On Saturday, June 24, the International Motor Racing Research Center will mark the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Grand Prix with reminiscences from three long-time insiders as part of the IMRRC’s Center Conversations program. This time the conversation will be presented by George Webster, former chief steward for the Formula One race in Montreal, motorsports photographer Lionel Birnbom and Timothy Meddaugh, who flagged at 25 of the races. They will share their insights into Formula One competition in Canada.
The first Canadian Grand Prix Formula One race was on August 27, 1967, at Mosport Park, north of Bowmanville, Ontario. It was moved to Le Circuit Mont-Tremblant, north of Montreal, Quebec, for the 1968 and 1970 races. Following a six-year run at Mosport, the 1978 race was held at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Isle Notre-Dame in the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, as has every Canadian Grand Prix since. That first Montreal race was won by Quebec native Gilles Villeneuve, driving a Ferrari 312T3 (above, Lionel Birnbom photo), and following his death in 1982, the racecourse was named the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in his honor.
The Center Conversations talk, sponsored in part by the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, will begin at 1 p.m. and is open to all. A $5 donation for admission is requested to help defray costs. The Racing Research Center is located at 610 S. Decatur St., Watkins Glen, N.Y.
The talk will be live-streamed at www.youtube.com/user/IMRRC/live or via the Center’s website at www.racingarchives.org/stream/. The talk also will be archived on the Center’s You Tube channel to watch in the future.
The International Motor Racing Research Center is an archival and research library with the mission to preserve and share the materials of the history of racing, all series and all venues worldwide. Center Conversations is a monthly talk series focusing on issues and personalities from that history. For more information about the work of the Racing Research Center, please visit www.racingarchives.org.
