Inducted 2009 – Significant Contributor
C.Alan Bunting was in the right place at the right time.
The man who designed Mosport Park, Canada’s premier road course, emigrated from England in 1956, and quickly became a member of the British Empire Motor Club.
His early interest in motor racing began in the 1930s with forays to Donington Park, the highlight of those treks the 1937 Grand Prix. After World War II he also attended and competed in events at Snetterton and Norfolk before the trip to Canada.
Bunting quickly took to the Canadian road racing scene, joining up with the British Empire Motor Club (BEMC) in 1956, and signed on with the BEMC group whose duty it was to find a suitable site to replace Harewood Acres.
With a strong background in track design from his experience in Europe, Bunting was the driving force behind the development of the new road circuit in the wilds of Southern Ontario just north of Bowmanville.
When the BEMC implemented its plan to replace Harewood Acres with a newer, larger facility, Bunting not only designed the 2.48-mile course, he relentlessly and untiringly spent time with local groups and racing enterprises in getting his design build and helping to raise the necessary funding.
Although there were some issues in building the track, by the spring of 1961 the surface was ready for paving. A club race was held soon after to make sure all was in readiness, and in June 1961 the track officially opened with the running of the Players 200, when the racing world first experienced this world-class facility as Sir Sterling Moss took the victory.