The Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix is rolling into the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) in Bowmanville, Ontario this weekend for some action-packed racing. The race weekend is highlighted by the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) that features exotic prototype and GT race cars. 

During the ALMS, teams compete in five different classes including P1, P2 & PC Le Mans Prototypes, and GT & GTC Grand Touring cars, where a winner is declared for each class. 

To drum up some attention for the races, CTMP hosted RaceFest at Dundas Square in the heart of downtown Toronto. On display was the DeltaWing race car driven by the all-Brit team of Katherine Legge and Andy Meyrick, who were also on hand signing on autographs along with a few other race car drivers. 

One of the highlights of RaceFest was a pit stop challenge involving several media members. Yours truly participated in the event and used an air gun to change tires as quick as possible. It was lots of fun interacting with the Corvette pit crew and doing something I’ve never done before. In the end, I didn’t win, but it showed the level of interactive fan excitement the ALMS can provide.

On hand was CTMP’s co-owner and highly accomplished Canadian race car driver, Ron Fellows. Fellows is looking forward to the event and has been a big part of the renovations to the facility allowing for the fans to have a bird’s eye view of the track. Throughout the weekend, fans will be able to walk around the paddock area and be up-close with the teams and drivers. “The paddock area is a work of art. Fans will get a close look at all the cars first-hand and meet with the drivers – it’s a great experience,” said Fellows.

When asked what race fans should look forward to the most, Fellows smiled and said, “Those long fast corners! They are the fastest anywhere.”  

It’s not all roses for Fellows and CTMP as the Ontario stop is not a guarantee next year due to the merge of ALMS with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series into the United SportsCar Racing series starting in 2014. Fellows gives CTMP a 50/50 chance at being on the calendar next year, but gave assurances that they’re pressing hard for it. The best thing going for the CTMP race is there high attendance numbers, to date the highest on the ALMS schedule.

If you’re an IndyCar fan, you will be happy to know that part-time Dale Coyne Racing driver Mike Conway will be in the field driving for Level 5 Motorsport subbing for the injured Ryan Briscoe. Conway will join the HPD ARX-03b P2 squad with team owner Scott Tucker and Marino Franchitti. Outside of his IndyCar schedule, Conway drives full-time in the FIA World Endurance Championship and competed in the 24 hours of Le Mans last month.

If you’re heading down to CTMP this weekend, here’s some key times to watch out for:

Saturday

9:30 am - 10:30 am -  Practice #1 - ALMS (All Classes)

12:00 pm - 12:45 pm - ALMS Driver Autograph Session 

1:20 pm - 2:05 pm - RACE #1 - GT3 CUP

2:20 pm - 3:20 pm - Practice #2 - ALMS (All Classes)

3:30 pm - 3:45 pm - Qualifying - ALMS (GTC)

3:50 pm - 4:05 pm - Qualifying - ALMS (GT)

4:15 pm - 4:30 pm - Qualifying - ALMS (PC)

4:35 pm - 4:50 pm - Qualifying - ALMS (P1/P2)

6:05 pm - 6:50 pm - RACE #1 - GT3 CUP CANADA

Sunday

9:10 am - 9:35 am - Warm Up - ALMS (All Classes)

10:00 am - 10:45 am - RACE #2 - GT3 CUP CANADA

12:00 pm - 2:45 pm - Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix Race for ALMS 

3:15 pm - 4:00 pm - RACE #2 - GT3 CUP