44 » OpenRoad Driver
With racetrack designer Villeneuve taking
the usual pace upfront, twenty-year-old,
Surrey-born race car driver Scott Hargrove
and I, along with a group of Area 27
members, are here to walk the track. Each
corner and straight has been marked out
with wooden stakes in the ground and we
can really start to picture what the track
will look like when it is built. Villeneuve
and the Area 27 management team
describe the design intent behind each
corner and straight. In between their vivid
descriptions, Hargrove and I discuss his
passion for racing and what he hopes to
learn from Villeneuve this weekend.
Being here today, this track seems
closer to reality than I’d imagined.
Can you picture the corners and
speed in this track?
Before going to a new track, I always study
a map to get an image of what a lap will be
like. In this case, the track map didn’t do
justice to how phenomenal the layout really
is. The track has several elevation changes
that completely change your approach
to each corner. This creates a track that
will be a blast for rookies to learn on and
challenging for the most experienced racers
to master. There are a few high-speed blind
corners that are sure to test the most daring
drivers.
From what we’ve seen and what
Jacques has said, does this track
feel like any other track you’ve
raced on?
Jacques has the pleasure of driving on
tracks all across the globe and you can
see how they’ve influenced this design.
There are similarities from several tracks
I’ve driven including Mazda Raceway
Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio, Canadian Tire
Motorsport Park and Barber Motorsports
Park, all world-renowned tracks.
A year ago you teamed up with
OpenRoad to race in the Canadian
Porsche GT3 Cup series. Tell us
about that experience and what
you’ve been doing the past twelve
months.
My career prior to teaming up with
OpenRoad had purely been in open-wheel
formula cars. When the opportunity came
to drive a Porsche GT3 Cup race, I jumped
on board right away! The entire year was
incredible. Managing the additional weight
and power compared to a formula car was
the challenge, but as the results showed,
it didn’t take too long to get the hang of
it. Winning six out of ten races and the
championship is an accomplishment I’ll be
proud of for a very long time. Since then
I’ve refocused on formula cars, racing in
the Indy Lights series, just one level below
IndyCar. But I can say without a doubt I
miss driving Porsches and hope to get back
in one soon.