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For our final Importfest weekend act we have an epic drag & track day at Toronto Motorsports Park in the outskirts of Toronto…
You know we could have taken it easy and made excuses for this last production. Dela, Jordan, Brian and myself had been going pretty much non-stop since Friday morning. It would have been very easy to do bare minimum. However this was never an option. Not once did we think to ourselves not to give our all to the Importfest team and to the city of Toronto.
After a long day shooting cars and Tianna G on Sunday (her video is coming!) we were pretty beat. The plan was to leave the hotel by 6:30am to drive about an hour and a half to be at Toronto Motorsports Park. We met up with Jaime in his GT-R who led the way and of course stopped at Tim Horton’s for some grub!
We brought drinks and snacks with us for the Importfest team as we had a loooonnnnggg day of shooting to go and in three distinct parts;
- Shooting at the Track
- Shooting at the Drag Strip
- Individual Shoots/Final Group Shots
The staff at Toronto Motorsports Park were very open to our ideas and helpful which helped our creative process. We started off with a safety meeting and organized the vehicles we wanted to shoot.
We then analyzed the track in our Lexus GX 470 provided by our friends Lexus of Downtown (its not exactly the track monster but great for traveling and shooting lol). We then got the team at Importfest together and lined up before they took off!!
You know what was dope and something all of us at Vossen was talking about. That not one single F*ck was given by the Importfest team in regards to their cars at the track or drag strip!
You would think these beautiful show cars would have been garaged after Saturday’s show but instead they all came to rip up the road! You have to bow your heads in appreciation.
Vossen Forged, Vossen x Work, Vossen Flow Formed, they were all taking the beating and looked damn good doing it. Though as advice, maybe do the glamour shots BEFORE the track time to save you from cleaning cars twice (doh!).
We then took a brief break, moving from the track and planning our next course of action. It was time for the drag day and individual shoots. Now most team’s would have wrapped it up and went back to the hotel but as far as I am concerned, “we are the best there is at what we do”. Time to do more.
The drag day was tons of fun as everyone lined up against one another for unlimited runs. We met CJR Performance in their amazing 800+ hp Hellcat. The sick Viper was owned by Billy at Wheels Co. Once again you could see the fellowship of the crew and some of our awesome friends and partners who joined like Drive Marketing Group and the Speedhunters!
Of course I’m biased but #itswhitenoise stole the show for me, driving pass after pass with not a hiccup. I took a few turns myself and driving a rare SLS Black Series down the strip was a ton of fun. Just the sound is worth the price of admission! Even in sweltering heat it was running low 11s all day.
By this point we were burning up and getting tired. It was late afternoon and we were wrapping up the drag fun while shooting some of the vehicles individually. This is the point where there is a lot less fun and where your professionalism really has to take hold. We have a job to complete before we leave!
Were there any casualties? Well Basit’s project Civic didn’t make it through the day but the smile on his face driving it even briefly said it all! Thats what its about, safely having fun at the track/drag. Some of the vehicles didn’t have Vossen Wheels but we didn’t care. The day was all about a day for enthusiasts. Also the drone crashed earlier in the day and met its fiery end.
It was time to wrap things up and we came up with this cool idea. We would have the Imporfest 18 wheeler drive past all the cars lined up and unveil them. Then we would have some fun with the Speedhunters drifting!
Which then inspired Zahir in his M3!
We closed the day exhausted but grinning, knowing not just the footage we captured but the memories were epic. Sunburnt, thirsty and sore we headed back to Toronto. Some of the team was going to a car meet (imagine that, 12 hours at the track and then on to a car meet). I was hosting a dinner with JRP, our Toronto Distributor and some of our other clients. What a day!
If you want to watch our full Importfest x Vossen trip from Miami to Toronto, check out the blog. It also features our 15 minute mini-movie!! You can click here for high rez photos of this amazing day. Thanks again Importfest and Toronto!
