The Original
Mosport
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, 64 km (40 mi) east of Toronto. The facility features a 3.957-kilometre (2.459 mi), 10-turn road course; a 2.9-kilometre (1.8 mi) advance driver and race driver training facility with a 0.40-kilometre (1⁄4 mi) skid pad (Driver Development Centre) and a 1.5-kilometre (0.93 mi) kart track (Mosport Karting Centre Inc., previously "Mosport Kartways"). The name "Mosport", a portmanteau of Motor Sport, came from the enterprise formed to build the track.
2nd Oldest in Canada
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.[4] Shortly thereafter, on June 25, 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
The Guests
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
Owner History
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. In February 2012, a partnership between Mosport and Canadian Tire (including Ron Fellows) was announced. The partnership included a renaming of the track to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park