The Slow, Double-Apex Corner Named for the Legendary Driver Who Designed It Could Play a Key Role in the Chevrolet Grand PrixJune 30, 2022By John OreoviczIMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In diagram view, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park looks deceptively simple, with 10 turns spread over 2.459 miles. There’s not a straight stretch worth mentioning, though there is a mildly curved section of track linking Turns 5 and 8 called the Mario Andretti Straightaway.The terrain is hilly and the curves are mostly fast, of the fourth- to sixth-gear variety, with one notable exception: Moss Corner.Named for another racing legend – Stirling Moss, who won the very first race at was originally called Mosport Park on June 24, 1961 – Moss Corner actually comprises Turns 5A and 5B, a double-apex right-hander generally taken in second gear.And while it may seem incongruous to name the slowest segment of Canada’s most famous road course after an English driver known for glorious, high-speed four-wheel drifts, there’s a simple explanation: During the construction of the track more than 60 years ago, Moss, as a consultant to designer Alan Bunting, suggested modifying what was originally laid out as a classic, constant-radius hairpin into a pair of closely linked 90-degree bends.Since then, Moss Corner has often served as the track’s focal point – especially in multi-class racing like the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. With the racing as close as it is throughout all four classes that will be in action at CTMP this weekend in the Chevrolet Grand Prix (3 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC, Peacock and IMSA Radio), it’s almost guaranteed that Moss Corner will produce a signature moment in the 2-hour, 40-minute contest.That’s especially true in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) category, where the competition between manufacturers Acura and Cadillac is this close, and the battle between Acura teams Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian is even closer.DPi drivers Oliver Jarvis (who shares the No. 60 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-05 with Tom Blomqvist) and Renger van der Zande (in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing DPi-V.R with co-driver Sebastien Bourdais) addressed the challenges of CTMP on Wednesday.The No. 60 Acura sits second in the DPi standings, 17 points behind their counterparts Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura. The No. 01 Cadillac ranks fourth, 185 points out of the lead and 25 behind the sister No. 02 Cadillac manned by Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber.Jarvis was one of the winning DPi drivers the last time the WeatherTech Championship raced at CTMP, taking the laurels in July 2019 in a Mazda he shared with Tristan Nunez. The only Canadian round of the WeatherTech Championship was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and ’21.Jarvis finished second at Watkins Glen International in 2019 the week before his CTMP victory. He and Blomqvist are coming off a runner-up finish from the pole position in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen last Sunday and are hoping for similar good fortune this year.“Going into this weekend, the aim is to get back onto the top step of the podium; it’s been a while,” said Jarvis, who has been part of four straight second-place finishes since the No. 60 won the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona. “Mosport is certainly a track I like. Extremely fast; you need a lot of commitment around there.“It’s very similar to Watkins Glen in many respects, so I’m really looking forward to getting on track to see where we’re at,” he continued. “Hopefully, it will be a good track again for us. I believe it’s been resurfaced, so that’s a bit of an unknown for us all heading there.”Van der Zande and Bourdais finished third behind the Acuras last week at Watkins Glen. The Dutchman said the slow-speed Moss Bend could create overtaking opportunities this weekend. “That’s a very interesting corner and a lot is going to happen there,” van der Zande said. “At high speed, if you’re close behind someone, you lose ground because you’re losing the downforce and you have understeer and can’t follow that well. But in those slow corners, that’s where the opportunities become big to make a move. In those corners, there’s just one way if you’re in the faster car, and that’s to wait for the traffic. When you’re attacking, it’s the opposite.” Jarvis noted that even if a faster car is held up going into Moss Corner, a superior exit from the corner can create a gap up Andretti Straightaway to Turn 8 that allows a driver to defend its position. “It’s such a fast circuit that your opportunities to overtake are very limited, apart from making a big move in traffic,” said Jarvis. “If you can get good drive out of that tight right-hander, it’s a long back straight and it’s going to offer you the best opportunity to make a move. It’s a corner that’s very traction dependent and certainly one that we have to keep an eye on, especially in traffic, so that they can’t get a run.”Fans have been patiently waiting three years for racing excitement to return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Moss Corner is the most likely place to find it.Chevrolet Grand Prix practice begins Friday. Qualifying streams live on IMSA.com/TVLive at 12:35 p.m. ET Saturday. The race will air live at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC. |
