Next weekend offers the second and third of four race events in three weeks and our only doubleheader of the year. The VARAC Vintage Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park and SVRA’s SpeedTour at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are both great events but unfortunately, they are on the same weekend. This is the only doubleheader event weekend on our 2023 schedule.
Both events have large entry lists for open wheel cars. There are 47 open wheel cars entered for CTMP (25 in the Canadian F1600 series group and 22 in the regular VARAC open wheel group. Indy has 70 cars registered. It's clear that regardless of what class you might be in, you will not have a problem finding some close competition.
Each event and each track has its attractions. The VARAC event is the 42nd Vintage Grand Prix and as such offers a very full schedule of racing and off-track activities. As is VARAC's practice after the first day's running each session is a race with the grid set by the previous session's results. You get the opportunity to move up the results sheet as you learn the track and improve your driving while enjoying more than the typical vintage event's two races.
At Indy we will be racing on the road course that IndyCar raced on in early May before the Indy 500. They are scheduled to race on it again at the end of July. The fact that it's good enough for IndyCar to race on twice this season means for us it's a challenging circuit with lots of passing opportunities. Largely because of the high entry count, FBs, FFs and FVs will be in separate run groups, making the racing tighter within these groups. Open wheel wings & slicks cars will be in their own run group as well. Off-track activities feature prominently on the SVRA schedule resulting in a full weekend.
Because of the size and schedule of each event, there will not be a Monoposto party at CTMP or Indy. However, trophies for the 2022 Monoposto champions will be available for presentation at Indy.
Travis Engen
President,
Monoposto Racing