The Chevrolet Grand Prix is an annual

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

race held every July at

Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formerly Mosport Park and Mosport International Raceway) is a multi-track motorsport venue located north of Bowmanville, in Ontario, Canada, east of Toronto. The facility features a , 10-turn road course; a adva ...

Bowmanville, Ontario Bowmanville is a town of approximately 40,000 people located in the Municipality of Clarington, Ontario, Clarington, Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham Region, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately east of Toronto, and east of Oshawa along ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. The race originated in 1975 and is currently a two hour and forty minute race in order to fit the event into a television-friendly package. Previous editions of the Grand Prix were part of the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

, the

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The American Le Mans' hea ...

and the

IMSA GT Championship IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada. History The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill F ...

History

2007 Grand Prix of Mosport Turn 1 race action

In 1961 the first international professional sportscar races at Mosport Park took place with the inaugural Players 200 in June won by

Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...

and the first

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix du Canada) is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a sports ...

won by Peter Ryan in September as part of the Canadian Sportscar Championship. In 1966 the

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

became part of the inaugural

Can-Am Series The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/ CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987. History Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada (''Can'') and four races in the United ...

season before becoming a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

Grand Prix in

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

. The

Mosport Can-Am The Mosport Can-Am races were Can-Am series sports car races held from 1966 to 1986 at Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Winners See also *Grand Prix of Mosport *Mosport Trans-Am *Chevrolet Silverado 250 * Mosport ...

races continued to be part of the Can-Am series through to its demise in 1986 with the track hosting more Can-Am races than any other facility. Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI - Winner 2008 Grand Prix of Mosport

Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI - Winner 2008 Grand Prix of Mosport

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, the

International Motor Sports Association The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

sportscars visited the track for the first time when it’s Camel GT Challenge raced during the Labatt's Blue 5000 Weekend sharing the weekend schedule with the SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship. The inaugural 100 mile IMSA race was won by

Hurley Haywood Hurley Haywood (born May 4, 1948) is a retired American race car driver. Haywood has won multiple events, including five overall victories at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, three at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and two at the 12 Hours of Sebring. He is cre ...

in a

Porsche Carrera Carrera (''Spanish'' for "race" and "career") is a brand of Porsche automobile. The name commemorates the company's success in the Carrera Panamericana race. The following vehicles have been called ''Carrera'': * Porsche 356 * Porsche 904 * Porsch ...

. The race was included as part of the

World Sports Car Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and N ...

on six occasions, for the first time in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and for the final time as the 1985 Mosport 1000 which also marked the final

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

event to be held at the facility. 2003 Grand Prix of Mosport Grid

From 1989 through 1992, IMSA returned to headline GT only races in May and June for their GTO and GTU classes. With the launch of the new World Sports Cars category in 1995,

prototypes A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to ...

returned to the track for the first time in a decade for the Chrysler Mosport 500. In August of

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, the

made its first appearance at the track as the new headline IMSA sanctioned series for the renamed Grand Prix of Mosport weekend. The series reintroduced factory backed

designed for the high speeds of the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

. Prototypes from

Audi Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. Th ...

, BMW,

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

Panoz Panoz is an American manufacturer of sports automobiles founded in 1989 as Panoz Auto Development by Dan Panoz, son of Don Panoz. Panoz products have included the Panoz Roadster and AIV Roadster, the Panoz Esperante, and the Panoz Avezzano. Pan ...

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

and

Acura Acura is the luxury vehicle, luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched in the United States and Canada on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. It ...

led to the highest speeds ever recorded at the track. The

2008 Grand Prix of Mosport The Mobil 1 Presents Grand Prix of Mosport was the eighth round of the 2008 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at Mosport International Raceway, Ontario, Canada on August 24, 2008. Temperatures had reached a maximum of ; with wind sp ...

included the fastest ever lap at the circuit taken by

Rinaldo Capello Rinaldo "Dindo" Capello (born 17 June 1964) is an Italian professional racing driver. He is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Bentley in 2003 and Audi in 2004 and 2008. Capello is a two-time American Le Mans Series champion, ...

during qualifying in an

Audi R10 TDI The Audi R10 TDI, usually abbreviated to R10, is a diesel-powered racing car from the German car manufacturer Audi. The car dominated Le Mans, winning each year from its 2006 introduction until it was replaced by the R15 in 2009. It was design ...

with a time of 1:04.094. Mosport was one of four tracks that would appear on the American Le Mans Series schedule every year for the next fifteen years of the series existence. Muscle Milk Team Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder Evo - Winner 2010 Grand Prix of Mosport

Muscle Milk Team Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder Evo - Winner 2010 Grand Prix of Mosport

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, the Grand Prix continued as part of the new

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

following the merger of the American Le Mans Series and the

Grand-Am Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. ...

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

. In 2020 and 2021, the Grand Prix was not held for the first time in a quarter of a century due to the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Winners

References

External links

United SportsCar Championship official siteUltimate Racing History Mosport archive
{{Coord, 44, 03, 00, N, 78, 40, 40, W, display=title Sports car races Sport in Ontario Clarington Auto races in Canada 1975 establishments in Ontario Recurring sporting events established in 1975 Tourist attractions in the Regional Municipality of Durham