A love affair with speed

North Vancouver racer Rob Mingay is heading to
the legendary Daytona Speedway | in the new year

FOR MOST. life in the fast
lane promotes insanity.

By Kevin Gillies
Sports Reporter

For others it’s a part of youth
that is eventually outgrown.

Yet for people like North
Vancouver resident Rob Mingay,

66 When he was
younger, Mingay
picked up his love
' for going fast |
as a professional
and competitive
skier... 99

fast living is to be avidly pursued.

A week after the holiday festivi-
ties end, Mingay will be off to
Florida to start testing at the
Daytona Speedway.

-On Feb. 5-6, the 41-year-old
management consultant will be
competing in the Rolex 24-hour
Daytona endurance race as‘ part of
the Comprent/Blackswan Motor-
sport Team, out of Athens, Georgia.

Mingay will be driving a Mazda-
powered, three-rotor engine in a
‘Tiga chassis that will propel him up
to 200 mph (320 ki/h).

Daytona will be the first race in
another full season of. North
American racing for the North
Shore driver. Stops’ include:
Daytona Beach, Florida; Phoenix,
Arizona; Limerock, Connecticut;
Watkins Glen, California; Portland,
Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.

Mingay races in the American
City Race League, which, for the
most part, features sprint racing.

’ But his love remains endurance

racing.

“It?s a combination of speed,
smoothness, physical and mental
endurance, and concentration,” he
says of the challenge. “Frankly, I
absolutely love the seat time.
You're in the car a lot of the time
and you can really. get into a
rhythm, a groove.”

Mingay started endurance racing
after trying a couple of six-hour
“enduros” in the Pacific Northwest.

“When the opportunity was pre-

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NEWS photo Paul McGrath

NORTH VANCOUVER racer Bob Mingay will be spending the
first week of the new year in Florida, putting in some test miles
for the Rolex 24-hour Daytona endurance race. Last year, the
management consultant tinished second in the annual test of

machine and man.

sented to me as a possibility of run-
ning in Daytona, I jumped at it
because I felt pretty comfortable
with that format,” Mingay says of
his introduction to the legendary

- speedway. ‘The idea of running on

such a great track with such great
names in racing as Danny Sullivan,
Darcy Schroeder — some of the
greatest racers in the world have
raced at Daytona — was too tempt-
ing not to jump at.”

Last year, Mingay won the
Seattle and Portland races.

He also finished second in
Daytona, and is optimistic about
improving on that this year by
adding his name to the historic list
of victors.

“We are going for the win this
time out,’’ he says. “The car has
undergone a lot of development

over the past year. We are running
with an extra 175 horsepower and
the team has that much more expe-
rience.

“T really think we have a shot at
winning the race,”” he added. -

Mingay has raced everything
from open-wheeled formula cars to
sedans and the powerful GT proto-
types at Daytona.

When asked why he got into car
racing in the first place, Mingay
shrugs it off as a genetic defect.

“It's something I’ve always
wanted to do, and ! figured I'd bet-
ter get on with it.””

When he was younger, Mingay
picked up his love for going fast as
a professional and competitive
skier.

“L loved the speed and the thrill
of that,’” he admits.

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