BOWMANVILLE, ON – There are many great stories that surround the Grand Prix weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, but none better than Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge driver, Tim Sanderson. 

For Sanderson, racing was always in his blood. 

“Growing up, I had an uncle that was always racing—he raced in two Formula One races, and some Formula Ford as well,” Sanderson, 52, said. “So I guess I followed in his footsteps.”

There are two classes in Porsche GT3, the Platinum Cup, featuring race-prepped Porsche 911 GT3 models from 2010-13 and the Gold Cup, featuring models from 20051/2 -2009. Sanderson, an Oshawa native, currently leads the Gold Cup standings with just four races to go.

There is no prize money—the eventual champion does, however, get to take a brand-new Porsche 911 home—so the thrill of driving and racing ends up being what it’s all about.

For Sanderson, there’s extra motivation each time he competes. He’s racing to raise awareness for Joanne’s House, a shelter for homeless youth in the Durham Region; his cup-leading team is officially called ‘Fiorano Racing for Joanne’s House.’

In fact, it’s the only shelter for homeless youth in the eight-city region, which presents quite a challenge for the group.

“There are 700,000 people in Durham,” Sanderson said. “We have 13 beds, and (the kids aged 16-24) can stay for 30 days, then they gotta go.” That’s not the shelter’s choice; it’s the rules as stipulated by the government of Ontario.

“We’d love to expand the facility, maybe 50 beds,” he says.

The expansion would not be an easy task as that could necessitate the opening of an entirely new shelter, but Sanderson is game for it. And that’s where the race car comes in. 

See all those squiggly lines all over its body panels? Those are signatures from race patrons, who paid $10 to have the chance to put their John Hancock on the purple and green number 07 Porsche racer. That white signature above the driver’s door? That’s mine.

In addition to the race car signatures, the team puts on a 50/50 raffle where half the money will go to the shelter. 

The rest of the car’s livery is made up of graphics taken directly from the Durham Youth & Support Services website.

As far as the racing goes, Sanderson finished third in class and 15th overall in Saturday’s race, and second in class and 13th overall on Sunday.