Westwood Motorsport Park (or Westwood Racing Circuit) was a 8-turn motorsport race track located in Coquitlam, British Columbia on the southern slopes of Eagle Mountain (known locally as Eagle Ridge).
History
The track was built and operated by the Sports Car Club of British Columbia (SCCBC). Construction of Westwood began in 1957, and the first race was held on July 26, 1959, making it the first purpose-built permanent road course in Canada.
Westwood hosted many different professional race series over the years, including long stints with the Formula Atlantic Series, Trans-Am Series, and Player's GM Challenge Series. Champion drivers to have raced professionally at Westwood include Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg, Indianapolis 500 winners Bobby Rahal and Danny Sullivan, as well as other famous names including Gilles Villeneuve and Michael Andretti.
The December 12, 1988 episode of MacGyver, titled Collision Course, was primarily filmed at Westwood (where it was referred to as the Westwood Springs Race Course). The Player's GM Challenge Series served as the backdrop of the story.
The track, which was located on leased provincial crown land, eventually fell victim to urban development. The track finally closed in 1990 to make way for the Westwood Plateau housing development and the Westwood Plateau Golf & Country Club.
Lap records
The fastest official race lap records at the Westwood Motorsport Park are listed as:
CategoryTimeDriverVehicleEvent Full Circuit (1959–1990): Formula Atlantic 0:59.705 Hiro Matsushita Swift DB4 1989 Westwood Atlantic Championship round Trans-Am 1:06.960 Greg Pickett Chevrolet Corvette 1978 Westwood Trans-Am round Group 4 1:11.300 Eppie Wietzes Ford GT40 1966 Westwood CSCC round Group 3 1:18.000 Bob Stevens Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 1970 Westwood 500
Major race results
CASC / SCCA Atlantic Championship
Year Date Driver Car 1971 Oct 3 Craig Hill Lotus 69B 1972 July 9 Craig Hill Lotus 69B 1973 May 27 Allan Lader Brabham BT40 1974 May 26 Allan Lader Chevron B27 1975 June 1 Bertil Roos March 75B 1976 May 30 Marty Loft March 76B 1977 July 17 Keke Rosberg Chevron B34 1978 April 23 Keke Rosberg Chevron B-45 1979 June 3 Kevin Cogan Ralt RT-1 1980 June 1 Jacques Villeneuve Sr. March 80A 1981 Aug 23 Rogelio Rodriguez Ralt RT4 1982 Aug 23 Tommy Phillips Ralt RT4 1983 May 22 Michael Andretti Ralt RT4 1984 July 22 Chris Bender 1985 July 21 Dan Marvin 1986 July 6 Ted Prappas 1987 Aug 23 Johnny O'Connell 1988 Aug 6 Dean Hall 1988 Aug 7 Rod Granberry 1988 Sept 11 Hiro Matsushita 1989 May 28 Hiro Matsushita Swift DB4 1989 Aug 5 Hiro Matsushita Swift DB4 1990 Aug 5 Mark Dismore Swift DB4
SCCA Trans-Am Series
Year Date Driver Car 1977 June 5 Peter Gregg Porsche 934 1978 June 4 Ludwig Heimrath Porsche 935 1979 June 3 John Paul Porsche 935 1980 Sept 7 John Bauer Porsche 911SC
See also List of auto racing tracks in Canada
External links http://www.etracksonline.co.uk/Features/stories/canadaspioneer.html http://www.sccbc.net/about.htm http://www.playerschallengeseries.ca/ www.darrenturner.ca/ Canon Yokohama Formula Fords racing at Westwood
References Johnston, Tom, Westwood, Everyone's Favourite Racing Circuit, Granville Island Publishing,