2023 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park - VARAC Vintage Grand Prix

The Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada (VARAC) Vintage Grand Prix returned to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) on the weekend of June 16-18. Since the lifting of government COVID restrictions, there has been an increase in American competitors. Over 300 drivers competed in twenty-minute races around Canadian Tire Motorsport Park's ten-turn, 2.459-mile road course.

The featured marque for 2023 was Mazda, including those powered by piston and rotary engines.

Vehicles racing at CTMP compete in one of five broad categories depending on the type and age of the automobile. Within many of the categories are a number of classes.

Pre-War - Classic pre-war, single-seat, sports cars and post-war MG T-series are included in this category.
Vintage Production – This race group comprises sports cars such as the MGA, Triumph TR4, Austin Healey Sprite, Porsche 356, etc. The group has a production date cut-off for vehicles, which is December 31, 1961.
Historic Production – Vehicles in this group were manufactured between January 1, 1962 and December 31, 1972. The Ford Mustang, MGB, Mini Cooper, MG Midget, Chevrolet Camaro and Porsche 911 are vehicles commonly found in this group.
Monoposto – This category was conceived to accommodate purpose-built race cars – such as open-wheel and sports racers.
Classic – The Classic category includes Group 70+ for production-based vehicles built between 1973 and 1989. Also, part of the category is Group 90+ for newer cars (1990 to 1997). This category includes the Porsche 944, Datsun 240Z, Chevrolet Corvette, BMW M3, etc.

Many of the eight races groups at the VARAC Vintage Grand Prix were determined by lap times:

Group 1: Vintage Historic A, 1, 2, and 3 – under 1.45
Group 2: Vintage Historic 4 – under 1.50
Group 3: Vintage Historic 5 and 6 – over 1.50
Group 4: VH over 2500, Classic 3, 4, 5 and – over 1.40
Group 5: Classic A, 1 and 2 – under 1.40
Group 6: Formula Classic All
Group 7: Toyo Tires F1600 Championship
Group 8: Vintage Sports 2000 North America

In addition to the eight race groups, there were some special events:

MG-Triumph Challenge
Ludwig Heimrath Open Wheel Challenge
Rudy Bartling Nation's Cup