From F1 to IMSA: Why CTMP Is Canada’s Racing Home

A history as deep as its elevation changes

If we go back about 70 years  and head just north of Bowmanville, Ontario, we would find no evidence at all of the legendary circuit that is the CTMP; instead, we’d just see 450 acres of rolling Canadian farmland. But in 1958, the British Empire Motor Club designated the land to become a road racing circuit. And in May of 1961, this area was transformed into a course destined to become one of the most celebrated racing venues. Originally known as Mosport (short for Motor Sport), the CTMP has since hosted some of the greatest racing series in the world.

‍

And while the Canadian Grand Prix has since moved to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, in Montreal, Quebec, those first 10 years laid the foundation needed to establish this race as a key part of the F1 calendar. But F1 is far from the only major series that CTMP has helped establish in Canada. 

“Every international series that you can think of has been here at one time or another,” Fellows said with a proud smile.

Jerry Priddle, a PR and Marketing Consultant for the track, expanded on the immense history the CTMP has had. “It was the first major motorsports circuit built in Canada, and along the way, they've hosted a lot of firsts,” he said. “The first IndyCar race, not only in Canada, but also on a road course was held here, also in 1967… They were the first ones to hold World Endurance [Championships] back in the 80s, with those cool Rothmans Porsche cars that drivers like Derek Bell would race.

“And when you look through the history of people that have won races here, it really is a who's who from a golden era... Everyone from Jackie Stewart to Mario Andretti to AJ Foyt to Bobby Unser, to Jacques Villeneuve, Gilles Villeneuve. All of these drivers have raced here. They've all won here. I think that just kind of speaks to the heritage and the tradition that [CTMP has] had.”

Yet having these acclaimed racing events, and this calibre of drivers succeeding at those events is vital for not just establishing an incredible history of motorsports in Canada, but also for inspiring the future of Canadian motorsports.

‍

“My very first car race was here,” recalled Fellows. “It was 1969. I was 11 years old and it was for the Formula 1 race. For me it was–I've used the word a lot, but–epiphany is as good as it gets. The emotion that it created inside of me was…” he paused here to let the grandness of the memory sink in, “awesome. And I just wanted to be on the other side of the fence from that moment on. Easier said than done, but…”

‍

Canadian driver development

Indeed, as easy as it is to dream about being a race car driver, achieving that dream is no small task. And the CTMP has been critical in paving the way for Canadian motorsport talent to shine. Its 3.957 kilometer, 10-turn layout is a fast, unrelenting challenge that tests even the very best of drivers.

“If you look at the history of Canadian drivers that have done well, they learn to be fast and win races here,” said Fellows. “If you can master the craft here, you'll master it anywhere, and that's the value. And Canada has produced, over the decades, a disproportionate number of great drivers, and a lot of it is learning how to race here.”

This exact idea was echoed by several Canadian drivers from multiple series that run on this track. 

Robert Wickens, driving for DXDT Racing in IMSA, said, “Every person from the Greater Toronto Area has success here. You know, if you look at Daniel Morad or Kyle Marcelli or Roman De Angelis… This track is such a high commitment track, and I think having that home track knowledge is beneficial.”

Indeed, Wickens himself has had incredible results here, winning the Michelin Pilot Challenge as a member of the Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian in both 2022 and 2024.

‍

Marie-Soleil Labelle, another Canadian driver that cut her teeth on this track and who now races in the Miata Cup with TWOth Autosport, put it this way: “When I started racing in the Nissan Micra Cup series at 15, it was a big jump to start at CTMP because of the elevation of the track. It's a pretty fast track.”

How fast, exactly? 

“It feels like it defies physics,” said Alana Carter. She currently drives in the GT4 class of the World Racing League for AE Victory Racing, and got her best result of last year’s season here during the 2024 CTMP Labour Day Weekend Sprints.

On what it’s like to drive an aerodynamics-centric car at a high speed track like this, she said, “You can take the corners at speeds that you feel you shouldn't be able to. Coming into turn one and not even lifting, just keeping it full throttle, it's kind of hard to wrap your brain around.”

But it’s not just the main circuit, known as the Grand Prix track, that keeps young talent on its toes. The CTMP features two other racing facilities dedicated to driver development.

“One of them is a karting track,” said Priddle. “We'll have kids here as young as four and five years old, starting their racing career and karting, and then progress up through the ranks from there.

“And then there's also a driver development track, which is a very technically challenging track… Everything from lapping days to racing schools to things like that are operated out of that track.”

‍

Community and connection

Yet the CTMP’s significance doesn’t come from what happens on the track alone. It’s about the deep, generational connection it has fostered, and continues to foster among motorsport fans.

“I think the sense of ownership that people that have been coming here for decades, they feel to the place, it's unique,” said Fellows. 

This sense of ownership comes from the sort of loyalty and love that comes when people return to one place again and again for decades. As Fellows explained, “This track opened in 1961, you've got at least a couple of generations, if not three, that have come here. So if you're in auto racing at all, you'll have been here. And it was either with your dad, for me it was my uncle, and that's really how it starts, with a family influence.”

Priddle held a similar sentiment, saying, “You're going to see young kids, and we all hope that those young kids will grow up, and when they are looking for things to do that want to come back.”

‍

One of those kids who found his way back was Wickens himself, who grew up just a stone’s throw away from the circuit, in Guelph, Ontario. Speaking about his favorite part of the track, he recalled a childhood memory. “My favorite has to be two. I grew up racing on the car track here, so you know when I wasn't racing the go-kart, I would ride my bike over to the car track and just watch whatever car was on track, whether it was an IMSA race weekend or just a regional Formula Ford event or historics, whatever. I'd always ride around the track and find the corners I liked and just watch cars, and turn two is always my favorite.”

Wickens also spoke about the atmosphere of the CTMP grounds, and the fans themselves. “They're so loyal, they're so passionate. You see the same group of people year in, year out, and then they're always expanding with more friends or whatever and it's just so cool to see and hear the stories that they've been camping on the inside of turn two, and then there's the rivalry between the inside and the outside, it's just an awesome weekend.”

The world of motorsport has never been more buzzing with life than it is today, and nowhere is that more evident than at CTMP. It set the stage for legends to race, to this day it paves the way for young Canadian talent to thrive and it offers a home for petrolheads of the north, be they veteran fans who have been visiting the park for decades or youngsters stepping into a racetrack for the first time in their lives. And as motorsport around the world continues to grow and evolve, one thing is for certain; the CTMP is not just part of Canadian motorsports. It is Canadian motorsports. 

‍