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OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, November 5, 2009 · 26 Veteran race car drivers aren't slowing down By Herb Garbutt instructor, eventually becoming the chief race instructor for Ontario. He could not shake the racing bug, though. He participated in slalom When the obvious question is posed to events and later, after renting a race car from them, Ernie Jakubowski and Bill Comat pause, Jakubowski, he bought his own. as though this is the first time the subject has "I really was very happy seeing the people I ever been broached. coached go on and do well. I was just happy to "I'm not sure," says Jakubowski, breaking help drivers be the best they can be," Comat an extended silence after being asked how long said. "Now I'm trying to be the best I can be -- he'll continue to race. "Right now, my focus is I have to be to beat Ernie." on next year and building another car." Both know they have to use any edge they Jakubowski and Comat really have no rea- can find to stay ahead of their younger rivals. son to give up their auto racing passion. The Their biggest asset is their experience. While 54-year-old Jakubowski is coming off a season both say young drivers can sometimes be too that saw him win the National aggressive, trying to force "We have to use our Auto Sport Association 944 Cup something to happen, the two Great Lakes and Canada Cup skill and cunning to racing vets have learned to pick division titles -- against drivers overcome (younger their spots. half his age -- for the second drivers') youthful "That fear factor really doesyear in a row. His biggest rival enthusiasm." n't come into your brain until for the titles was the 60-year-old you're 25 or 27," Jakubowski Comat, who won the NASA 944 Ernie Jakubowski said. "We have to use our skill Cup National Championship, a and cunning to overcome their title previously held by Jakubowski. youthful enthusiasm." Like his rival and friend, Comat has no Jakubowski and Comat's own youthful intentions of getting out from behind the enthusiasm has not disappeared, though. They wheel. still get a thrill racing on the tracks they see on "The only thing I see stopping me is TV -- Watkins Glen, Sebring, Daytona, Road finances," says Comat, who has already identi- America, Mid-Ohio -- especially if they take fied 25 things that can help him go faster next the checkered flag. year. They don't always compete head-to-head, The pair met two decades ago when Comat though. Jakubowski and Comat teamed up to brought his car into Jakubowski's Oakville win the Targa Newfoundland rally's modern shop, Mantis Automotive, to have some work division in both 2003 and 2005. Even when done on his street car. Both were members of they are squaring off, they've started to think the local Porsche club. alike. Without knowing each other's plan, they "From the beginning it was a mutual love both showed up at last year's nationals with of racing," Comat said. "We have a common nine-inch wheels on the backs of their car. desire to succeed." "Nobody had ever explored that option," Jakubowski began racing dune buggies Comat said, "and we both ended up being fast." when he was 15, winning six Canadian off-road That is always the goal. "I spend hours every championships. He tried ice racing for a year day thinking of how to make something go and added another title. He opened his racing faster," Jakubowski says. shop, Mantis Sports, in 1977 and for a while And neither has any intention of slowing focused on building cars for others. But when down for the moment. the opportunity to race again presented itself, "Some people are skeptical," Comat says. HERB GARBUTT / OAKVILLE BEAVER he jumped at the chance. "They see an old person and they think it's a THE VALUE OF EXPERIENCE: Sixty-year-old Bill Comat (right) and 54-year-old Ernie Comat's early racing forays were derailed by mid-life crisis." the high costs of the sport so he turned to "But we've had this crisis since we were kids," Jakubowski each won races or series championships this past auto racing season. Neither intends to quit racing cars anytime soon. helping others succeed. He became a driving Jakubowski adds. "We just haven't grown up." OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF 9 LOCATIONS TO SERVE YOU BETTER! WHY WHEN THE GOVERNMENT IS PAYING OVER 50% OFF THE PRICE OF YOUR NEW FURNACE & A/C Up $ * Cash Back to WAIT? SCRATCH & WIN * Local goalie selected to face the Russians Oakville native Peter Di Salvo has been selected to play in the Subway Super Series, a six-game series that pits Canadian Hockey League all-star clubs against a Russian. 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