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Shannonville Motorsport Park is a motorsport road course circuit in Canada. It is located 15 km (9.3 mi) east of Belleville, Ontario, roughly midway between Toronto and Montreal, Quebec, near Highway 401 and along the former Provincial Highway 2.
| SMP | |
|---|---|
| Location | Shannonville, Ontario, Canada |
| Time zone | UTC-5 (UTC-4 DST) |
| Coordinates | 44°13′31.44″N 77°09′36.00″W / 44.2254000°N 77.1600000°W |
| Owner | John Bondar and Steve Gidman |
| Opened | 1974 |
| Major events | Current: Canadian Superbike Championship (1980–2009, 2011–2014, 2016–2019, 2023, 2024) Former: Canadian Touring Car Championship (2008–2009, 2014–2016, 2018–2020) CASCAR Super Series (1989–1991, 1995) |
| Long Circuit (1974–present) | |
| Length | 4.03 km (2.517 miles) |
| Turns | 14 |
| Race lap record | 1:43.824 ( Francis Martin, BMW, 2010, Pro Superbike) |
| Pro Circuit (1974–present) | |
| Length | 2.470 km (1.535 miles) |
| Turns | 9 |
| Race lap record | 1:04.327 ( Jodie Christie, Honda, 2014, Pro Superbike) |
| Fabi Circuit (1974–present) | |
| Length | 2.230 km (1.398 miles) |
| Turns | 8 |
| Nelson Circuit (1974–present) | |
| Length | 1.8 km (1.119 miles) |
| Turns | 6 |
| Drag Strip | |
| Length | 1/4 miles |
It has many configurations, and its tight layout with much run-off space makes it a very good venue for race testing. Many race teams from Toronto and Montreal test at Shannonville in preparation for events held on street circuits, as the Shannonville raceway shares a lot of the same characteristics.
The raceway first started off as a dirt oval, with bedrock for a front straight. Much later, the 1.8 km (1.1 mi) "Nelson" circuit was built, named after the late John Nelson, owner of the circuit at the time. From there, the 2.23 km (1.39 mi) "Fabi" circuit was built north of the Nelson, and the two were linked to form the 4.03 km (2.50 mi), 14-corner "Long Track". The Fabi circuit was named after Bertrand Fabi, a young Canadian driver who died while testing a Formula 3 car in England. The Fabi circuit has a long backstraight that now doubles as a drag strip. A link was then made after the first corner on the Nelson circuit to the seventh corner of the Long Circuit, creating the 2.470 km (1.535 mi) "Pro Circuit" layout.
Currently, the Canadian Touring Car Championship makes an annual visit to the facility, as well as auto-racing body CASC (Regional Road Races).[1] Drag racing is also heavily featured there.
Lap records
editAs of October 2024, the fastest official race lap records at the Shannonville Motorsports Park are listed as:
Fatalities
edit- On May 21, 2000, Glenn Schauble was killed, mid-pack, after losing control during a celebratory wheelie, while crossing the finish-line. This was his second Superbike race as a professional. He flipped over backwards at the checkered flag on the front straight, fell off his bike, a Yamaha YZF-R1 1000, and was hit by several riders following in a tight pack. Schauble suffered fatal head and neck injuries. The accident happened at the end of the Pro Superbike race, during a R.A.C.E. (Racing Associates Canada Events) Ontario Superseries meeting held at Shannonville. A computer sciences student, Schauble was in his first year as a pro racer. He had been promoted to pro status after winning championships in two of the three classes in which he competed in 1999 (Amateur Formula Race and Amateur open).[8]
- On September 24, 2000, Schauble's "best friend" Frank Wilson, Jr., also crashed at Shannonville on his regular Yamaha R6, in what he had intended to be his last race after seeing his friend Schauble die earlier that year and contemplating retirement. With the Canadian title already locked up for that season prior to that race, Wilson succumbed to his injuries at Kingston General Hospital. The incident happened after Wilson exited the pits for the 600 class warm-up lap. He crashed in Turn 2 of the Pro track in a single bike situation presumed to be due to highsiding on cold tires.[9]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ CASC
- ^ a b "Lap Records – Super Series - Lap Record LONG Circuit". SMP Official Lap Records. May 16, 2010. Retrieved October 19, 2024.
- ^ "Shannonville Motorsport Park, August 15 Aout 2020 CTCC at Shannonville ASN Canada FIA Pirelli Canadian Touring Car Championship Round #3/Epreuve #3". August 15, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Shannonville Motorsport Park, July 7 Juillet 2018 Peter Jackson Memorial Races ASN Canada FIA Pirelli Canadian Touring Car Championship Round #5/Epreuve #5". July 7, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ a b "Official SMP Lap Records - Lap Record PRO Circuit".
- ^ "Shannonville Motorsport Park, July 8 Juillet 2018 Peter Jackson Memorial Races ASN Canada FIA Pirelli Canadian Touring Car Championship Round #6/Epreuve #6". July 8, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ a b "Shannonville Motorsport Park, August 16 Aout 2020 CTCC at Shannonville ASN Canada FIA Pirelli Canadian Touring Car Championship Round #4/Epreuve #4". August 15, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
- ^ "Glenn Schauble". Motorsport Memorial.
- ^ Magazine clipping OurOntario.ca
External links
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