#mosport

Ask any pro racer about the most intimidating tracks on this continent and the list will invariably include Mosport.

After 18 years on North American soil, the Porsche Sport Driving School is officially in session in Canada, which is good news for enthusiasts on both sides of the border.

Not a minute into the drive to the track and the drops of rain started to appear.

I am quickly ascending to the world famous turn two at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (aka CTMP, aka Mosport). Our lead instructor, noted road and rally racing ace Frank Sprongl, lines us up for the blind double apex corner that drops quicker than an intoxicated college student’s will power on spring break.

There is a racetrack northeast of Toronto, Ontario, Canada that is steeped in history. Formerly known as Mosport (pronounced Mo-sport, not Moss-port), Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) is a rare track in that it’s barely changed in configuration since the first race was held on the 810-acre property in 1961.

Several years ago NASCAR headed North and crossed the border into Canada, with the Nationwide series running on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in downtown Montreal. Now it appears as though NASCAR may be signing a second venue just outside the nation’s largest city.

As the American LeMans Series rolled into Mosport International Raceway, situated an hour east of Toronto, the only thing that could match the aural assault of a flat-six Porsche engine roaring down the main straight was the searing heat – weather forecasters noted that with the humidity taken into account, temperatures felt like 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

He’s not just the “Mayor of Mosport” any more. Racing legend Ron Fellows is now the proud owner of his home track just outside Toronto, Canada.

The Cadillac Racing Team used the grunt of its supercharged V8-powered CTS-V race cars to achieve some of the season’s best results over the weekend at Mosport International Raceway. And if you’re at all curious as to what its like to be behind the wheel of one of the big coupes, do we have a treat for you.

After a trying season, things are finally starting to turn around for Team Cadillac. Competing with a two car effort in the fifth and sixth rounds of the SCCA World Challenge series at Mosport International Raceway, Johnny O’Connell managed two podium finishes in his No. 3 CTS-V Coupe in front of a crowd that included General Motors North America President Mark Reuss.

As we reported earlier today, this weekend’s World Challenge action at Mosport International Raceway saw Corvette Racing legend Ron Fellows take the GT class win in the Cragar Wheels C6 Vette on Sunday, but that wasn’t the only glory claimed in the name of the General’s all-conquering sports car. Retired Director of GM’s Performance Division and SCCA Runoffs dominator John “ The HeinRocket” Heinricy won both rounds of the Mosport double header in his GTS class Torvec/Phoenix/Hawk C5 Chevrolet Corvette.

Ron Fellows may have retired from full-time racing duties with Corvette Racing and the American Le Mans Series, but he proved this weekend that he’s still the Mayor of Mosport in a Corvette.

After his dominating World-Challenge GTS performance at Long Beach in the LPL/DRS Lotus Exige 240 S, Tyler McQuarrie sent us a highly entertaining GoPro HD helmet cam clip from qualifying. Check it out after the jump.

We also noticed our friends over at The Octane Report just posted a full story on McQuarrie’s glorious Long Beach weekend (although things didn’t go quite so well for him in Formula D), including an informative video with interview footage of McQuarrie prior to the race (available after the jump).

Rumors are also now swirling over on LotusTalk.com that McQuarrie and the LPL/DRS Exige S will make another appearance at the next World-Challenge event coming up on May 21st to 23rd at Mosport International Raceway near Toronto, Canada. The online chatter also suggests that LPL may have up to three Lotus Exige S’s running at Mosport, giving McQuarrie some teammates to work with at this fastest road course in North America.

[Sources: Tyler McQuarrie; Octane Report]