Motocross Performance Magazine Canadian Motocross news leader
Andre Laurin of OTSFF Sports Marketing Group is excited to announce the company has partnered with Ontario 1500 Motorsport Adventure as part of OTSFF’s expansion into four-wheel racing sponsorship and participation, a new endeavour that was kicked off earlier this summer with the USA Terracross Series south of the border.
Ontario 1500 Motorsport Adventure, a weeklong celebration of racing – September 14 to September 20 – is an initiative sparked by Gary Wood and his wife Lynne, both passionate motorsport enthusiasts and founders of Ontario 1500 Motorsport Adventure Inc., the organizing body for the event.
The inaugural Ontario 1500 is basically a seven-day automotive tour of South/Central Ontario under controlled conditions at six different Ontario racetracks and in total covers a racing distance of 1,500 kilometers (932 mi). One of the event’s main goals is to help discourage illegal street racing and get speed enthusiasts of any age to strut their stuff on bona fide racetracks. The event concept has been confirmed with the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) and the organization plans to work in detail with all local police forces in the geographies included in the event.
The tour commences at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Bowmanville/Mosport) and makes stops at Calabogie Motorsport Park (Calabogie); Picton Airport (Picton); Shannonville Motorsport Park (Shannonville); Toronto Motorsports Park (Cayuga); and Grand Bend Motorplex (Grand Bend) and return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the grand finale. The actual racing segments are comprised of eleven Time Attack legs, nine Autoslalom, and three Drag Races. Competitors drive their cars, which need to be street legal, from venue to venue across Ontario. If they get ticketed for any reason, they are automatically disqualified from further participation in the tour.
“The Ontario 1500 fits in perfectly with our automotive sector racing plans. The event is something new and a noble one at that, and OTSFF as well as our main partner, Rockstar Energy, wanted to get involved. It’s a way for us to get our feet wet, sort of speak, in our own back yard,” Laurin said. “It compliments what we started stateside with the Terracross Series this year. We intend to use both of those platforms to eventually broaden our involvement in four-wheel racing and keep the momentum going that we’ve been building for the past twelve years in moto and snow.”
In addition to arranging OTSFF and Rockstar sponsorship for the Ontario 1500, Laurin will be participating in the event in a stock 2009 Porsche S4 with co-driver Iain Hayden. Laurin, mostly known for his presence behind the scenes and not on the track, has plenty of sports car racing experience behind him. He has been doing track days at Mosport since 1991 and has regularly competed in Porche Club of Canada and America events. Hayden, well known for his exploits as a former top-10 Canadian motocross star and seven-time National Pro Open Snowcross Champion, will be making his four-wheel debut.
Wood, a past director of the CASC-OR (Canadian Automobile Sports Clubs-Ontario Region)) Autoslalom Division, is a six-time Ontario Class Autoslalom Champion and 2015 GT2 Class Champion in the CASC-ON Ontario Time Attack series. The veteran racer said that the critical final components of the “Ontario 1500” concept involve safety and giving back to the community.
“All of us who are involved in racing, and by racing I mean on tracks designed specifically for the purpose, are strongly against street racing. The Ontario 1500 will reinforce this point by promoting the message ‘Take it to the track – the SAFE place to race’,” Wood said. “To have a company like OTSFF contact us, telling us they want to be part of this, is certainly a vote of confidence. We are very pleased and proud to have OTSFF and Rockstar associated with the Ontario 1500 and wish both Andre and Iain much success in their racing efforts.”
