Mosport International Raceway
(formerly Mosport Park
) is a multi-track facility located north of Bowmanville, Ontario. The facility features a ,(length reduced through wider track re-surfacing done in 2003) 10-turn road course; a half-mile paved oval; a 2.4 km advance driver and race driver training facility with a quarter-mile skid pad (Mosport Driver Development Centre) and a 1.4 km kart track (Mosport International Karting). The name "Mosport" is a contraction of Motor Sport, pronounced "Moe-Sport", and came from the enterprise formed to build the track.
|
MOSPORT INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY TICKETS
|
2008 Major Event Schedule
May 16-18- Victoria Day SpeedFest
June 13-15- Father's Day Doubleheader
June 22-24- 29th International Vintage Racing Festival
July 13-15- Parts Canada Superbike Championship Doubleheader
August 21-24- Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport
History
The circuit was the second purpose-built road race course in Canada after
Westwood Motorsport Park in
Coquitlam, British Columbia, succeeding Edenvale, Green Acres, and Harewood Acres, all airport circuits, as Ontario racing venues. It was designed and built in the late 1950s, and held its first major race in 1961, the Player's 200, a
sports car race bringing drivers from the world over to rural
Ontario.
Stirling Moss won the event in a
Lotus 19. 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 for their contribution to the sport in Canada. In 1998, the
Panoz Motor Sports Group 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,
IndyCar, and a 500cc
Motorcycle Grand Prix. F1's
Grand Prix of Canada remained at the track until 1977. Mosport has hosted a wide variety of series throughout its history. The circuit has held
Formula One,
IndyCar,
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, , and , the most recognized being German
Manfred Winkelhock who was killed in 1985 when his
Porsche 962 crashed into a concrete wall.
Unlike many historic motorsport venues, Mosport's track layout has remained mostly unchanged from its original form.
Events
- American Le Mans Series - Grand Prix of Mosport
- NASCAR Canadian Tire Series
The track also hosts vintage racing series, motorcycle racing, and Canadian Automobile Sport Club (CASC) amateur events and lapping days.
Formula One history
| Season
| Date
| Winning Driver
| Winning Team
| Report
|
| 1977
| October 9
| Jody Scheckter
| Wolf-Ford
| Report
|
| 1976
| October 3
| James Hunt
| McLaren-Ford
| Report
|
| 1974
| September 22
| Emerson Fittipaldi
| McLaren-Ford
| Report
|
| 1973
| September 23
| Peter Revson
| McLaren-Ford
| Report
|
| 1972
| September 24
| Jackie Stewart
| Tyrrell-Ford
| Report
|
| 1971
| September 19
| Jackie Stewart
| Tyrrell-Ford
| Report
|
| 1969
| September 20
| Jacky Ickx
| Brabham-Ford
| Report
|
| 1967
| August 27
| Jack Brabham
| Brabham-Repco
| Report
|