SCCA-PRO Has Dropped Mosport from the Speed World Challenge Schedule

[23Racer]

New 2005 Schedule:

March 16-18 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Sebring Int'l. Raceway, Sebring, Fla. ALMS
April 1-3 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Fla. IRL
May 20-22 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio ALMS
July 1-4 Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn. ALMS
July 15-17 Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, Calif. ALMS
July 29-31 Portland International Raceway, Portland, Ore. ALMS
Aug. 12-14 CENTRIX Financial Grand Prix of Denver, Denver, Colo. Champ Car
Aug. 19-21 Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. ALMS
Oct. 14-16 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. ALMS
TBD* Road Atlanta, Braselton, Ga. ALMS
* - either April 15-17 or Sept. 29-Oct. 1

I guess having 50,000+ people out to the event isn't enough to interest the SCCA. Man I just hate getting boned by out of country race series. First Trans-Am, then WC what next???

We should all swamp the SCCA with complaints.

[Trackside]

I guess they didn't want to race three week in a row. The ALMS is on the last weekend in August at Mosport so that would make it Denver, Road America then Mosport if they did it.

The May weekend they are at Mid Ohio so we don't have a chance for that weekend and they probably don't want to be up here with some series called CASCAR even if it is owner by NASCAR. I don't know the date for that event so I don't know if there is already a conflict with there current schedule.

[Dave]

maybe they just didn't want to see Boris Said get arrested after crossing the border again :p

[MARC W]

This really sucks. No Trans Am, no Grand Am, and now no Speed world challenge. It makes you wonder if Panoz did'nt own the track would we even have ALMS.
Maybe if the races at Mosport could get some big title sponsors we'd see a return of more racing series.

[abrracing]

I believe that if Panoz didnt own the track it would be condo's and townhouses by now. Even the ALMS only had a few headline cars here.
________
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[rmicroys]

ALMS this year was a snooze. I was pretty dissapointed by the turn out. Speed WC had some good fields, but the TGT had 45 cars for the race. No other field had that many cars.

[Schmoo]

To top it all off there si a rumour that they might be supporting the Inferior Racing League on their first foray into road racing at Watkins Glen.

This might be a rebuilding year... but at least we still have REGIONAL RACING to look forward to. Well I do anyway, look forward to it.

[Pat_B]

...and so do I!

[rubber2ice]

Quote:

"maybe they just didn't want to see Boris Said get arrested after crossing the border again"

Tell us more about this?

Quote:

"I believe that if Panoz didn't own the track it would be condo's and townhouses by now. Even the ALMS only had a few headline cars here."

I was discussing that very matter just the other day with a friend.
I think it only a matter of when not if. It will truly be sad day when that occurs....those rolling hills will make lovely estate lots...TD

[Dave]

Oh, a few years ago Boris Said came to Mosport for a ALMS or WC race (can't remember which) and he was arrested because he owed a Canadian driver a fair chunk of $ from an old driving contract he never made good on. Or something like that. Not sure how/if the situation was ever really resolved, but presumably he paid up and was released.

[slucas]

That Canadian driver was John Powell (not our friend John from Sarsville , but the Powell Motorsport fellow).I suspect there was more to the story than what got out in the press.

As for Mosport, it has been turning into condos for more than thirty years. There are now development restrictions on land that is on the Oakridges Moraine so maybe that will save it for a little while yet. We should be thankfull that BEMC built the track so far away from the Big Stink. Lets just hope Bowmanville doesn't want to expand in that direction.

[Trackside]

Yeah Scott the mighty Megalopolis of Bowmanville is expanding at an alarming rate lately. They are already up to 3rd Concession, Can Taunton be far away now.

More mini marts and school buses. Actually now that we have a transit system, both routes (east & west), can it be that long before we offer service to and from Mosport on event weekends???

If you don't already take the Liberty Street route to the track you may want to next year to see the growth of this little community. But please obey the posted speed limits. We still don't like you longhaired hippie freaks speeding in our little town :p :p :p

[abrracing]

I think we as racer should start to do things to support the community around us (townships etc) on our race weekends by donating to local charities etc and raise some positive awareness of our group. Maybe that will help keep developers away froa longer period of time if the communities actually wanted the racers in the neighborhoods.
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[MARC W]

I'd be more worried about Panoz selling the track, loosing interest or closing it before condo's are put up.
Last week i was reading the competition magazine from the Rothmans Trans-Am weekend 1987(volume 13 issue 6) Which has an article about a golf course, club house, 2 ski hills, ski chalet, drag strip, museum, motel etc. etc. etc. at a cost of over 100 million dollars being built on the 715 acres of Mosport. Every few years Harvey had grand ideas for the track but that never happened, but it was great publicity and had everyone talking. Maybe Don should come up with some new plans to attract more interest.

However i think race organizers such as SCCA, IMSA etc. should offer double points for races held in Canada to bring up more competitors and make the long trip and boader hassle a little more worth it. More cars better racing = more fans and more money.

[John Powell]

(not our friend John from Sarsville , but the Powell Motorsport fellow)
Thanks for the clarification vis-a-vis the other John Powell, but ... um ... I live near Sarsfield in the former Township of Cumberland, which is now part of the Mega-mini City (Ottawa), no thanks to Mike Harris! :mad:

[J.C.]

There are no events in June. :confused:

It would be a real shame to loose such a good event :(

[23Racer]

Eric,

Thanks for understanding. Mosport is indeed a big part of our history
and we've held more WC races there than any other venue. We really do
hope to return in 2006. In the meantime, let Mosport know that you want
the SPEED WC back!

Thanks for being a fan of the series.

_______________________
Eric Prill
eprill@scca.com
785-357-SCCA (7222)

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Nummelin [mailto:eric.nummelin@helacanada.com]
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2004 8:46 AM
To: Eric Prill
Subject: RE: Reason Why Mosport Was Dropped from WC Schedule

Thanks Eric. I understand the reasoning very well, however I am still
dismayed that the events were dropped at one of the most historical
World
Challenge venues. History/ tradition does matter and is key to building
a
varied fan base (i.e. Nascar) versus a carpetbagger series. Good luck
this
year and I appreciate the standup way you guys handle the series. I
guess I
and others wouldn't be so disappointed if we didn't like the series so
much.

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric Prill [mailto:EPrill@scca.com]
Sent: Friday, October 29, 2004 9:32 AM
To: Eric Nummelin
Cc: Mitch Wright
Subject: RE: Reason Why Mosport Was Dropped from WC Schedule


Eric,

Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. I've been out of the
office.

Putting together this season's schedule was the most difficult since the
SPEED/World Challenge relationship started in 1999. There were many
tracks interested in having World Challenge at their venues, and the
schedule was determined based on sponsor and manufacturer needs, as well
as team logistics, paddock space and television.

We agree that Mosport is an excellent venue with great fans and hope we
can return in 2006.

Eric

_______________________
Eric Prill
eprill@scca.com
785-357-SCCA (7222)

Read and discuss.

[Bubblecar]

What the above means is that - every fan and driver who feels a Mosport event should be part of the World Challenge Schedule should make their views known (politely and professionally) to both the SCCA Pro ( Eric Prill (eprill@scca.com) ) as well as Myles Brandt (myles@mosport.com) at Mosport.

The desicion to have a race at one of the events during any year is a negotiation between the track and the series. Just drop them both a short note expressing your dissapointment and asking if there is anything that can be done to bring it back.

[Ocean 50]

Grand-Am Cup will visit Mosport June 18/19...

http://www.grandamerican.com/News/Article.asp?ID=3333

[karlt]

One of the reasons Grand Am Cup is returning to Mosport after missing 2004 is that drivers and team owners (myself included) told Grand American and the folks at Mosport that we enjoy racing there.

Speed WC will put Mosport back on if enough people show interest.

Karl T

[S Nicol]

Guys
Let me tell you. I had the rare opportunity to run with those guys on the test day at the Mosport event.

It was Awesome. I had never been so excited about being passed by The best in Touring World Challenge. Ask my crew

Watching (and learning) from my drivers' seat how those guys get around Mosport, gave me a totally difference perspective on what it takes to get around.
Keep in mind that they were about 10 secs a lap faster, as it was my first time there in a sedan.

What an experience.

I sure hope they come back. I would love to run with them again.

Scott

[Schmoo]

For the comment that Panoz might get bored of Mosport, check out the Mosport site, they just hired the dude that marketed the Molson Indys' (Toronto, Montreal + Vancouver) the past few years. he will now be in charge of marketing Mosport.

http://www.mosport.com/roadhome.htm

The best is yet to come.....

I remember a eyar when they had Grand Am and WC in the same weekend, we had to let cars out from the virtual gate at 8 as they were going in to pit lane. Sessions were too short that weekend, too many cars not enough race track.