Mosport Where it All Started For Maxwell

Mosport Where it All Started For Maxwell

Posted: August 25th, 2006 in American Le Mans
Author: American Le Mans Series
Photo By: Joe Martin

Most drivers can say they’ve been around racing as long as they can remember. Scott Maxwell’s start goes back even further than that, to a time he began going to Mosport International Raceway when he was barely old enough to walk.

He’ll return there with the American Le Mans Series for the first time since 2003 in next week’s Mobil 1 presents Labour Day Weekend Grand Prix of Mosport, the lone Canadian stop on the Series schedule. The Toronto resident and native will team with David Brabham in the Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz No. 50 Panoz Esperante GTLM. They paired with Sebastien Bourdais to win the season-opener at Sebring.“I literally grew up at Mosport. I was up there every weekend when I was a kid – 2 or 3 years old,” said Maxwell, who won the LMP675 class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Multimatic in 2000. “I can actually recollect races there from 1970 when I was 6. My dad was a flagman, an amateur racer and clerk of the course. I can remember Mark Donahue and Bruce McLaren racing in Can-Am and all the Formula 1 races.”In short, Maxwell knows Mosport. If you asked him to drive it blindfolded and at speed, he probably could do it. It doesn’t hurt that Multimatic, running the factory Panoz Esperante program for 2006, is based in nearby Markham. Friends and family already have been bombarding him for tickets – “more than I can get!” he admits – but it’s a great situation to be in.Ask Corvette Racing’s Ron Fellows, who has taken on national hero status in Canada. The Misssissauga, Ontario resident has won three times at Mosport with the American Le Mans Series and is a two-time winner of the Series’ “Most Popular Driver” award.“There is a special feeling every time I head to Mosport, especially as the race is getting closer,” said Maxwell, who has scored seven professional victories at the 2.459-mile, 10-turn circuit. “Ron and I representing Canada at most of the races is special. The attention we’ll get this week is almost equal to what we get all year. There’s a lot of buzz going on around the area.”Wins by Maxwell and Fellows would create even more, especially among those who closely follow Multimatic. After a win at Sebring and a runner-up at Mid-Ohio, things have gone south. Maxwell, Tom Milner and Gunnar Jeannette went into the 24 Hours of Le Mans with high hopes of duplicating the Sebring success but only found heartache when the car couldn’t continue three hours into the race.

Since then, neither of the two cars has found its way onto the GT2 podium. A trip to Mosport could cure that, though.“Things were really strong through Le Mans and even at Le Mans,” Maxwell said. “We were really thinking about championships after Sebring and started taking podiums for granted. Part of it is psychological. I don’t think the team really has recovered (from the Le Mans disappointment). We’re just not getting our act together. I was hoping at Road America we could get turned around. We’re testing Monday, and I think we can learn a lot. I’m much more confident we’ll be stronger at Mosport.”Â

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