Outstanding Second Place Finish for Canadian Ian Patterson At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Trans Am

 

One of the beneficiaries was second place finisher, Ian Patterson. We caught up with Ian to get his take on the second place finish and to find out more about that beautiful Corvette's livery feature Canadian Heroes.

 

"I certainly wasn't counting on such a good finish," said Patterson. "But after practice Sunday on old tires I knew the car was going to be strong, so I was hoping for a top 5.  That Tony, Amy, and Blaise all had problems had more to do with getting a podium than anything else, though. That was a shame as I was looking forward to running with them. At least I got to have some fun dogging Simon [Gregg] and Andrew [Romocki] around for a lot of laps. I get a perverse sense of pleasure just riding the bumper of another car like that, just waiting for that opportunity to open up."

 

Ian's Corvette was featured at the Trans Am autograph session allowing fans a photo-op standing next to the car. The car's livery featured a tribute to Canadian Heros, and organization supporting Canadian veterans and the families of fallen soldiers.

 

"The Canadian Heroes partnership was something we came up with to spread the word in supporting our vets and families and friends of fallen soldiers," explained Ian. "Having had family in the military I had no hesitation getting behind them.  Given that sponsors are so hard to find I figured that if I can't find one, I'll brand my car up with a good cause since I'm gonna race anyway."

 

"This partnership was done simply to dress the car," added Patterson. "It was funded out of pocket by the man who created Canadian Heroes, Chris Ecklund.  "I don't want to convey the perception that I'm racing on donations from families and friends of those who have fallen in the line of duty, that would be a pretty awful thing to do.  We are instead trying to generate corporate interest in the cause for that kind of sponsorship. We'll see where it goes.