Mosport and  American LeMans - a weekend of horsepower or no power:

I grew up at the famous Mosport - a track that has more than 40 years of Canadian racing history behind it. Legends such as Stirling Moss, Bobby Unser, Bruce McLaren and famed Canadian racer Gilles Villeneuve have driven the famous 10 turn course. When entrepreneur Don Panoz took over Mosport in 1998 it breathed life back into the area and with the inception of the American LeMans Series a year later the track was resurrected into a venue for superb road racing. How could I miss this?

While my colleague Laurance Yap was checking out parking spots and looking for cake in the media room, I was frolicking through the race paddock gazing at fine machinery - built to go fast. You see the American LeMans Series Weekend at Mosport is one of my favourite ways to spend time and cause trouble. Having worked with a support race team in the past I see familiar faces in every corner as I dodge scooters and pit carts. This is my home town track, my stomping ground and the place to get some high-octane excitement.

On any race weekend the local track becomes a small city on its own. From run down campers to million dollar motorhomes there is a constant 24 hour hum across the paddock. This past weekend that hum became more of growl as generators were brought to life. The Toronto Grand Prix of Mosport had power -- horsepower that is.

The first clue that the power was out was the lack of running water in the bathroom - I thought how odd. Since Panoz took over, the bathrooms as well as the whole track has improved ten-fold. As for how the track dealt with the lack of electricity they said it was brief disruption - The track's biggest concern was the safety of the corner workers and drivers . With Mosport's own power generating system installed, communications was restored quickly between track workers and race tower. In fact many teams did not know of any power interruption or outage until finding their way home to their hotel rooms.

Over the course of the weekend the spirit of all the racers and fans and their stories made this Toronto Grand Prix of Mosport unforgettable. It was a night of cold dark showers, warm beer and scrounging for edible fare. "This is not an experience I wish to repeat regularly" said Jason Hill, Chief Engine engineer, race engines of the Prodrive Ferrari 550 GTS entrant. "We were oblivious to it until we left the circuit and saw police everywhere".

"We found finally a bar that would serve us and sat on the roof terrace until we became a feast for the mosquitoes" Hill said. While the waitress clumsily tried to feed the lot, more food mistakenly found its way onto the floor.

Other racers weren't as lucky to feast. Enrico Diano, chief engineer for Team Autotechnica had to reminisce of nights at camp. His dinner consisted of hotdogs cooked over an open fire - a package of 24 wieners became a delicacy. At this point he was happy it was too dark to see if the meat was edible. With no gas in his car to get him back into the city he knew he like others would rely on a generator for power and the kindness of others for basics.

The power outage made it difficult for many to even make it to the track. Flights being delayed and others cancelled many drove for hours to the track with the hope of not running out of fuel.

With power back on race day, the size of the gathered crowds wouldn't give a clue that a mere 48 hours earlier gas line ups were causing havoc in the city. Cars parked along the grass throes of people found there place by the fence to see the American LeMans Series hit the pavement after a brief taste of the sixteen national anthems of the international drivers that would race today.

Mosport has remained essentially the same from when it hosted Formula One, Can Am and Indy Car events years ago. To improve on safety the track itself was widened to 12m (40feet) run off areas were extended and all of the track repaved in 2000. But ask any driver and you'll get the response that Mosport is still a drivers track - technical and fast with its' many elevation changes that help keep the race thrilling from green to checkered flag.

Star Mazda Series racer, Glen Cooper, notes that Mosport, unlike other tracks, requires the largest commitment in some corners. The racing line through is so narrow that if approached differently it can be tricky - only adding to the excitement of wheel to wheel action.

The race weekend - from dawn Friday to dusk on Sunday - was jam packed with practice sessions, qualifying, and racing from the many support races that run alongside the ALMS headliner. Both sedans and open-wheel race cars, and next year, the Tonka Truck series - ensure that there's something for everyone's taste. Finding a place to watch along the 2.459 mile track is easy.

I'm home now, with pink tinged skin from being out in the sun too much. I have brake dust circles around my eyes and have walked the entire track so often my feet ache. I never did get to try that cake left out to feed us media types but I left satisfied with a smile that have could of powered a city like Toronto in a heartbeat!