The Cars & Classes

flag01.gif (990 bytes) The term road racing is not to be confused with racing on the road. The intention is to take the drivers with a need for speed off the public roads and put them in a controlled environment where safety and car control are highly stressed. Road racing is so named because it's venues are courses which are designed with left and right turns of varying degrees much like our public roads.

The events are separated into open and closed wheel sessions, then by class, with multiple classes sharing the track during a single race. The cars appearing at Mission are classified according to performance and the classes are established by the two governing bodies of motorsport that sanction races at Mission: Conference of Autosport Car Clubs (CACC) and the International Conference of Sports Car Clubs (ICSCC).

The cars that compete at Mission, fall into one of the following major groupings:

Production: Loosely defined, the cars in this class are allowed only limited performance improvements such as springs, shocks, sway bars, and racing tires. Primarily a Conference (ICSCC) class, you will see everything from Hondas to Porsches competing for honours in A through H production. This is an ideal entry level for the racer starting out.

G.T. (Grand Touring): Considered to be the ultimate level of performance for production derived racing cars. Although initially conceived to allow maximum performance modifications to mass produced automobile, it also includes tube frame built race cars. Ranging from GT1 through GT5, these classes encompass evrything from ex-Trans AM cars to the latest Nissans, Mazdas, and Porsches. Determination of classes is based on a car weight to engine displacement factor.

Formula: All Formula cars are pure racing car designs and have little resemblance to the street car. One of the exciting new Series running at Mission is the Canadian Formula Drivers Association. Also running will be the Formula Fords, cars that use a 1600cc Cortina/Fiesta engine based on limited modifications, and the Formula Vees, using a Volksagen 1200cc engine. 

Sports Racing: These unlimited, racing machines are where most of the Endurance race cars come from. These cars are pure competition designs intended to maximize the rules under which they are built. They are generally classified on engine size and today also include special marquee such as the Renault Elan sports racers.