Shannonville Motorsport Park is a

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

road course circuit in Canada. It is located 15 km east of Belleville, Ontario, roughly midway between

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Quebec, near

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provin ...

and along the former Provincial Highway 2. It has many configurations, and its tight layout with much run-off space makes it a very good venue for race testing. Many race teams from Toronto and Montreal test at Shannonville in preparation for events held on

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the p ...

s, as the Shannonville raceway shares a lot of the same characteristics. The raceway first started off as a dirt oval, with bedrock for a front straight. Much later, the 1.8 km "Nelson" circuit was built, named after the late John Nelson, owner of the circuit at the time. From there, the 2.23 km "Fabi" circuit was built north of the Nelson, and the two were linked to form the 4.03 km, 14-corner "Long Track". The Fabi circuit was named after Bertrand Fabi, a young Canadian driver who died while testing a

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

car in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The Fabi circuit has a long backstraight that now doubles as a drag strip. A link was then made after the first corner on the Nelson circuit to the seventh corner of the Long Circuit, creating the 2.47 km "Pro Circuit" layout. Currently, the

Canadian Touring Car Championship Canadian Touring Car Championship (CTCC) presented by Pirelli is a Canadian professional touring car road racing series. In 2006, it was created based on the growth of amateur touring car racing in Canada and the pent-up demand for a professional ...

makes an annual visit to the facility, as well as auto-racing bod
CASC
(Regional Road Races).

Drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

is also heavily featured there.

Fatalities

* On May 21, 2000,

Glenn Schauble Glenn may refer to: Name or surname * Glenn (name) * John Glenn, U.S. astronaut Cultivars * Glenn (mango) * a 6-row barley variety Places In the United States: * Glenn, California * Glenn County, California * Glenn, Georgia, a settlement ...

was killed, mid-pack, after losing control during a celebratory wheelie, while crossing the finish-line. This was his second Superbike race as a professional. He flipped over backwards at the checkered flag on the front straight, fell off his bike, a Yamaha YZF-R1 1000, and was hit by several riders following in a tight pack. Schauble suffered fatal head and neck injuries. The accident happened at the end of the Pro Superbike race, during a R.A.C.E. (Racing Associates Canada Events) Ontario Superseries meeting held at Shannonville. A computer sciences student, Schauble was in his first year as a pro racer. He had been promoted to pro status after winning championships in two of the three classes in which he competed in 1999 (Amateur Formula Race and Amateur open). * On September 24, 2000, Schauble's "best friend" Frank Wilson, Jr., also crashed at Shannonville on his regular Yamaha R6, in what alleged he intended to be his last race after seeing his friend Schauble die earlier that year and contemplating retirement. With the Canadian title already locked up for that season prior to that race, Wilson would succumb to his injuries at

Kingston General Hospital The Kingston General Hospital (KGH) site is an acute-care teaching hospital affiliated with Queen's University located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Along with the Hotel Dieu Hospital (HDH) site, these hospitals deliver health care services to ...

. The incident happened after Wilson exited the pits for the 600 class warm-up lap. He crashed in Turn 2 of the Pro track in a single bike situation presumed to be due to highsiding on cold tires.http://images.ourontario.ca/Partners/MPL/MPL002504520pf_0341.pdf

References

External links

Shannonville Motorsport ParkTrackpedia guide to Shannonville Motorsport Park
{{coord, 44.2254, N, 77.1600, W, display=title Motorsport venues in Ontario Drag racing venues in Canada Road racing venues in Canada Sports venues completed in 1979 1979 establishments in Ontario Hastings County

Fatalities

See also

References

External links