President of major sports car series visits Saskatoon

He’s known for bringing NHL exhibition games to Saskatoon every fall and in July a soccer game at Mosaic Stadium.

Now, John Graham of On Ice Management Group wants to bring top-tier sports car racing to Saskatoon.

Greg Gill, President and CEO of Pirelli World Challenge, one of the largest racing series in North America, was a guest in the city last week.

The series features production cars including Ferraris, Porsches and Lamborghinis. It currently runs in ten tracks in the United States and one date in Canada.

In May, representatives from Saskatchewan, including Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport Ken Cheveldayoff took in the World Challenge event in Ontario.

For Graham, who is still hopeful Saskatoon will one day host an NHL team, the city is a perfect fit for a big race weekend to call its own.

“It’s not that far of a stretch,” Graham said, a former race car driver himself.

“The biggest races in the world I have taken in are in communities like Le Mans (home to a world renowned endurance race) has only 40,000 people, or where would Indy be without the (Indy) 500.”

A potential sports car race would need somewhere to run in Saskatoon. Series like World Challenge race on road courses well over a kilometre in length, much longer than Wyant Group Raceway (0.5 kms).

Without a track in Saskatoon, a temporary one would have to be built either using city streets or other existing infrastructure.

“We haven’t got to that point yet,” said Graham. “There are a number of areas you could do things but it has to fit into everybody’s plan.”