Active Mountain Raceway – Merritt

When was the track built?

The project for a 1.6km banked tri-oval combined with a near 4km course was submitted in the late 1990s, and the first groundworks started in 2001, but they were stopped due to financial issues and unfortunately never completed.
It was very ambitious as the 3.9km track would have been built on a mountainous terrain, while the oval would have been on a plain, elevated from the circuit.
The project was so good that the new Formula 1 Organization supported its re-launch: it will be the first complex of this kind in Canada, with the first ever Formula 1 race on a mixed road-oval racetrack in the country.

When was its first Grand Prix?

It will be the first ever race on this circuit.
It is one of the eight Canadian circuits which will rotate for four spots in the Continental Series.

What’s the circuit like?

The 5.9km combined course used by Formula 1 will use the oval pit lane and start/finish line.
The course is characterized by its elevation changes as it climbs up and down the mountains.
It has two twisty sections, from T4 to T13 and from T14 to T24, with slow and often blind corners; it also features two straights, particularly the back one between T14 and T17 that has a couple of high-speed humps.
The steep downhill T17 and T25 are probably the most spectacular points.
It is connected to the tri-oval by two steep sections which pass under the first banked corner, connecting the oval and the course in a never-seen-before way.
The Oval has 24° banked corners, while the third corner, where the finish line is located is ~15°.
Overall, it’s an extremely challenging circuit, very complete; it is quite difficult to find the rhythm on it.
The combined layout will give engineers a hard work in finding a good compromise to make the car flow on the oval and be well balanced in the slow sections.
Temperatures should be mild, although cold breeze could affect car performance.

Where is it located?

At Merritt, in eastern Columbia Britannica; the town has a small local airport. Kelowna International airport is the closest one around 120km to the West, while Vancouver is around 270km to the East. (+ 50°05’29”, -120°47’54”)