Westwood: Everyone's Favourite Racing Circuit - Softcover

Tom Johnston

Softcover

ISBN 10: 189469449X ISBN 13: 9781894694490

Publisher: Granville Island Publishing, 2006

Synopsis

There have been over 600 automobile road racing tracks in North America since racing began 100 years ago. Westwood, the first purpose-built road racing circuit in Canada, was different from all of the others. It was a people place built, owned and operated by the racers themselves. This book tells the story of how the members of a club of enthusiasts (the Sports Car Club of British Columbia) acquired a site in the BC mountains, and with their families and friends and on a limited budget created what one expert described as one of the four best tracks in the world. The track ran just about any kind of racing that came along for cars, mortorcycles and karts, but was best known for its spectacular races for smaller formula cars, Formula Atlantic in particular. The SCCBC effectively operated the track for 32 spectacular seasons until the growth of Greater Vancouver finally overwhelmed it.

About this title

About the Author:

Tom Johnston began racing in 1962 at the age of twenty on airport circuits in the Prairies. Over the years he has participated in well over 300 automobile race events at tracks across North America, as a driver, car designer and manufacturer, and team owner. In 1969 he left Edmonton, Alberta for the North Shore of Vancouver, where he founded Thomas E. Johnston Engineering Inc. to co-ordinate his many and varied motor sport activities. In 1998, Tom was honoured by being inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. Tom, the author of Sports Car Road Racing in Western Canada, is a racer still at it, running his collection of historic cars at tracks close (and some not so close) to his home in West Vancouver, British Columbia, where he lives with his wife, Sharon.

Review:

I remember being at Westwood as a kid, when I was travelling the Atlantic circuit with my parents and my sister in the mid 1970s. Although my father raced there a few times, unfortunately I never had the chance because the track closed some years before I made my North American Atlantic debut. Nevertheless, I knew that Westwood was legendary. Of all the Canadian race tracks, Westwood was known as the "Formula Atlantic Circuit." In 1974 it was the site of the first North American Atlantic race and ran at least one championship race every season until it closed at the end of 1990. As for me, before I went on to CART and Formula One, I raced in Formula Atlantic for the 1993 season. It was at that time that I raced against Tom Johnston's Keen Engineering team. They knew what they were doing. Tom, who experienced it from so many perspectives, is the perfect person to write about Westwood, Canada's first real road racing circuit. I applaud his efforts, both in racing and in print. This book is a most welcome accomplishment. Formula One Driver World Champion Monaco, . . . Westwood was legendary. --Jacques Villeneuve, Indy 500 and Formula One Champion

Tom Johnston has done it again! Westwood: Everyone s Favourite Racing Circuit is definitely a book to add to your collection. As usual, his attention to detail and research is overwhelming. He provides the reader with facts and inside stories, rounded out with an impressive collection of photographs, race programs, race results, drivers and more! This book conveys the passion of all those associated with Westwood Racing Circuit and evokes a nostalgic look at race days gone by. If you were lucky enough to be a racer, volunteer, or a spectator at Westwood, this book is a must-have. And if you never had the joy of the Westwood experience, this book is so complete, it is the next best thing to actually being there. It is satisfying to know that, although the Westwood days are long gone, through Tom Johnston Westwood lives on. This book leaves a smile on your face. --Ted Wilkinson, Owner, Wilkinson's Automobilia, Pro Rally Driver

There have been only a very few books written on Canadian motorsport and Tom Johnston has produced two of the best. In his earlier book, Sports Car Road Racing in Western Canada, he told us of all the road racing tracks in the west. In this book he chronicles the amazing long life of the first road circuit in Canada, the legendary Westwood. --George Daszkowski, Director of the Archives, Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame

About this edition

• Publisher: Granville Island Publishing
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 189469449X
• ISBN 13: 9781894694490
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128
• Editor: Neall Calvert