Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

"Canada's Home of Motorsports"[1]
Location	3233 Concession Road 10 Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada L1C 3K6
Time zone	UTC -5 (UTC-4 DST)
Coordinates	44°03′00″N 78°40′40″W / 44.05000°N 78.67778°W / 44.05000; -78.67778Coordinates: 44°03′00″N 78°40′40″W / 44.05000°N 78.67778°W / 44.05000; -78.67778
Capacity	open seating without capacity limitation
FIA Grade	2
Owner	Canadian Motorsports Ventures Ltd.
Operator	Canadian Motorsports Ventures Ltd.
Broke ground	1960
Opened	1961
Construction cost	$500,000
Architect	Alan Bunting
Former names	Mosport Park Mosport International Raceway
Major events	Former Events: FIA Formula One Canadian Grand Prix (1961–1967, 1969, 1971–1974, 1976–1977) FIM Road Racing World Championship Canadian motorcycle Grand Prix (1967) Can-Am Mosport Can-Am (1966–1967, 1969–1974, 1977–1986) USAC Championship Car Telegraph Trophy 200 / Molson Diamond Indy (1967–1968, 1977–1978) FIM World Superbike Championship Mosport Superbike (1989–1991) Current Events: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix (2014–present) NASCAR Pinty's Series Clarington 200 (2007–present) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado 250 (2013–present)
Clockwise Grand Prix Circuit
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.459 mi (3.957 km)
Turns	10
Lap record	1:04.094 (Rinaldo Capello, Audi Sport North America R10 TDI, 2008, ALMS LMP1)
Driver Development Centre Advanced Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	1.8 mi (2.88 km)
Turns	20
Driver Development Centre Intermediate Course
Surface	Asphalt
Length	1.37 mi (2.2 km)
Kart Complex
Surface	Asphalt
Length	0.87 mi (1.4 km)
Turns	12
Speedway Oval (1989–2013)
Surface	Asphalt
Length	0.500 mi (0.805 km)
Banking	6°
Website	www.mosport.com

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. The facility features a 2.459-mile (3.957 km), (length reduced through wider track re-surfacing done in 2003) 10-turn road course; a 2.9 km advance driver and race driver training facility with a quarter-mile skid pad (Driver Development Centre) and a 1.5 km kart track (Mosport Kartways). The name "Mosport" is a contraction of Motor Sport, came from the enterprise formed to build the track; it is pronounced as the two words actually sound, "Mo-Sport" (but is often incorrectly pronounced "Moss-Port").^[2][3]

History

The circuit was the second purpose-built road race course in Canada after Westwood Motorsport Park in Coquitlam, British Columbia,^[4] succeeding Edenvale (Stayner, Ontario), Port Albert, Ontario's Green Acres (ex-British Commonwealth Air Training Plan), and Nanticoke, Ontario's Harewood Acres (ex-British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Number One Bombing and Gunnery School), all airport circuits, as Ontario racing venues.

The track was designed and built in the late 1950s. The first race to be held on the track was a local event organized by the Oakville Light Car Club in June 1961.^[5] Shortly thereafter, on June 35, the venue held its first major race, the Player's 200, a sports car race bringing drivers from the world over to rural Ontario. Stirling Moss won the two-heat event in a Lotus 19. Second was Joakim Bonnier with Olivier Gendebien third.^[6] The proposed hairpin was expanded into two discrete corners, to be of greater challenge to the drivers and more interesting for the spectators, at his suggestion, and is named Moss Corner in his honour. This is a source of lingering confusion as many people call the track Mossport.

Mosport has had a succession of owners since the original public company created to build the track. Two of those prior owners, Norm Namerow (who owned the track through his publishing company, CanTrack, until his death) and Harvey Hudes, have both been inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame for their contribution to the sport in Canada. In 1998, Panoz Motorsports purchased the facility, and in 1999, the newly formed American Le Mans Series visited Mosport for the first time. For 2001, the entire circuit was repaved to meet FIA specifications, and is now 42 feet (12.8 m) wide. Drivers were consulted to ensure the character of the "old" track was kept; almost all the "racing lines" have been maintained.

Mosport achieved acclaim though a series of international sports car races under the title "Canadian Grand Prix" normally reserved for Formula 1 races. Many events were wildly popular, breaking Canadian sports attendance records with each successive race. The success of these races led Mosport to be seen as a key component in the founding of the Can Am Series.

The CanAm first visited the track in its inaugural season in 1966, and Mosport hosted at least one event in every year of the series' history, except 1968. In 1967, Canada's centennial year, Mosport hosted Formula One, USAC, and a 500cc Motorcycle Grand Prix. F1's Grand Prix of Canada remained at the track until 1977, until it was moved to Montreal. Mosport has hosted a wide variety of series throughout its history. The circuit has held Formula One, USAC, World Sportscar Championship, Can-Am, Formula 5000, and many other sports car, open-wheel, and motorcycle series.

Mosport has had several fatalities, both track crew, drivers, and riders, the most recognized being German Formula One driver Manfred Winkelhock who was killed in 1985 when his Porsche 962C crashed into a concrete wall. The most recent fatality at the track was in 2008 during the 29th annual Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada Racing Festival. Driver Dino Crescentini of Rochester Hills, MI – a ten-year veteran of vintage racing – lost control of his 1977 Wolf Dallara Can-Am car, which previously had been driven by Gilles Villeneuve.

Unlike many historic motorsport venues, Mosport's track layout has remained mostly unchanged from its original form.

The fastest ever recorded lap was taken by Rinaldo Capello, in an Audi R10 TDI, in qualifying for the 2008 Grand Prix of Mosport, with a time of 1:04.094. The lap record was set in the race for that meeting with Capello's Audi Sport North America team mate Marco Werner lapping in a time of 1:05.823.^[7]

Canadian Motorsports Ventures Ltd. (CMV) which includes Orlando Corp. Chairman Carlo Fidani and Canadian road racing legend Ron Fellows, purchased the facility in June 2011.^[8]

In February 2012, a partnership between Mosport and Canadian Tire was announced. The partnership includes a renaming of the track to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The partnership will help to upgrade the facility, and improve the experience for spectators, participants, race teams, and corporate sponsors.^[9]

Driver Development Area

In the spring of 2000, Mosport opened the Driver Development Centre, a second 1.7 km, 12 turn training circuit designed for driver development. The new course was designed by the owners and instructors of the Bridgestone Racing Academy and was designed specifically with fewer guard rails, walls and minimum blind corners to meet the needs of their driver and mechanic training program.^[10][11]

Due to significant scheduling demands on the original grand prix circuit, the original academy course was reconstructed and lengthened to a full racing course in the fall of 2013. The new track features two configuration options; a 2.2 km intermediate course, a 2.9 km advanced course, as well as a skid pad, a pit lane, and a multi-storey event centre with classrooms and other facilities.^[12]

Mosport Speedway

Mosport Speedway was a one-half-mile oval speedway located on the northwest corner of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The track featured 800-foot long straightaways, 6-degree banked corners and two grandstands with seating for 8,500.

The oval was constructed in 1989 as a dirt track originally called Mosport's Ascot North, named after the famous Ascot Park track in Gardena, California. The first event was scheduled in July 1989 and was to feature USAC Midgets and Sprint Cars and the World of Outlaws. The races were cancelled after the initial heat races caused deep ruts in the corners and dislodging stones hidden under the clay.^[13]

The track was paved that summer and renamed Mosport International Speedway. The track hosted a weekly Saturday night stock car racing program from May to September for 24 years. The stock car divisions included pure stock, sportsman and late models. The oval also featured regular touring series including the ACT Series, ISMA Supermodifieds, OSCAAR, Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup, CASCAR Super Series and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.^[14]

The park announced the closing of the oval in July 2013 to accommodate the expansion of the Driver Development Centre.^[15]

Current series

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

It was announced in September 2013 that Canadian Tire Motorsports Park was chosen to host an annual round of the IMSA United SportsCar Championship beginning in 2014.^[16] The new series replaced the American Le Mans Series as the feature race during the tracks annual SportsCar Grand Prix, which is Canada's largest annual sportscar race.^[17]

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series raced at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in September 2013, marking the first time the series has raced in Canada.^[18] Chevrolet was announced as the title sponsor and the race is known as the Chevrolet Silverado 250.^[19]

NASCAR Pinty's Series

The NASCAR Pinty's Series has visited the facility at least twice annually every year since its inaugural season in 2007. Currently the race is known as the Clarington 200 and takes place during the tracks Victoria Day SpeedFest Weekend and its Chevrolet Silverado 250 weekend.

Other series

• Pirelli World Challenge
• IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge
• IMSA Prototype Challenge presented by Mazda
• IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge Canada
• Formula 4 United States Championship
• Ferrari Challenge
• Canadian Superbike Championship
• Canadian Touring Car Championship
• Toyo Tires F1600 Championship
• Canadian Historic Grand Prix
• Canadian Sport Compact Series

^[20]

The track also hosts vintage racing series, motorcycle racing, and Canadian Automobile Sport Club (CASC) amateur events and lapping days.

Photo gallery

• 
  A line of Formula Ford cars climb the hill through turn 5(c)
• 
  Turn 8 heading into The Esses
• 
  Entry into Clayton Corner - Turn 2
• 
  Event Centre
• 
  Track infield set up for a concert - Boots and Hearts Music Festival

Grand prix circuit records

Class		Driver	Car	Date	Speed km/h	Speed mph	Time
Outright – American Le Mans Series – LMP	Qualifying	Rinaldo Capello	Audi R10 TDI	August 23, 2008	222.254 km/h	138.116 mph	1:04.094
United Sports Car – Prototype	Qualifying	Gustavo Yacamán	Morgan LMP2 Nissan	July 22, 2014	205.974 km/h	127.986 mph	1:09.167
World Sportscar Championship – Group C	Qualifying	Hans-Joachim Stuck	Porsche 962 C	August 10, 1985	204.159 km/h	126.871 mph	1:09.775
Formula One	Qualifying	Mario Andretti	Lotus 78-Ford	October 8, 1977	199.554 km/h	124.009 mph	1:11.385
IndyCar	Qualifying	Danny Ongais	Parnelli VPJ6-Cosworth	June 10, 1978	196.296 km/h	121.984 mph	1:12.570
Formula 5000	Qualifying	Mario Andretti	Lola T332-Chevrolet	June 14, 1975	194.322 km/h	120.758 mph	1:13.307
Can-Am (1966–1974)	Qualifying	Mark Donohue	Porsche 917-30	June 9, 1973	192.243 km/h	119.465 mph	1:14.100
United Sports Car – GTLM	Qualifying	Kuno Wittmer	SRT Viper	July 22, 2014	189.434 km/h	117.709 mph	1:15.206
World Challenge – GT	Qualifying	Johnny O'Connell	Cadillac ATS-VR GT3	May 15, 2015	189.207 km/h	117.568 mph	1:15.296
Trans-Am	Qualifying	Simon Gregg	Chevrolet Corvette	May 18, 2013	188.394 km/h	117.073 mph	1:15.614
NASCAR Truck Series	Qualifying	Alex Tagliani	Ford	August 29, 2015	177.895 km/h	110.539 mph	1:20.084
Canadian Superbike	Qualifying	Brett McCormick	BMW S1000RR	August 19, 2011	176.123 km/h	109.438 mph	1:20.882
NASCAR Pinty's Series	Qualifying	Andrew Ranger	Dodge Challenger	May 18, 2014	171.736 km/h	106.712 mph	1:22.956
Toyo Tires F1600	Qualifying	Steve Bamford	Mygale F1600	September 14, 2014

Former series and major race winners

FIA Formula One World Championship

Year	Race	Driver	Constructor	Report
1967	Player's Canadian Grand Prix	Jack Brabham	Brabham-Repco	Report
1969		Jacky Ickx	Brabham-Ford	Report
1971		Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Report
1972	Labatt's Canadian Grand Prix	Jackie Stewart	Tyrrell-Ford	Report
1973		Peter Revson	McLaren-Ford	Report
1974		Emerson Fittipaldi	McLaren-Ford	Report
1976		James Hunt	McLaren-Ford	Report
1977	Jody Scheckter	Wolf-Ford	Report

FIA World Sportscar Championship

Year	Race	Drivers	Team	Car	Distance/Duration
1976	Player's 200 Weekend	Jackie Oliver	Shadow	Shadow DN4 Chevrolet	320 km (200 mi)
1977	Molson Diamond Can-Am Trans-Am Weekend	Ludwig Heimrath Paul Miller	Heimrath Racing	Porsche 934/5	6 hours
1980	Molson Canadian 1000	John Fitzpatrick Brian Redman	Dick Barbour Racing/Sachs USA	Porsche 935 K3/80	6 hours
1981	Molson 1000	Harald Grohs Rolf Stommelen	Andial Meister Racing	Porsche 935 K3	6 hours
1984	Budweiser GT	Jacky Ickx Jochen Mass	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 956	1,000 km (620 mi)
1985	Budweiser GT	Hans-Joachim Stuck Derek Bell	Rothmans Porsche	Porsche 962C	1,000 km (620 mi)

USAC Championship Car (IndyCar)

Year	Race	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine
1967	Telegram Trophy 200	Bobby Unser	Leader Cards Racing	Eagle	Ford
1968	Telegram Trophy 200	Dan Gurney	Oscar Olson	Eagle	Weslake-Ford
1977	Molson Diamond Indy	A.J. Foyt	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	Coyote	Foyt
1978	Molson Diamond Indy	Danny Ongais	Interscope Racing	Parnelli	Cosworth

FIM Road Racing World Championship

Year	Race	125 cc		250 cc		500 cc		Report
		Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer	Rider	Manufacturer
1967	Canadian motorcycle Grand Prix	Bill Ivy	Yamaha	Mike Hailwood	Honda	Mike Hailwood	Honda	Report

FIM Formula 750 World Championship

Year	Race	Winning Rider	Manufacturer
1977	Molson Diamond Motorcycle Grand Prix of Canada	Gregg Hansford	Kawasaki
1978		Michael Baldwin	Yamaha
1979		Patrick Pons	Yamaha

FIM World Superbike Championship

Year		Race	Date	Winning Rider	Winning Team
1989	Race 1	Rothman's Superbike	June 4	Fred Merkel	Team Rumi RCM
	Race 2			Giancarlo Falappa	Bimota SpA
1990	Race 1	Bud Superbike	June 3	Raymond Roche	Squadra Corse Ducati Lucchinelli
	Race 2			Raymond Roche	Squadra Corse Ducati Lucchinelli
1991	Race 1		June 2	Pascal Picotte	Fast Yamaha/Sunoco
	Race 2			Tom Kipp	Wiseco Piston Yamaha

FIM Motocross World Championship

Year	Class	Driver	Manufacturer
1976	500cc	Gerrit Wolsink	Suzuki
1977	125cc	André Massant	Yamaha
1979	500cc	Gerrit Wolsink	Suzuki

American Le Mans Series

IMSA GT Championship

Trans-Am Series

Canadian Sports Car Championship

Year	Date	Race	Driver	Team	Car
1961	June 10	BEMC Trophy	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Eglinton Caledonia Motors	Porsche 718 RS 60
	June 24	Player's 200	Stirling Moss	United Dominions Corp.	Lotus 19 Monte Carlo Climax
	Aug 5	Grand Valley Car Club Trophy	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Eglinton Caledonia Motors	Porsche 718 RS 60
	Sep 9	BEMC Indian Summer Trophy	Harry Entwistle	Hamilton Racing Partnership	Lotus 15 Climax
	Sep 30	Canadian Grand Prix	Peter Ryan	Comstock Racing Team	Lotus 19 Monte Carlo Climax
1962	June 9	Player's 200	Masten Gregory	United Dominions-Laystall	Lotus 19 Climax
	Sep 8	BEMC Indian Summer Races	John Cannon		Dailu Bardahl Special
	Sep 22	Canadian Grand Prix	Masten Gregory	U.D.T./Laystall	Lotus 19 Climax
1963	18 May	BEMC Spring Trophy Races	John Cannon		Dailu Mk II Ford
	June 1	Player's 200	Chuck Daigh	Arciero Bros. Racing Team	Lotus 19 Climax
	June 16	Grand National Races	Dennis Coad	Whiz Car Care Products	Lotus 19 Climax
	Sep 28	Canadian Grand Prix	Pedro Rodriguez	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 250 P
1964	June 6	Player's 200 – Race No. 1	Bruce McLaren	Bruce McLaren Racing Ltd.	Zerex Special Oldsmobile Traco V8
	June 6	Player's 200 – Race No. 2	Bruce McLaren	Bruce McLaren Racing Ltd.	Zerex Special Oldsmobile Traco V8
	June 21	Spring Trophy Races	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Canadian Comstock Ltd.	Cooper Monaco T61 Ford
	Sep 27	Canadian Grand Prix	Pedro Rodriguez	North American Racing Team	Ferrari 330 P
1965	June 6	Player's 200	John Surtees	Team Surtees	Lola T70 Mk 2 Chevrolet V8
	June 19	Spring Trophy Race	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Heimrath Racing/Keating Ford	McLaren Elva Mark I Ford V8
	Sep 4	Indian Summer Trophy Races	Ludwig Heimrath Sr.	Heimrath Racing/Keating Ford	McLaren Elva Mark I Ford V8
	Sep 25	Canadian Grand Prix	Jim Hall	Chaparral Cars Inc.	Chaparral 2A Chevrolet
1966	June 5	Player's 200	Bruce McLaren	Bruce McLaren Racing Ltd.	McLaren Elva Mark IIB Ford
1967	June 3	BEMC Spring Trophy Races	Ross de St.-Croix	Eustache Soucy	McLaren Elva Mark II Chevrolet
	Oct 9	Wm. Cleland Memorial Trophy	John Cordt		McLaren Elva Mark III Chevrolet
1968	19 May	BARC Ontario Region Races	John Cordt		McLaren Elva Mark III Chevrolet
	Sep 7	BEMC Indian Summer Trophy Races	Roger McCaig	McCaig racing	McLaren M6B Chevrolet

^{[21][22][23][24]}

USAC Stock Car

Year	Date	Race Title	Driver	Team	Car
1962	June 23	Peterborough International	Rodger Ward		1962 Pontiac	[25]
1962	June 23	Peterborough International	Paul Goldsmith		1962 Pontiac Catalina	[26]
1966	July 30	Coca-Cola/Kawartha 250	Don White	Ray Nichels	1966 Dodge Charger	[27]
1966	July 30	Coca-Cola/Kawartha 250	Sam Tovella	Sal's Auto Sales	1965 Plymouth	[28]
1967	July 29	Bardahl/Kawartha 250	Mario Andretti	Holman Moody	1967 Ford	[29]
1967	July 29	Bardahl/Kawartha 250	Parnelli Jones	Holman Moody	1967 Ford Fairlane	[30]
1968	July 20	CHUM/Mosport 250	Roger McCluskey	Norm Nelson	1967 Plymouth	[31]
1968	July 20	CHUM/Mosport 250	Al Unser Sr.	R/A Hoerr Inc.	1968 Dodge Charger	[32]
1978	June 10	Molson Diamond USAC Stock Cars	A.J. Foyt	A.J. Foyt	Chevrolet Camaro	[33]

SCCA Can-Am Series

SCCA Formula 5000

Year	Race	Driver	Chassis	Engine
1968	Mosport Continental	Lou Sell	Eagle Mk 5	Chevrolet V8
1969	Mac's Mosport Continental	John Cannon	Eagle Mk 5	Chevrolet V8
1970	Mac's Mosport Continental	Mark Donohue	Lola T192	Chevrolet V8
1974	Labatt's Blue 5000 Weekend	David Hobbs	Lola T332	Chevrolet V8
1975	Labatt's Blue 5000 Weekend	Mario Andretti	Lola T332	Chevrolet V8
1976	Labatt's Blue 5000 Weekend	Alan Jones	Lola T332	Chevrolet V8

Atlantic Championship

Year	Date	Driver
1974	June 30	Bill Brack	[34]
1975	July 20	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	[35]
1976	Aug 22	Bobby Rahal	[36]
1977	22 May	Price Cobb	[37]
1979	Aug 19	Kevin Cogan	[38]
1981	June 13	Jacques Villeneuve	[39]
1982	June 5	Whitney Ganz	[40]
1982	Sep 12	Whitney Ganz	[40]
1983	Sep 11	Roberto Moreno	[41]
1987	June 7	Calvin Fish	[42]
1988	June 19	Colin Trueman	[43]
1989	June 25	Jocko Cunningham	[44]
1992	Sep 20	David Empringham	[45]
1993	June 20	Claude Bourbonnais	[46]
1994	22 May	Greg Ray	[47]
2009	Aug 30	Jonathan Summerton	[48]

Formula Super Vee Championship

Year	Date	Driver
1974	Sep 22	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	[49]
1975	Sep 21	Eddie Miller	[50]
1976	June 20	Bill Henderson	[51]
1977	Oct 9	Bob Lazier	[52]
1979	June 3	Geoff Brabham	[53]
1982	Sep 12	Michael Andretti	[54]
1983	June 5	Price Cobb	[55]

CASCAR Super Series

ASA National Tour

USAC National Sprint Car Series

Year	Date	Race	Driver
1989	Sep 17	USAC Canadian Sprint Car Nationals	Gary Fedewa
	Sep 17		Wayne Hammond	[56]

^[57][58]

Music events

Mosport has also been the venue of a number of concerts and music festivals such as:

• Strawberry Fields Festival, August 7–9, 1970
• Canada Jam, August 26, 1978
• Heatwave Festival, August 23, 1980
• Edenfest, July 12–14, 1996
• Boots and Hearts Music Festival, August 10–12, 2012, August 2–4, 2013, July 31 – August 3, 2014

See also

• List of auto racing tracks in Canada

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mosport International Raceway.

• Official Site
• Canadian Tire Motorsport Park race results at Racing-Reference
• Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Oval race results at Racing-Reference
• Kart Complex
• NASCAR Track Page
• Regional racing information
• Canadian Historic Grand Prix