute, and turns out it was an excellent decision The competition and talent level of the competitors was incredibly fierce and was definitely comparable to my experience racing in USF2000. Even though the season was cut short, it still doesn't take away the fact that you still have to be consistent and finish well on a regular basis to win a championship. I would like to thank Britain West Motorsport for all their hard work and providing an awesome car this season. And a huge thanks to Aikenheads, Calabogie Peaks and all my sponsors. I would not have been racing this season without their support!“

Blok solidifies Championship lead at Bay of Quinte

23 Feb, 2020, No comments

BEACHBURG, ONTARIO – For Nathan Blok, the 21-year old, two-time Formula Tour Series Champion, the 2015 F2000 championship heated up as much as the asphalt at the Shannonville Motorsports racetrack this past weekend in his #88 car. The 7 & 8th rounds of the F2000 Canada championship continued under brutally hot & humid conditions during the inaugural running of the Bay of Quinte Grand Prix event. This is the first time Blok has raced at this track near Belleville, ON, and due to budget constraints had only 5 laps of practise on Friday in the rain on slicks.

In the qualifying session on Saturday morning, despite little practise Blok qualified 3rd with .7 of a second separating the top 3 cars.

The first F2000 Canada feature race of the weekend (Race 7 of 12) saw temperatures hotter than on Friday. Blok had a good start maintaining his 3rd place position into corner 1. Aaron Pettipas started to pull out an early lead, while Blok was all over Chase Pellietier challenging for 2nd. On lap 3 being pressured by Blok, Chase went off track. Blok took advantage diving past and securing 2nd place.

By the next lap Blok had caught up to Pettipas. For the next 12-laps it was a constant battle for 1st place. Pettipas would pull away on the straight with Blok catching up on the technical areas of the track. Despite numerous passing attempts and side by side action in the corners, Blok was unable to make his attempts stick and was still in 2nd place when the yellow flag flew due to a car stopping just off track. This was great news for Pelletier as he was able to make up the 10 second gap and was now challenging Blok for 2nd.

When the green flag flew with only 5 minutes to go, Blok right on Pettipas's gear box he continued to fight for the lead, making a last attempt in the final 2 corners. He was unsuccessful and the race ended with Blok in 2nd place behind Aaron Pettipas, with Chase Pelletier taking 3rd.

“I had the pace to keep up to Aaron and pass him, but Shannonville is a very difficult track to pass in one of these cars. I was almost able to make room on several occasions going into the final 2 corners. Aaron was able to get on the power sooner than I was, but it was a very closely matched race”

Sunday’s race saw temperatures a bit higher along with increased humidity. This time Blok qualified 2nd, with less than .3 of a second separating him from pole sitter Aaron Pettipas.

When the green flag flew Pettipas held the advantage through the opening corners with Blok and Pelletier close behind. On corner 3 Pelletier attempted a bold move on the inside, but was unable to pull it off and his front wheel touched Nathan's rear wheel. This slight contact was not felt by Blok, but unfortunately did some damage to Pelletier's car and he was forced to pit to have an adjustment made before continuing on.

Round 8 of the F2000 Canada Championship was almost a carbon copy of Saturday's race with Pettipas getting the advantage on the straights and Nathan getting him back on the corners and challenging for the lead. At the end of the race Blok started to lose his tires and Pettipas started to gradually pull away. The race finished in the same order as Saturday, with Blok bringing home another 2nd place finish for the weekend and moving him into the lead of the F2000 Canada championship.

“ My race with Aaron for 1st was just as intense as the day before, but I began to lose tires by the end. Even the cockpit adjustments weren't solving the issue, but I still gave it my all and kept up to the races end. My car was incredible all weekend, and I owe a big thanks to Britain West Motorsports for setting up an awesome car. It was also a pleasure to race in Shannonville. I go to school not far from here, and it was a pleasure to see many of my college friends in the stands this weekend”

Rounds 9 & 10 are scheduled for August 29 and 30 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Nathan is hoping to be able to secure enough funding to allow him to maintain his lead in the championship.

Bay of Quinte Grand Prix

23 Feb, 2020, No comments

Hungry to make it 3 wins in 3 weekends ,Beachburg, ON resident Nathan Blok will be taking his No. 88 car to the inaugural Bay of Quinte Grand Prix at Shannonville Motorsport Park just east of Belleville, ON in the Bay of Quinte Region.

Despite having a disappointing end to the round 4 of the Canadian Formula 2000 Championship series at Calabogie Motorsport Park, where mechanical problems forced him to pull off the track on lap 10 when he was leading by over 13 seconds, Blok is still running in 2nd place in the championship, a mere 6 points behind his Britain West Motorsport teammate Chase Pellietier.

Shannonville is a track that Blok, the 2- time Canadian F1600 Champion has never raced at before and he is looking forward to the challenge of again learning a new course and feels confident that he can perform well.

Blok said “I'm really excited to get behind the wheel again. It's been a long break since Calabogie. Though I've tested at Shannonville several times, this will be my first race at the track. Since I go to College 20 minutes away at Loyalist, it will be very cool to bring home a win in front of some familiar faces.

This two-day racing festival takes place this coming Saturday, July 18 and Sunday July 19 where in addition to round 7 and 8 of the Canadian Formula 2000 Championship Series there are six other racing championships being contested over the two days. Racing fans can expect to sample some of the region’s food and beverage, engage with interactive motorsport and automotive themed displays and meet the drivers and teams in the open paddock area. There is also a German car show-and-shine event on Sunday.

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