The North building has the most racing content, by far.

Upstairs in the north building, there are three manufacturer supplied race cars from Dodge, Hyundai and Nissan.

Hyundai has done something few other manufacturers have done at the Canadian International Auto Show. A few years back we pressed, among others, BMW, Mercedes and Kia for not utilizing their Canadian racing drivers at the biggest auto show in the country, in the biggest city in the country. We got an assortment of answers from “Sorry, that's an American program” to “You guys have to do a better job creating a demand for them”, so we were happy with what we saw at Hyundai.

Hyundai stepped up and did the opposite and had Michelin Pilot Series driver and 2019 TCR champion Mark Wilkins announce the “Race To The RiNg” contest where fans have an opportunity to get behind the wheel of Hyundai race car at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to compete for a chance to go to the legendary Nurburgring.

Click the link below to enter and for more information:

https://www.hyundaicanada.com/en/contests/racetothering

The second car up stairs is in the Nissan Intelligent Mobility display, the #97 PayPal Micra Cup race car, driven to the 2019 Micra Cup Championship by Marco Signoretti. Sadly, with Nissan announcing the end of the Micra in Canada, it looks like 2020 will be the final season of the Micra Cup.

In the Dodge booth, Andrew Ranger's NASCAR Pinty's championship winning car is on display, along with the NASCAR Pinty's Series trophy. 

In the past, Honda was one of those few manufacturers that often promoted both the Honda Indy and James Hinchcliffe at the show.

This year, however, Honda didn't have anything their booth up stairs, which might be a bit concerning for the Honda Indy. With no Hinch in the race this year (at least at this point), and Dalton Kellet powered by Chevrolet, it's obvious there is less incentive for Honda this year, but the other question it has to raise is, what is the future of the Honda Indy in Toronto. I know a lot of people want the Indy to move out to CTMP, but I'm one of the few that want's to see it stay in Toronto, I hope this isn't a signal of what's to come.

While there is nothing upstairs with Honda, downstairs in the South building Acura does have a rather generic IMSA GT3 NSX, in plain black carbon fiber, with no team or sponsorship markings. You will see a few of these cars at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix, from July 2- 5.

Downstairs in the North Building, on the 100 level, is where most of the racing action is, starting with the McLaren hall, in connection with their induction into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of fame.

The hall includes 5 historic McLarens, 2 current McLarens, and the Cooper T55 Formula 1 car Bruce McLaren drove in 1961.

The historic cars include:

• 1961 Cooper T55 — At 22 years of age, Bruce McLaren joined the Cooper Factory Formula 1 team and subsequently won the United States Grand Prix, becoming the youngest Grand Prix winner at the time. He drove this car throughout the 1961 season Grand Prix season.

• 1969 McLaren M6B — The McLaren marque was all but synonymous with the near-unlimited Can-Am series in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The M6B was the McLaren customer-car, sold to non-works competitors. This example – one of just a few not powered by a Chevrolet engine – was prepared for Ford by Holman and Moody of NASCAR and Le Mans fame and driven by Mario Andretti. Dubbed the “429’er,” to promote Ford’s 429 production engine, it was powered by an experimental 494-cubic-inch (8.1- litre)

• 1971 McLaren M8E/F — The ultimate development of McLaren’s successful Can-Am racers, it has a lengthened and strengthened chassis, 17-inch wide rear wheels and revised aerodynamics. The intakes were staggered to smooth out power delivery and the combined effects of the 1,520-pound curb weight and 8.3-litre engine were nothing short of spectacular.

• 1972 McLaren M–16B — Mark Donohue paced McLaren to its first Indy 500 win in this car, powered by a 159-inch turbocharged Offenhauser engine. Built at McLaren’s Colnbrook factory in the U.K. the M-16B was raced in the U.S. and Canada by McLaren and Penske. Bobby Unser raised the Indianapolis single-lap average speed from 179 mph in 1971 to 196 mph just one year later. Donohue, who started third, qualified with a four-lap average of 191.408 mph and he went on to establish a new average speed record for 500 miles at 162.962 mph, a record that stood for 12 years.

• 1975 McLaren M-16E — After a stirring victory in the 1974 Indianapolis 500 with Johnny Rutherford in the M16D, team McLaren built a new version of the car — the M16E. The car was sponsored by sports drink Gatorade and the familiar Team McLaren Papaya orange was replaced by a distinctive green-and-white livery. Johnny Rutherford qualified this car in seventh position for the ”500” and led five laps, ultimately finishing second to Bobby Unser when rain shortened the race at the 174th Rutherford ran the car at several other races in 1975, including a victory at Phoenix later that same year.

• 1974 McLaren M23 — The Texaco-Marlboro McLaren superteam came to be in 1974, with Emerson Fittipaldi behind the wheel of this car. He put it through prolonged winter testing, which led to a longer wheelbase and wider track. Historic racer Willie Green calle the M23 “easily the best” of the 1970s Formula 1 machines, with good aerodynamics that greatly reduced buffeting in the cockpit at high speeds.

At a gala black tie dinner on February 12th, McLaren Racing was inducted into the International Category of the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame. The honour was accepted on behalf of the McLaren Racing team by retired driver Johnny Rutherford, who raced Team McLaren cars to two of its Indy 500 victories.

In the hall next to the McLaren display, Legendary Motorcar has a pair of Fords on display, an original GT40, as well as Comstock Shelby Mustang GT350.

Just outside was the Canadian Touring Car Championship booth. They have a pair of championship winning cars on hand, the Honda Civic TCR of TCR class champion Gary Kwok and the GT Sport/GT4 Championship winning Audi R8 LMS GT4 of Parker Thompson. CTCC series owner John Bondar has purchased Shannonville Motorsport Park, and work is underway to improve the track for the 2020 season, so we're looking forward to good things coming from Shannonville this season.

Also downstairs, just outside the McLaren display, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park has their new relationship with Richard Boake on display, with Boake's familiar Subaru complete with all the CSCS dates on the windshield and an arrive-and-drive kart on display.

A new event for this year you will come across on the 100 level is the Drive Festival, coming to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Sep 11-13.

From their website, www.DriveFestival.com:

THE. NEW. AUTOMOTIVE. EXPERIENCE.

Created after touring the world’s foremost car events, and modelled after the most popular automotive event in the world. Drive Festival is the ultimate new event for auto enthusiasts in Canada.

Showcasing all of the best in new car technology and unparalleled test drive opportunities on 4 test tracks. Plus, see and hear the best collections of exotic, manufacturer & classic cars roar up The Dream Car Speed Run, all weekend long.

It’s 3 days of automotive nirvana. Welcome to DRIVE Festival!

For the second year running, WorldGaming Network (WGN) will be hosting the Forza Motorsport 7 WGN Championship driven by Pfaff, live at the Canadian International AutoShow (CIAS), this year crowning a North American Champion.

The live Grand Finals event on February 23, 2020, will pit the final 16 racers across the United States and Canada, as determined by a series of qualifiers, against one another during one of the world’s biggest auto shows for their share of the $20,000 prize pool.

There's not a whole lot in the South Hall for racers, although what is there is pretty good.

On the way down to the South Hall, you will find Goodwood Kartways and Intrepid go-karts. If you are involved in karting, or looking to get involved, a visit to both the Goodwood booth and the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park booth is a good idea, with all the upheaval and changes karting has undergone during this past off season.

Once down, you'll find Ford has a GT on hand, although not really a racing version, but stickered up in some kind of Multimatic colour-scheme.

Toyota has a couple of interesting cars on hand. The most notable is the 2018 & 2019 Le Mans winning TSO50 Hybrid 24H prototype up on a rotating platform. A little less obvious, but just as interesting is a GR Supra Track Day concept car. If you've got the budget, and like to do track days, this could be an interesting car, if it comes to fruition.

That's pretty much all we found on media day, sometimes other cars are rolled out during the show, and sometimes we miss things while we are being shuffled around on media day, but we think we got it all.

Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Induction Day Notes

Ross Brawn talked about the postponement of the Chinese Grand Prix, noting that much of the freight was going to be headed for ships in the next couple of weeks, so a decision had to be made soon. The promoter could not guarantee that the situation would be under control by race time (probably a good assumption) so the race had to be postponed. Brawn noted that while the race is officialy postponed, it is going to be difficult to fit into the schedule later in the season. My take-away, there will be no Chinese Grand Prix this season.

Canadian Grand Prix promotor Francois Dumontier noted that for the first time in history, there will be 2 full time Canadians coming to the Grand Prix in Montreal, fully 10% of the field. Dumontier call this a dream come true for any promotoer, but I suspect Williams will contiue to struggle this year, and Racing Point will again be in the back of of the mid-packer's, so the draw from the 2 Canadians may not be as much as hoped for.

Brawn also noted that engines in F1 is the most debated subject. The problem F1 faces is trying to keep 2 very different groups, the manufacturers and the fans, happy. Manufacturers want relevance to their road going product, otherwise the support is impossible to justify to the board of directors, while the fans want that visceral appeal to the senses of an F1 engine at full song, and getting that balance can be difficult. At the end of the day, Brawn notes, racing is entertainment, and if the people aren't watching, then nothing else matters.

For a great conversation with Ross Brawn, check out Tim Hauraney's interview with him on his TSN Racing podcast. You can find it by clicking here: F1 Racing Pod - Episode 78

A last interesting insight from Brawn came at the induction dinner Wednesday night, when asked about what it was like working with two of the greatest drivers in F1 history, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. Both were fast, and very dedicated, he said, but Michael made a lot of mistakes, sometimes very controversial mistakes, while Hamilton just doesn't make mistakes. While Brawn only worked with Hamilton for a single year at Mercedes, none the less I found it an interesting take.

About the Canadian International AutoShow, presented by The Toronto Star and wheels.ca

With more than 650,000 square feet of exhibits, displays and attractions at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and annual attendance of 360,000, the Canadian International AutoShow is not only the largest automotive expo in Canada, it is also the country’s largest consumer show — a leader in lifestyle, technology and all things automotive. It boasts more than 1,000 cars, trucks, SUVs, concept cars, exotics, classics, muscle cars, fully electric and autonomous vehicles each year.