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Atlantic Motorsport Park

Atlantic Motorsport Park

Atlantic Motorsport Park (AMP) is a 1.6 mile (2.5 km) long road course built on 377 acres of land just outside Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. It consists of 11 turns and 100 feet of elevation changes. It has been a regular host for a variety of regional and national motorsports events on both two and four wheels.

AMP was built in 1973-1974 by a not-for-profit company, Atlantic Motorsport Park Inc., founded by member car and bike racing clubs with the help of a collection of businessmen-racers such as Jack Canfield, Frank McCarthy, Dave Fram, Murray Edwards, Don Hogan and Ronnie Locke.

The track was designed by then-architecture student Robert Guthrie who, after finishing his final term in Europe and being bitten by the racing bug in the UK, returned to Canada to complete the final project of his degree -- the design of Atlantic Motorsport Park. Using elements of tracks he had visited in Europe, he designed what he describes as “a real driver’s track”.

The total cost to build AMP was around $300,000, obtained through fund-raising and a loan from the province of Nova Scotia.

Finally, in August 1974, after numerous delays, the track opened with the Player’s Maritime Formula Atlantic race. The asphalt had been laid only two days before the practice and qualifying sessions, making for slippery conditions. Then, on race day, 15,000 fans turned out in the pouring rain to watch Bill Brack win the 1974 Canadian championship.

For the three years after that, AMP saw many rising stars pass through, such as Keke Rosberg, Bobby Rahal and Gilles Villeneuve, who clinched the 1976 Player’s Challenge Canadian Championship at AMP, beating out former champion, Bill Brack.

For more information about Atlantic Motorsport Park, please visit www.atlanticmotorsportpark.com.

Directions to the track:

Atlantic Motorsport Park is located approximately 60km north of Halifax, via Highway 102

• - Take Exit 10 off Highway 102, and head into Shubenacadie (2.3km)
• - At the stop sign, turn hard right onto West Indian Road (watch for the sign: Indian Brook / Mill Village / McPhee's Corner)
• - Drive 2.6km, keep right (Look for the Motorsport Park sign)
• - Drive 2km, turn right (Look for the North Salem / Atlantic Motorsport Park sign)
• - After 2.6km, the road will change to gravel. Drive on gravel road for another 2.2km
• - Turn Right (Look for the Atlantic Motorsport Park sign)
• - Follow this road (1.2km) until you reach the Atlantic Motorsport Park gates