2005 Redline Rendezvous
August 5 to 7, 2005
Shannonville Motorsport Park, Shannonville, Ontario, Canada
Sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted participants of the 2005 SVTOA Redline Rendezvous On Track, hosted by the SVTOA Canadian Region. This year, we stopped at one of our favourite road courses: Shannonville Motorsport Park .
Enthusiasts from Ontario and the North-eastern United States turned out for this year's event. Some even decided to team up with their spouses and their family members. This year's event also saw a wide range of vehicles from the entire Ford family. Present were all members of the SVT family, and various models from Ford, Mercury, and even Mazda!
The weekend began early Friday afternoon with tech inspection. Everyone began mingling and catching up on new mods and old times over hot pizza and ice-cold drinks. The On Track learning experience began early with a performance driving seminar from Dr. Jacques Dallaire from Human Performance International (HPI). By night's end, everyone headed back to our hotel in Belleville for a good night's rest. Some decided to enjoy the outdoors and camped on site.
The weekend mornings began with participants hiking up to ground school. SVTOA Lead Instructor Jeff Lacina gave our students numerous tips and tricks, as well as introduced our eager instructors from both sides of the border. It was then off to their cars for gruelling, day-long sessions under the hot August sun. The sessions were made more challenging through various track configurations throughout the entire weekend (4 configurations in total). Spectators and sponsor representatives all watched in awe from the grandstands.
The main highlight of the weekend was the presence of the SVT Marketing Trailer. In addition to the Ford Racing Performance Parts Display, free posters, and draws, SVT displayed some rare vehicles, including a 1996 Cobra R, a 2000 Cobra R, and the famed 2005 Ford GT.
The 2005 Ford GT in Speed Yellow was the prime attraction. Everyone was in awe at Ford's newest supercar to hit the streets of the world. Of course, this 550-horsepower, supercharged beast could not stand still. With the skilled driving of SVT representatives , participants made donations to our selected charities and enjoyed some hot laps in this supercar.
The Bay of Quinte was the backdrop for our Saturday night banquet. Members trickled into the Ramada Inn on the Bay and were welcomed with tables full of raffle prizes, and a delicious buffet dinner. Everyone had a chance to get to mingle and relax after Saturday's session with fellow participants and representatives from Ford SVT and Roush Industries (too bad they kept tight lipped on future products). Jeff Lacina then drew winners of the various raffle prizes, including free entry for next year's On Track, a new set of Firestone/Bridgestone tires, and gift packs from our various sponsors. The evening ended with auctions benefiting our selected charities.
For 2005, our charities were Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the SVTOA National Relief Fund. SVTOA is proud to announce we raised over $2,600 for our charities at the 2005 SVTOA Redline Rendezvous On Track event! In addition, SVTOA announced our relief fund was made available to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The SVTOA Canadian Region would like to thank all the participants for coming out to our event. We would also like to give special thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors who helped make this event possible:
- The Staff of SVTOA National, including such folks as Joanne Bartley, Amanda Shelly, and Bill Kniegge, for all the prize and organizational support they have given
- Jeff Dusing from the SVT Enthusiast for covering our event
- Jeff Lacina, Lead Track Instructor, and his entire team of instructors
- Brian Roback and Alex Szilagyi from Ford SVT
- Jayson Rem from Roush Industries
- Steve and Rita Anderson for bringing us the SVT marketing trailer
- Dr. Jacques Dallaire of the Human Performance Institute (HPI)
- Our event sponsors: Colormark Ltd., CG Lock Canada , KVR Performance Brakes, Lucas Oil Canada , Meguiars Canada , MOR Performance, Steeda.ca, Steelcase Tires 'N' Mags, and The Detailing Shop
- SVTOA sponsoring chapters: SVTOA - Toronto , and SVTOA - Eastern Ontario
- The Dealer Sponsor of the SVTOA-Toronto chapter: Dixie Ford Sales
- The staff at Shannonville Motorsport Park
- St. John's Ambulance
- All the Track marshals
- Flair Photo for their trackside photography (sample images shown in Pit Row)
- Best Western Belleville for our accommodations
- Ramada Inn on the Bay for hosting our Saturday night banquet
- Last, but certainly not least, all the organizers of the SVTOA Canadian Regional On Track Planning Committee for their efforts in putting the Redline Rendezvous together
We look forward to seeing everyone at next year's Redline Rendezvous. Until then, Drive Safe and Have Fun!