JL Racing is one of Canada's premier sport sedan racing teams. In 2006, JL Racing formed a partnership with

Saab Saab or SAAB may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Saab AB, a Swedish aircraft, aerospace and defence company, still known as SAAB, and together with subsidiaries as Saab Group ** Datasaab, a former computer company, started as spin off from Saab ...

Canada to race and showcase Canada's only

Saab 9-3 The Saab 9-3 (pronounced ''nine-three'') is a compact executive car initially developed and manufactured by the Swedish automaker Saab. The first generation 9-3 (1998–2003) is based on the GM2900 platform, changing to the GM Epsilon plat ...

race car. The team made headlines several times with a first-race, first-place finish and subsequent podium finishes in the Saab 9-3. The team currently competes in the

Castrol Castrol Limited is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The company was originally named CC Wakefield; the nam ...

Canadian Touring Car Championship Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) presented by Pirelli is a Canadian professional touring car road racing series. In 2006, it was created based on the growth of amateur touring car racing in Canada and the pent-up demand for a professiona ...

. In 2008 they will enter two Saab 9-3 MY 08 cars in the

Super Touring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a auto racing, motor racing touring car category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Form ...

class and will run North America's first Saab 9-3

BioPower Biopower (or ''biopouvoir'' in French), coined by French social theorist Michel Foucault, refers to various means by which modern nation states control of populations, control their populations. In Foucault's work, it has been used to refer ...

race car in the Touring Class. The team's current full-time drivers are John Lockhart, Jason Sharpe and Diane Dale.

History

2006

The 2006 season was set as a test season for the team. The 2005 Saab 9-3 was built over the spring months and the team decided to focus on suspension and handling for the first part of the season.

Horsepower Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are t ...

would be addressed later in the year. As it was a development year, the team did not have high expectations. There were a number of challenges in the first few weekends of racing. The car didn’t enter any races, but rather, the practice sessions to get as much track time as possible. One of the biggest hurdles was the engine overheating and the removal of all guards and

heat shield In engineering, a heat shield is a component designed to protect an object or a human operator from being burnt or overheated by dissipating, reflecting, and/or absorbing heat. The term is most often used in reference to exhaust heat management a ...

s around the

turbocharger In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into th ...

eventually solved the problem. On July 1

Canada Day Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the national day of Canada. A Public holidays in Canada, federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, with the passing of the B ...

weekend the team entered the car in its first race, which they subsequently won. It was the first time Saab had won first place on its first race in North America. The team went on to enter eight races for the year and came away with four overall wins. At the end of the year, the team finished in the top ten for the CASC

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Touring Car GT Series.

2007

In 2007 the team entered the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship. The month of September saw a win at the British Empire Motor Club (BEMC) Indian Summer War Bonnet three-hour endurance race. Another record was set as it was the first time a Saab 9-3 had won an endurance race in Canada. The final weekend of racing saw the team claim fifth position for the championship.

References

External links

* * Canadian auto racing teams {{Autoracing-team-stub