1979 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 sportscar racers competed at this venue. In the Fall of 1978, Nelson sold the track to Jack Boxstrom and it was renamed Shannonville Motorsport Park.

Amateur championships are contested in the following categories:

Grand Touring (GT1, GT2 and GT3) – This category is for closed-wheel production-based vehicles modified for racing. Classification is primarily determined by engine displacement. Some additional changes are made to car classification based on performance potential. GT1 vehicles are the big-bore machinery such as the Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Mustang. At the other end of the spectrum is GT3 for smaller cars such as the Mini Cooper S, Triumph Spitfire and Honda Civic.
Honda/BFG are Honda Civics competing in stock form equipped with safety features such as a roll-cage and window net.
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.
B and C Sports Racers and Modified are for purpose-built closed wheel race cars and those Grand Touring vehicles that are not homologated for GT1 to GT3.

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.