Race Course
| Location | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 73,000 |
| Opened | 1986 |
| Major events | IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto |
| Surface | Asphalt/Concrete |
| Length | 2.824 km (1.755 mi) |
| Turns | 11 |
| Lap record | 57.143 (Gil de Ferran, Walker Racing Reynard-Honda, 1999, CART) |
Since 1986, Exhibition Place has hosted an IndyCar/Champ Car race, currently sponsored as the Honda Indy Toronto. The race is held annually in July. In addition to the IndyCar race, several support races are held, including Indy Lights and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, as well as vendor exhibits, concerts, and other off-track activities.
The track layout uses local roads that wind through and around Exhibition Place and is commonly referred to as the "Streets of Toronto" circuit. The Start/Finish line is located on Princes' Boulevard, slightly west of Newfoundland Drive. From the Start/Finish line, drivers head East towards the Princes' Gates, turning right (south) onto Canada Boulevard before reaching the gate. From Canada Boulevard, the track blends onto Lake Shore Boulevard (west) which comprises the longest straightaway on the circuit (this straightaway is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Shoreline Drive during race telecasts; Shoreline Drive is the start-finish straight at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach). Drivers re-enter the Exhibition grounds at Ontario Drive, heading North towards Prince's Boulevard where they turn left (west). The circuit continues on to Manitoba Drive and heads north-east then east until reaching Nova Scotia Avenue. At Nova Scotia Avenue, drivers turn right (south) then navigate a left-right-left series of turns until rejoining Prince's Boulevard and heading east towards the Start/Finish line.
Exhibition Place is one of seven Canadian circuits to hold an Indy/Champ Car race, the others being Mosport, Concord Pacific Place in Vancouver, Edmonton City Centre Airport, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Circuit Mont-Tremblant, and Sanair Super Speedway.
Read more about this topic: Exhibition Place
Famous quotes containing the word race:
“For do but note a wild and wanton herd
Or race of youthful and unhandled colts
Fetching mad bounds, bellowing and neighing loud,
Which is the hot condition of their blood;
If they but hear perchance a trumpet sound,
Or any air of music touch their ears,
You shall perceive them make a mutual stand,
Their savage eyes turned to a modest gaze
By the sweet power of music.”
—William Shake{peare (1564–1616)
“Consider the value to the race of one-half of its members being enabled to throw aside the intolerable bondage of ignorance that has always weighed them down!”
—Bertha Honore Potter Palmer (1849–1918)