1978 CANADIAN AMATEUR SPORTS CAR RACING

With the closure of Harewood Acres in 1970, Ontario Region sports car clubs only had one venue to hold amateur road races - which was Mosport. In 1976, a new track opened east of Belleville. The facility was built by John Nelson and called Nelson International Raceway. The first race event was for motorcycles in October 1976. The following year Ontario amateur sports car racers competed at this venue and since then, it has been one of two choices for Canadian Automobile Sport Clubs (CASC-OR)to hold events.

Amateur championships are contested in the following categories:

Grand Touring (GT1, GT2 and GT3) – Closed wheel racing went through a significant change in the off-season. Sedan and Product classes were combined to form three Grand Touring groups. This action was taken to address the low car counts across the twelve existing classes. The big-bore cars previously competing in A Sedan, A to C Production were combined to form GT1. The GT2 division is made up of vehicles that were previously classified in D to E Product and B Sedan. The final category, GT3, includes F to H Production and C Sedan vehicles. Some additional changes were made to car classification based on engine displacement and performance potential.
Formula Vee is a popular open-wheel category that uses Volkswagen components and is powered by a 1200-cc air-cooled engine.
Formula Ford is another well-subscribed division that utilizes a four-cylinder 1600-cc Ford motor.
Formula 4 cars are often powered by motorcycle engines and this category has the most liberal rules.
Formula Libre is for open-wheel vehicles that do not meet the rules of Formula Vee, Formula Ford or Formula 4.

The Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada also competes at CASC-OR weekends and has several classes depending on the age and type of vehicle.