Historic F1 cars relive the grand prix legacy of Mosport, Driving
Historic F1 cars relive the grand prix legacy of Mosport
Ronnie Peterson leads James Hunt during the one thousand nine hundred seventy six Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport.
Now Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Canada’s longest-running track has seen its share of famous drivers and titillating Formula One races
Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, is hosting the Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada (VARAC) Vintage Grand Prix this weekend, which will also include a few historic F1 cars in the mix. As this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Grand Prix, which began at what was then called Mosport, we look back at the history of this grand, high-speed circuit, which has switched relatively little since hosting its very first car race in 1961.
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Renaming an icon is no picnic. The Rogers Centre will forever be the SkyDome. The Mazda MX-5? Ah, the Miata. And for those who have had any association with Canada’s most storied road racing circuit, “Mosport” is what springs from the lips despite it having been renamed Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2011.
This year, Mosport Park, er… CTMP is fifty six years old, and it marks fifty years since hosting Canada’s very first Formula One race in 1967. It’s the oldest continuously run track in the country, and other than eyeing some smoothing, widening and more generous run-off areas, the layout has switched very little.
Corner two remains the sphincter-clenching, long double-apex downhill left-hand sweeper that has beguiled, confused and, yes, inflicted untold harm for decades. Similarly, the elaborate Moss Corner – a pair of close-set, elevated ninety degree right handers that set drivers up for the Mario Andretti Straightaway – provides its own unique challenges.
Moss Corner is so named because Stirling Moss is largely responsible for this tricky little number. While on a journey to Toronto in 1960, Moss was shown plans for a Four.1-kilometre, 10-turn racing circuit slated to be built on a 450-acre parcel of rolling farmland north of Bowmanville, Ontario. He suggested turning the hairpin into this more challenging configuration, and so it was done. Fittingly, Moss drove his Two.5-litre Coventry Climax-powered Lotus nineteen to victory in the very first major race at Mosport – the one thousand nine hundred sixty one Player’s 200.
Racing legend and Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame inductee Bill Brack was also present in the very early days of Mosport Park. As a youthful racer, he was conscripted by Ensign Motors to drive one of the very first Austin Mini 850s to arrive in Canada around the circuit. “It was so titillating for me on this day to have the good privilege of driving Stirling Moss around the track. It must have had a superb effect on me. From that day forward I drove in so many Mini races, and won, that I was called Mr. Mini!”
Canada’s F1 history embarked at Mosport Park on August 27, one thousand nine hundred sixty seven when it hosted the eighth round of that World Championship season. Jim Clark nabbed pole position in his Ford Cosworth V8-powered Lotus forty nine with a lap time of 1:22.Four. (The course lap record of 1:04.094 came courtesy of an Audi R10 TDI in 2008). These were heady times in F1. The driver roster is a veritable motherlode of legends – Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill, Dan Gurney, Denny Hulm, Jim Clark, Bruce McLaren, David Hobbs, Jochen Rindt and eventual race winner Jack Brabham.
The one thousand nine hundred sixty seven F1 season also witnessed the debut of the Lotus 49, a car designed by Lotus founder Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe, and one that switched the template of F1 cars from then forward. Chapman coaxed Ford to design a V8 that could act as a stressed member of the car’s structure, and thus was born the Trio.0L, 410-horsepower, 9,000 rpm Cosworth DFV. Mounted just behind the driver, the front of the V8 was bolted to the monocoque while the rear supported the transmission and rear suspension.
The Lotus forty nine won it’s very first outing that year with Jim Clark at the Dutch Grand Prix, but it didn’t fare fairly so well at the 90-lap Mosport contest. Canadian Eppie Wietzes was disqualified after sixty nine laps and Jim Clark’s Lotus retired with ignition issues. The third Lotus forty nine piloted by Graham Hill managed fourth.
Bill Brack at race rhythm at the one thousand nine hundred seventy two Canadian Grand Prix.
