Trans Am Roars into Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

August 29, 2024

For the first time in a decade, the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli has come North of the border to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. One of the most historic tracks in North America, teams hit the track today for three testing sessions to get up to speed at the Bowmanville, Ontario facility. Following their time on the track, several drivers offered their thoughts on CTMP.

“First of all, it's great being back in Canada; I love racing in Canada,” said Tomy Drissi, the only TA class competitor who has raced the track in a Trans Am car before. “The fans are amazing; the campers were stacked up 100-200 deep. What they've done with the track since the last time I've been here, not only visually, but safety as well, is wonderful. Every track is technical, but this track flat out, so it's the person who's going to take the most risk and take it to the limit here who will ultimately win. It’s very hard to find that limit, because you just keep getting faster and faster and faster. I’m excited to get to qualifying and the race. Let’s do battle.”

“I think this is one of the top two tracks in North America,” said CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series driver Tom Sheehan, who also has previous Trans Am experience racing at the track. “It's a shame that we haven't come up here in so long, so I'm glad to be back. They don't build tracks like this anymore, and they don’t make series like Trans Am anymore, so I think it's a good fit. The Canadian fans are always awesome. It'll be interesting to see how the multi-class race goes. I've done a lot of that, but a lot of these guys have not, so I think that could get interesting for sure. The TA field, it's small, but they're still super quick. Their pace will be pretty impressive, and they've got a lot of power down that back straight. Everyone will have to be heads up.”

“It's a very fast, very intimidating track,” said Pro/Am Challenge competitor Jim Gallaugher. “It's going to take another session or two to get the courage to go over those blind hills at the pace that we all need. It's beautiful up here. I think it's a great track. It's super fun.”

“It's an awesome track; it's fast,” said rookie Pro/Am competitor Jared Odrick. “It takes a lot of commitment because there are a couple of blind downhill corners, as well as some that are very high speed. Whoever ends up on top this weekend, at least in qualifying, it's going to come from commitment.”

Trans Am competitors next hit the track tomorrow at 11:50 a.m. ET for practice, then qualify at 3:50 p.m. ET. Tickets can be purchased here.