Vintage Racing Festival 2011 – Mosport International Raceway
[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”90″ gal_title=”2011 VARAC Vintage Festival – Radu”]NOTE: The Photographs in this Gallery were provided free of charge to VARAC by many talented photographers who follow our sport. In particular, we thank Bob Harrington, Vic Henderson, Peter Viccary and Radu Repanovici for their outstanding generosity in supplying these photographs for non commercial use
June 9, 2011 – The Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada (VARAC) will hold its 33rd Annual Vintage Racing Festival at world-renowned Mosport International Raceway, June 17, 18, 19, 2011. This technically demanding, very fast 2.459 mile track is just one hour northeast of Toronto. This year’s Vintage Festival features the “Cars of Italy” and “Those Amazing Porsches”.
This summer VARAC joins with Mosport to celebrate the tracks 50th year of hosting world-class racing including Formula One, Indy cars, USAC, Can-Am and Trans-Am and more recently the North American Le Mans Series. In June 1961 the track opened the gates for its first major race, the Player’s 200 for sports cars. The race attracted over 40,000 spectators and was won by Stirling Moss in his 2.5 litre Coventry Climax-powered Lotus 19. In the following years a small selection of the famous drivers who competed at Mosport would include; A.J. Foyt, Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren, John Surtees, Mark Donohue, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jack Brabham, Bobby Unser, Roger Penske, Dan Gurney, Jackie Ickx, Jackie Stewart and many, many others, including of course the great Gilles Villeneuve, who made what would turn out to be his last appearance at the track, as he drove a Ferrari in the 1977 Labatt Grand Prix won by Jody Scheckter in the Canadian Wolf. Even the great World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio drove at Mosport, in a bizarre celebrity Mini race.
In addition to the “Cars of Italy” and “Those Amazing Porsches” there will be plenty of other classes and cars to see from the golden era of racing; Jaguars, Fiats, Triumphs, Daimlers, Alfas, Minis, Lotus, Austin-Healeys, Sadlers, Sunbeams and many, many more including formula cars and sports racing cars. The 2011 VARAC Vintage Racing Festival celebrates the glory days of grassroots sports car racing with three full days of spectacular on-track action. Hundreds of cars and drivers from all over Canada and the US will contend with this challenging race track as it rises and falls through the beautiful park setting, competing just for the thrill, the fun and bragging rights, in true amateur fashion.
The VARAC Festival is about more than racing. This year VARAC has added a new event on Friday evening – the “Checkered Flag Charity Cruise”, which is open to anyone for a two dollar donation per car to the VARAC charity. The cruise will be held on the Start/Finish Straight of the famed racing circuit and will give participants and spectators alike a glimpse of the excitement surrounding this race weekend. The public is encouraged to come out for the cruise as well and join the party with admission being only the donation to the charity.
Other features of the weekend include largest Mini gathering, Mini Meet North as well as the “Field of Dreams” car show that welcomes sports cars and hot-rods and car clubs from far and wide with Sunday noon parade laps on-track. Entry to the car show and parade laps is free! That’s a lot of action and a super value!
Enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the VARAC Vintage Racing Festival where you are encouraged to take it all in. Walk through the paddock and get up close to the cars and drivers who will be happy to greet you. Youngsters will enjoy meeting the drivers and being photographed with the race cars. Enjoy free camping. Explore the booths of vendors of all types. Within the park you’ll also find good food and beverage and modern comfort facilities.
Vintage racer, motorsport enthusiast or sports car owner, you won’t want to miss this event! Be sure to put it on your calendar today, June 17, 18, 19, 2011. For more information see our Festival section.
Attached, please find a vintage racing photo.
For more info, contact Bob DeShane, Promotions Director, VARAC 705-878-5422 days or 705-878-3940 evenings – email: [email protected]
VARAC has arranged an Off Track Policy with K and K Insurance of Mississauga that covers your race car, trailer and contents – EXCEPT for the period when your race car is moving under its own power – i.e. as your car drives from the Paddock onto the track and back again.
Features of the Policy include:
• The Premiums below are quoted in Canadian $ and are based on the value of your trailer and the value of your race car.
• All premiums automatically include up to $8,000 worth of spares, tools or equipment
• The coverage is for all risks of physical loss or damage – what this means is that you are covered for all the time your race car is not moving under its own power – i.e. all the time apart from when you are driving it through the Paddock and on the track. At all other times, when its parked in the Paddock or in the trailer, it is covered.
• Your trailer and spares are covered 365 days a year.
• Coverage extends to Canada AND while you are travelling in the US – but sorry, US members, this is policy is only available to Canadian members.
• Coverage will be by Agreed Value, with appraisals or invoices supporting.
• This is a special VARAC Policy but individual policies will be issued to you – there is not a VARAC Master Policy as such. This means that your future premiums will be based on your personal claims history, not the level of claims in the Group.
• This policy is only open to VARAC members
You can get full details of the Policy HERE and the Application Form HERE. After you have completed the Form, please return it to Joan Warren-Phenix at the address shown on the form.
MOSPORT 50th ANNIVERSARY
By Jeremy Sale.
The 32nd VARAC Festival is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the
opening of Mosport by featuring “The Cars of Italy” and “Porsches”.
Some great Vintage, Historic and Group 70+ cars will be on track and
believe it or not, some of the drivers who raced here in 1961 are
racing with us at the Festival!
The drivers who competed here “in the day” are perhaps a little more
vintage than the cars they are driving but their great enthusiasm for
racing is still present. So today some are racing, some working, some
spectating, but all are celebrating this 50th anniversary. So please
come along to welcome back Walt MacKay, Frank Mount, Jack
Boxstrom, John Greenwood, Oliver Clubine, Al Pease, Gord Green, Phil
Lamont, Tony Simms and all of those who were here in 1961.
We salute all the drivers in vintage racing, but as they say “The cars are the stars!”
So at the Festival, you’ll be able to take a walk around the paddock for
a close-up look at all the cars and chat to the drivers. They are always
more than pleased to tell you the stories behind these great vintage
racecars or have the kids get their picture taken behind the wheel.
We hope you’ll enjoy your visit – if you do, why not join us?
VARAC membership is open to anyone who shares our desire to preserve,
restore, race… or just watch historically important cars. Ask any
VARAC member or check us out on the membership tab.
Jeremy Sale and Walter Davies have just finished putting the final touches to the latest “Pit Signals” – chock full of pics. From the BEMC weekend and with a great story from Joe of his trip to Infineon Raceway.
You can download your copy HERE
Phil Lamont, President of Vintage Racing Tyres, the distributor of Dunlop Racing Tyres in North America has announced that Dunlop in the UK will not be manufacturing the Dunlop Bias Ply FF tyres for the rest of the season.
You can see Dunlop’s Announcement in Phil’s letter – we can all read between the lines, but the future after the 2011 season looks bleak to me – but I may be wrong..
This is a serious blow for FF racers, and Monoposto are looking at alternatives for the season. We’ll post updates as we hear when this problem is resolved.
Walter