Stars of past and present at Mosport GP

TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO

Bobby Unser, pictured at Indianapolis where he won three 500-mile races, will be Grand Marshal of the Grand Prix of Mosport next weekend. He won the first Indy car race at the track in 1967.

Norris McDonald

MOTORSPORT WRITER

Next weekend’s Mobil 1 Grand Prix of Mosport, featuring the American Le Mans Series, got a big boost this week with the news that two of the sport’s more famous names will be front-and-centre for the track’s 50th anniversary celebration.

First, the grand marshal will be three-time Indy 500 champion Bobby Unser, who won the first Telegram Trophy Race for USAC Indy cars in 1967. People tend to forget that the Indy cars beat Formula One to the punch by putting on a race first in that exciting Centennial year.

And two-time LMP2 champion and current 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Romain Dumas — he was partnered in those triumphs by Timo Bernhard — will join Muscle Milk Team CytoSport as the replacement for Greg Pickett, who was injured recently in a testing crash at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Which is very good news, indeed, because the ALMS (and, by extension, Mosport) has been suffering this season from a dearth of “name” drivers in the glamour-puss Prototype class.

Face it, friends: once you get past Geoff Brabham, Simon Pagenaud and — maybe — Chris Dyson, you’re not going to find many (if any) household names.

So, a big welcome back to Dumas, who won the ALMS LMP2 championship in 2007 and 2008 with his pal Bernhard. In fact, in 2007, Dumas and Bernhard finished all 12 races on the podium, winning six overall and eight class victories.

I have a feeling that Dumas, who will partner Klaus Graf in the Muscle Milk Porsche RS Spyder Prototype, might put on a show at Mosport next weekend. At the very least, Brabham and Pagenaud are going to know they’ll be in a fight.

Speaking of Pagenaud, he’ll be one of the drivers appearing at the Mosport RaceFest between 11 a.m. and 2 on Tuesday at Yonge-Dundas Square, where pit-stop demonstrations, autograph sessions and race-car displays are planned.

Besides Pagenaud, other drivers expected to attend include Marino Franchitti (Dario’s brother) and Canadian racers Tony Burgess of Toronto, who’ll be behind the wheel of a Le Mans Prototype next weekend, and Kyle Marcelli of Barrie, who’s competing in the new ALMS Prototype Challenge class this season.

Now, I was talking this week with Jerry Priddle, vice-president of sales and marketing for Mosport, and he told me about some really interesting things they’ve got planned for the fans who are expected to flock to the historic circuit north of Bowmanville, starting next Thursday night.

“First off, we wish Greg Pickett a quick recovery and look forward to seeing him back at Mosport next season,” Priddle said.

“The fact that Porsche has offered up Romain Dumas to drive for the Muscle Milk team signals their intent to help them in their quest for the championship (where they currently sit second).

“As far as the weekend is concerned,” said Priddle, “we’ll again be offering up all the things that make an American Le Mans Series meet at Mosport great. For instance, there’s the wide-open accessibility of the teams and the drivers. The paddock is open to everyone; you don’t have to have a special pass.

“Next, we have a good mix of series. I, personally, think a great addition to the program this year will be the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship (I agree) and then there will be the autograph sessions and the Open Grid Walk just before the ALMS race.

“Find me any other professional racing series in North America that lines up the cars and has the drivers suited up and ready to go and then says to the fans, ‘Come on down!’ Well, that’ll happen at Mosport next Sunday.”

Priddle was also excited about some added attractions they’ve got planned.

“We’ve got something new, called the ‘Action Zone,’ that we’re setting up down at Corner One,” he said. “This will be an area where there will be live music — we’ve got some rock ‘n roll tribute bands lined up — some interactive displays and the Keystone Light beer garden.”

(I asked if the old guy who asks his grandson to toss him a can of beer, only to get conked on the head, will be there and Priddle said he didn’t think so. Too bad. We could have taken turns . . . )

Here’s a twist I really like. Priddle said there will be a live music curfew of 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights and the track would then screen auto racing motion pictures on some big-screen plasma TVs.

What’s playing, Jerry?

“Well, Steve McQueen’s Le Mans, for sure,” he replied, adding that there will be others.

Another attraction — seeing as it’s the circuit’s 50th anniversary season — will be the Fiftieth Anniversary Season Clubhouse, where some of Canada’s most famous racing drivers and some of their cars will be part of a Legends of Mosport and Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame display.

“We have a lot of new fans who might not be completely familiar with the history of Mosport,” Priddle said, “and this might help fill in some of the blanks,” adding that cars on display will include Ron Fellows’s Player’s-GM Chevrolet Camaro, David Empringham’s Formula Atlantic, Walter Wolfe’s F1 car, Bill Brack’s Formula Atlantic Lotus and Horst Kroll’s Can-Am racing car.

“Of course, some of Canada’s finest drivers will be in the Clubhouse,” Priddle said. “Brack, who won three consecutive national championships and had three Formula One rides, will be there, as will Kroll, who was the last Can-Am champion.

“Eppie Wietzes — what didn’t he win — is coming out, as is Craig Hill who was Canadian champion twice in the early Seventies.

“Oh, and the legendary Ludwig Heimrath Sr. will be there. Ludwig won the first feature race at Mosport when the track opened back in 1961. A lot of people are going to want to say hello to him.”

Including me.

You know, 1961 seems like a long time ago — but it was only yesterday. I know a lot of other people feel the same way and I hope to see many of them out there next weekend.

And then we can start making plans for the 60th.

Norris McDonald writes an auto racing blog at Wheels.ca. nmcdonald@thestar.ca

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