The World's Coolest Golf Cart!

When you go to the racetrack, you would expect fancy cars, trucks and trailers. However, there is one thing that is always present that shocks people. This is the use of golf carts. Now, I know what you might be thinking: why would a race team possibly need a golf cart? What purpose would it serve? Well, this blog article will tell you. A golf cart, much like a pit crew, is an integral part of a race team and our team learned this very early on during the 2010 race season.

When I learned we were going to have a golf cart, I thought it would look exactly like the ones on the golf courses. However, some look very different! Ours has only one seat, is covered in metal and has a storage compartment underneath. When we first saw it at the Montreal Grand Prix in 2010, Duncan had recently bought it and the engine required rebuilding. Duncan and Jim were completing the rebuild at the track as, up to that point, all the effort had been on preparing the Race Car and the golf cart parts had just arrived.  I remember staring at this machine, wondering what possible purpose it could have. Boy, I had no idea.

The false grid is far from our paddock (which is right underneath the Jacques Cartier Bridge), at the F1 garages in the pit lane, close to the Victoria Bridge.

You know that roar of a monster in a movie and you feel that the crap is about to hit the fan? Well, that’s kind of what happens with the golf cart at Tremblant. Duncan and Jim usually walk from the car park in the field to our spot in the paddock and return to give us a ride. Everything is quiet until… you hear it: . That distinctive sound of the golf cart’s 2 stroke engine.  The arrival of the golf cart is always met with moans, groans and threats from other teams. One racer threatened to blow up the golf cart.   He never gets a ride.

The first person to threaten to destroy the golf cart was none other than me. The 2010 Grand Prix of Montreal was the first event in the rivalry between the golf cart and me. When I tried to drive it in reverse, I went flying backwards, catching my foot on a metal pole. I tore three tendons. I’ve also stalled it quite a few times.  This is why I’m generally not allowed to drive it.

The golf cart has many different purposes. It tows the car back and forth along the basin at the Montreal Grand Prix, which we call the false grid. The false grid extends from our paddock (which is right underneath the Jacques Cartier Bridge) to the garages in the pit lane (which are close to the Victoria Bridge).  Without it, we would lose fuel. The golf cart carries the crew and equipment to the pits. It is used as a stepping stool to take down the tent.  Duncan uses it to schmooze around the paddocks. It is also used to inflict injuries on ourselves, which was seen during the 2010 season. It also announces our presences and Jim describes it “like a Roman chariot. The distinct sound of the engine is our bugle.”

The golf cart backfires once in a while, which can be a little embarrassing, depending who is around. However, everyone looks our way when we are driving it and they cheer when we sound the horn. The backfire is our mechanical trumpet.

The golf cart is also the perfect viewing platform for the races and gives us the best seats during Formula 1 qualifying, which takes place just on the other side of the wall we are waiting by.

Even though some of us make fun of the golf cart, it is actually one of the best investments Duncan made and we would all be lost without it.