Category: Safety

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Auto industry Cars Driving Research Safety Technology Transportation

When technology is your co-driver

Photo by Oleg Magni on Pexels.com

Drivers and technology sometimes just don’t get along. Take this recent JD Power  study: “Customer Demand for Safety Technology Threatened by Overbearing Alerts.” The news release highlights the results of Power’s 2019 U.S. Tech Experience Survey. That study found that drivers want systems like lane-keeping assist, forward collision warning and blind spot detection (things that will prevent them from driving into a ditch or backing over their kids’ bikes, let’s say) but they want those systems to stop behaving like a “nagging parent.”

“No one wants to be constantly told they aren’t driving correctly,” said JD Power’s Kristin Kolodge, executive director of Driver Interaction & Human Machine Interface Research, in the release.

While those systems can sometimes be a pain, they can also prevent collisions and correct bad driving. We’d probably be better off taking the time to learn what these systems do and how to use them so we can understand what the chirps, dings and vibrations are trying to tell us.

JD Power’s study measured owners’ experience, usage and interaction with 38 driver-centric vehicle technologies at 90 days of ownership. Singling out lane-keeping and centering assist systems, the survey found that 23% of drivers complain the alerts from such systems are annoying or bothersome. But, more tellingly, 61% of those people say they often disable safety systems like lane-keeping assist.

To me, though, disabling the systems can not only put a driver’s safety at risk, it can make them less aware of how they’re driving. No one wants to be nagged but we can all stand to improve our skills. So, if a driver has a tendency to drift to the edges of their lane and their LKAS system alerts them to it, maybe they’ll begin to pay more attention. Then they can correct their own actions before the system has to remind them, yet again.

Driving a new 2020 Acura RDX has made me more aware of in-car tech. Especially after driving a, shall we say, more analog 2011 Ford Escape for eight years. I now have the AcuraWatch suite at my disposal — including Adaptive Cruise Control, lane-keeping assist, forward collision warning and a blind spot information system. Before that, I just had my own eyes and ears to rely on.

And, don’t get me wrong; I’m still relying on those senses (sometimes too much, if you ask my not-yet-a-driver daughter. She thinks I should be using the rearview camera instead of actually turning my head and looking over my shoulder.) But, I’m not ready to abandon the shoulder check. I prefer to maintain a few physical (analog?) skills that can help augment the digital and technological aids that the car provides.

But, I still appreciate a timely beep warning me that I’m approaching a concrete pillar in a parking garage, or a flashing symbol letting me know there’s another car or a bike or a human in my blind spot. I’m working on seeing them less as nags and more as necessities.

Categories
Bikes Cycling Safety

To clip in or not to clip in

When I bought my Specialized Allez road bike in 2014 (after scouring bike shops, taking in bike shows, looking over and trying out more bikes than I care to disclose and, after my wife said to me, after barely listening to yet another list of bike specs, features and pros and cons said: “Just pick one and buy it!”) I made a conscious decision not to acquire more bike-related stuff than I truly needed. I was going to focus on the riding, not the accessories.

Of course, I needed a few necessities like water bottle and cage, lights, helmet and, of course, padded shorts (that need became apparent after the first ride.) Then when I picked up my new bike, the guy at the shop told me that even though the bike came with the cage-style toe clips I would probably want to replace them with clipless pedals.

I dismissed the idea as another useless accessory but at the same time wondered if I should just fully commit to the whole road bike milieu and clip in like most of the other road cyclists. They were the riders whose pedalling cadence seemed more fluid. Plus their pedals made a satisfying clack when they clipped in. It sounded to me like a type of starter’s pistol. Let’s go, they said. Take on that road.

Cycling purists will tell you that clipless pedals are the only way to ride. They’ll imply that you have to use them if you want to be considered a real roadie.

So I took the plunge.  They were easy to install (especially since I’d also bought a bike repair stand.) I practiced with them in the backyard, making sure the tension was set so I could snap in and out quickly.

Clipless pedals certainly helped on a climb when I had to get out of the saddle and stand on the pedals. My feet always felt secure and I knew they wouldn’t slip out of the pedals.

Trouble is, I had this nagging suspicion that I couldn’t get my feet out fast enough. I didn’t like the feeling of always being attached to the bike, especially in Toronto traffic when inevitably a car would stop suddenly in front of me or pull into my path from a side street or parking spot.

Everything I’d read about riding clipless mentioned that you should expect to crash at least once. That thought didn’t appeal to me — especially when I researched some of the crashes. For one, there’s this guy (granted, he was on a mountain bike but scroll down through his post and check out his x-rays.)

Still, I’d prefer not to create some x-rays of my own, so I’ve gone back to using the cage-style pedals that came with the bike, albeit with the adjustable straps removed, leaving just the centre clip for the toe of my shoe to slip under. While they allow me to slip my foot out quickly they’re still tricky to get back into when I’m pulling away from a stop.

So I’m in the market for a compromise solution. There’s these platform “pin” pedals (often used on mountain bikes) and these “Click’r” pedals that can be used with or without cleats. So, that means I’m still buying more stuff. But this stuff should let me concentrate not on my feet but on the fun of the ride.

 

 

 

 

Categories
Auto industry Cars Driving Safety Technology

Driving without drivers

The driverless car began to turn left at an intersection just as two pedestrians stepped off the curb, ignoring the ‘don’t walk’ sign. A warning chirp sounded inside the car and it began to slow, mid-way through its turn.

“Jaywalkers aren’t in scope,” said the engineer in the passenger seat to the engineer in the driver’s seat. “You need to take the wheel.”

The two engineers were part of a Ford Motor Company autonomous vehicle team and the car was a modified Ford Fusion. Taking the wheel immediately brought the car under a driver’s control (although it was never out of control, just creeping through the intersection). I was along for the ride in the back seat with another journalist, getting a sense of how an autonomous car works.

This was a demonstration drive, so jaywalkers and other random acts of traffic spontaneity were not part of the demo. The Fusion was moving on its own, but was not left to drive at random. The maps that live at the heart of its complex software and algorithms and its array of sensors would see to that. As would the two engineers in the front seats.

During a short drive near Ford’s sprawling headquarters in Dearborn, Mich. the car often drove better than a human does. It accelerated smoothly, maintained the speed limit, and stopped at stop signs and red lights. It lingered longer at a crosswalk than an impatient urban driver typically would after a pedestrian (a Ford employee who staged his crossing to show how the car would respond) had crossed the street. But, as one of the engineers told me after our ride, the car will always err on the side of safety, during its development and after. I pressed them on the dilemma of what could happen when the car needs to make a seemingly ethical choice. When it needs to, for example, decide how to best avoid a child who has just darted out – should it save the lives of the car’s occupants or of the child?  They, being true blue Ford employees, dodged the question, saying only that the car would do what was safest.

And to be fair, they, and no one else, really knows the answer to that question or the myriad other questions that surround autonomous cars. Ford sees a future where cars navigate the streets according to downloaded maps and where we might own an autonomous car and a car that we actually drive. Other automakers have different perspectives.

From my driver’s perspective, it’s a strange experience to watch a steering wheel turn without a human’s input, to feel a car move without a human doing anything. But it might be an experience we all will have to get used to.

Categories
Auto industry Cars Driving Honda Photography Safety

Shooting Cars: How to Capture that Perfect Auto Image

2016 Honda Civic near Blue Mountain, Ont.

Hamin & Honda
Photographer Hamin Lee shooting the 2016 Civic before our test drive

This post originally appeared on the Totem blog

Sometimes, those of us lucky enough to make magazines for a living are asked to share how we shot that image, found that story, nailed down that fascinating person for an interview.

Honestly, how we do these things is no secret, and it’s usually much less glamorous than people realize. Still, it’s often a lot of fun. Case in point: the photo shoot of the 2016 Honda Civic I was involved in awhile ago, the results of which appear in the spring issue of CAA Magazine.

Choose the right contrast to the scene

Hamin Lee, a freelance photographer and his assistant, Mark Luciani, joined me at the Civic’s launch in which journalists could try out the car in and around the Collingwood and Blue Mountain region. Mark and I each drove a car (his with a GoPro camera mounted on it) and Hamin rode shotgun with me, watching the route and scouting for places to stop and shoot. We chose white cars because they would look the best against a variety of natural backdrops, from overlooking Georgian Bay to tree-lined roads to farmer’s fields.

Keep it as safe as possible

Before we set out, we were warned (three times) to obey all traffic laws and to drive safely. It seems some of the journalists who had driven the route earlier in the week had pushed the Civic closer to the limits of its capabilities and had attracted the attention of the local police. A black and white cruiser sat conspicuously down the road from our first scheduled rest stop, visible to each of us as we pulled into the parking lot.

Don’t be shy about getting the best angle

Other than that, the most attention we received was from other drivers, many of whom slowed as they passed, watching as Hamin stood on the shoulder of the road with his camera, shooting the car on the opposite side or trying to gauge which way to place the car to catch the best light in an otherwise empty field. Shortly after, a woman in a Mercedes E-Class sedan also slowed but then pulled away abruptly in a hail of gravel, apparently unhappy that we were inadvertently blocking her entrance to the street. Later, a man in a beige Lincoln Navigator rolled passed us very slowly, eyeing us with his windows rolled down apparently wondering what three men and two white Honda Civics could possibly be doing stopped at the side of the road on such a sunny day. (The answer: trying to figure out how to place the car to shoot evergreen trees behind it, which are more appropriate for a spring magazine than the brilliant fall colours.)

Plan out your candid action shots

Then there’s the challenge of shooting a moving car. We used a few pretty simple methods. As I drove, Hamin would say, “let’s try something here.” I’d pull off the road, Hamin would get out, I’d backtrack about half a kilometre, wait for him to text me the OK and then drive past him at a consistent speed, avoiding the urge to look directly at the camera. Sometimes Hamin would point the camera from the back seat through the window and capture Mark’s car as he drove closely behind us.

But the real secret is…

The best method? The one that shows a car centred in its lane and moving at speed, appearing to come directly at the viewer, with the blacktop rushing by in a grey blur under its wheels? In the interests of maintaining good relations with the local police and not causing undue stress to my great clients, that one will need to remain a secret.

The spring issue of CAA Magazine is available now.

 

 

Categories
Auto industry Driving Marketing Safety Technology Trucks

My week with the Ford F-150

Ford's 2015 F-150 is big and tall but also nimble and comfortable

Ford's 2015 F150 is big and tall but also nimble and comfortable
Ford’s 2015 F-150 is big and tall but also nimble and comfortable

I have to admit: I was pre-disposed to like the Ford F-150.

I’ve long harboured the idea that I am, at heart, a truck guy. Trucks give off this ready-for-anything vibe; an “I Got This” attitude. They display a sturdiness and sense of purpose that you just don’t find in a car.

But, the truth is if I had paid the $77,000 price tag for the top of the line Platinum version of the the F-150 that I drove for a week, I’d probably be worried about scratching the paint if I had to load some garbage or scrap metal in the bed (not that I have any of that lying around. But if I owned a pickup, I might drive around looking for some to haul away. I could earn extra money. And if I spent nearly $80,000 on a pickup truck, I might need to. But I digress.)

The 2015 F-150 is a strikingly handsome machine. Inside, the big seats are comfortable and keep you secure and they’re easy to customize. The view from the driver’s seat is spectacular (as is the view through the twin-panel moonroof) and frankly it’s hard to go back to being at road level in my typical family hauler after spending a week feeling like I’m riding above the traffic.

The 3.5 L EcoBoost V6 engine (with six-speed transmission) runs smoothly and the truck feels handles a vehicle half its size when you accelerate from a stop. It pulls away so effortlessly it feels like you’re driving a performance car (with, you know, running boards.)

Speaking of which, the Platinum version has running boards that drop down when you unlock the truck and fold back up when you climb in and close the door. Very cool.

The truck did have its drawbacks however. Given Toronto drivers’ penchant for leaving mere millimetres between themselves and other parked cars, I rarely tried to parallel park the thing, even with the excellent rear view camera and the Active Park Assist system. And parking garages were another challenge. Even though the F-150 was just short enough to enter a garage in Yorkville, for example, its roof gently touched the bottom of the plastic directional signs that hung from the ceiling. And the antenna brushed the concrete ceiling itself. Of course, I realized this after I cockily entered the garage.  As I watched my insurance deductible flash before my eyes, I decided the best course of action was to exit, gritting my teeth all the way, and park unscathed on the street.

One of the advantages of driving the F-150 is that truck guys give you the nod — that acknowledgement that you’re part of a nearly secret club. I had a few from other Ford drivers and at least one from a Ram driver.

As Ford F-series trucks continue to be the top-selling vehicles in Canada, the club of course is not that exclusive. Still, it’s fun to be a part of it, if only for a week.

Categories
Auto racing Cars Driving Formula 1 Indy Racing NASCAR News Safety

Racing’s dark days

Formula 1 driver Jules Bianchi is in critical condition after a crash at Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka, and I’m wondering, again, why I’m a fan of auto racing.

According to media reports (here and here) Bianchi’s Marussia left the track at Turn 7,  the same location that Sauber’s Adrian Sutil crashed a few laps earlier, with just nine laps to go in what would be a rain shortened race. Bianchi’s car collided with a tractor that crews were using to move Sutil’s car. Bianchi, 25, underwent surgery and was being moved to intensive care, where at the time of this writing, his condition was listed as critical.

At  its best, racing for me has always been about watching drivers put their considerable skills to the test; about technologically advanced machines that might, just might, make their way to my driveway someday; about high drama and minute details that could spell the difference between winning and losing. And even from my earliest days of being a teenaged fan, and before I began writing about the sport, racing drivers seemed to be colourful characters. Not just jocks, but people who had real opinions and weren’t afraid to express them. People like Jacques Villeneuve, Helio Castroneves and James Hinchcliffe to name just three.

Then, someone gets seriously hurt, as happened this weekend. Or worse, as happened this summer and has, unfortunately, happened many times before. People are mortal. Race car drivers are mortal. And sometimes bad things just happen to good people.

But there’s more to it than that. Incidents like the Bianchi crash raise more questions than answers and make me, and probably others, question why I watch auto racing and why I’m interested in it. Why do I give my tacit approval of the risks that racers take? Part of the answer is that I still believe that there should be a place for risky behaviour in the sanitized, controlled world we often find ourselves living in. Yet it’s hard to maintain enthusiasm for a sport knowing that something terrible could happen at any moment. Still, for some, and I’ve counted myself among them, that’s precisely why they go to races or watch them on TV.

As Road & Track‘s Marshall Pruett points out auto racing is facing a battle for relevance, apart from any concerns around its inherent dangers. Racing fans are getting older and fewer younger people are interested in the sport; TV viewers are down. I suspect that when non-fans hear about another racer being injured they might wonder why the sport still exists at all.

Am I being too pessimistic? Maybe. But it’s better to consider questions like these instead of not acknowledging them at all. As fans, we owe at least that much to people like Jules Bianchi.

Categories
Auto industry Cars Reviews Safety Technology

2014 Jeep Wrangler Sport Review

2014 Jeep Wrangler Willys Wheeler Edition
Jeep has further advanced the Wrangler line with the new Willys Wheeler edition. It maintains it’s classic Jeep-ness with some stylish touches that recall the vehicle’s WWII heritage.

In an automotive world of increasingly high-tech cars and SUVs, it’s good to know that the back-to-basics Jeep Wrangler Sport 4×4 still exists.

The 2014 Wrangler Sport comes loaded with some of the high-tech systems drivers have come to expect in current cars and trucks: electronic stability control, traction control, Bluetooth connectivity, tire pressure monitoring system and steering wheel mounted audio controls.

But, that means there are still a quite a few manual controls to remind you that the Jeep hasn’t forgotten its DIY roots. The 6-speed manual transmission is standard (mated to a 3.6 litre V6 engine) as are the manual windows, manual mirrors and fold-away fog lamps. Plus powering the entire thing is a simple key – no proximity-sensing fob that can stay in your pocket as you push a button to start the engine. You use a key to lock and unlock the doors then place the key in the ignition, y’know, just like in the old days. If you’re really bothered by having to open the doors, you can just remove them. Then once the soft-top is lowered (it’s standard equipment, but a premium version is a $350 option) you’ll have an authentic Jeep driving experience.

Which is what the longtime Jeep enthusiasts are after, according to parent company, Chrysler–just a few frills, but nothing that will prevent them from enjoying the feeling of the open road.

Classic interior style appeals to Jeep purists
Classic interior style appeals to Jeep purists

On the open road the Wrangler Sport performs well. Its relatively short wheelbase and offroad-ready suspension means you’ll feel a few more bumps in the road than you would in a typical car, but you should expect that in a Jeep. The V6 is powerful if a bit loud, but not that thirsty – my week’s drive on a combination of city streets and highways netted fuel economy of 12 litres/100 km. Not bad for a vehicle with the aerodynamic qualities of a brick. On the highway, the Jeep feels solid and centred. Driver and passenger seats are comfortable and allow for a good view of the road, but the rear seats are a bit cramped. The dash and console layout are straightforward but all controls are easy to find and use. The six-speaker audio system was a particularly great feature. Two of the speakers are located in the crossbar above the driver and passenger seats, respectively, allowing for quality sound even when the top is down.

It’s a small perk but it shows that Jeep knows what its owners will place a premium on.

The soft-top means that exterior road noise is more pronounced than on a typical car but it wasn’t as noisy as I expected. The multi-step process to lower the soft top and remove and store the rear side windows was a bit confusing at first, but gets easy after the first attempt.

All this for just under $30,000 (the review model I drove was priced at $29,970, before taxes). Less than many SUVs and performance cars and a relatively small price to pay for the ultimate summer vehicle.

Originally published on caamagazine.ca Aug. 27, 2014

 

 

 

Categories
Auto industry Cars Driving Reviews Safety Technology

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee review

My review of the 2014 Grand Cherokee, from the spring 2014 issue of CAA Magazine. This was one of my favourite cars of the bunch I’ve driven over the last few months. It’s a big machine that doesn’t feel big from the behind the wheel. As well, my daughter and wife (also known as the usual passengers) loved the heated seats, entertainment system and panoramic sunroof.

2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Review

Categories
Auto racing Cars Driving Safety

Globe Drive story on La Carrera Panamericana

7 days, 100 cars, 3,000 km, one crazy race

Most people travel to Mexico to soak up the sun and enjoy some fruity umbrella drinks at an all-inclusive resort. A few others, though, come for the treacherous roads, day after day of high-speed driving followed by intense fatigue and, sometimes, the odd broken bone. And, if they’re really lucky, a trophy and a cold beer when it’s all over.

Those are the people who take part in races like Mexico’s La Carrera Panamericana, which during its heyday from 1950 to 1954, was a five-day, 2,000-mile race on public highways that was considered one of the most difficult and dangerous auto races in the world – right up there with the Mille Miglia and Le Mans.

It was intended as a way for the Mexican government to promote the completion of the Pan American highway, which was seen as a gateway to the country’s interior and its famous beaches. Over the course of five years, the list of drivers who competed in the race reads like a Who’s Who of racing legends: Juan Manuel Fangio, the five-time Formula One world champion, won the 1953 Pan Am driving a Lancia D-24; American F1 star Phil Hill placed second in the last event in 1954 with his co-driver, fellow F1 competitor Richie Ginther, driving a Ferrari 340 MM; racer turned car builder Carroll Shelby also took part, driving an Austin Healey. Porsche, whose cars raced in the 1952 and 1953 events, gave the Carrera name to many of its 911s following its success in Mexico. And the first race in 1950 was won by Hershel McGriff, driving an Oldsmobile 88. McGriff would go on to enjoy a long career in NASCAR, after pocketing $17,533 for his Pan Am win.

The Mexican government cancelled the race in 1955 – partly because it was expensive to operate and partly because it had achieved its goal of promoting road travel to Mexico. As well, as the race progressed and the cars went faster, fatalities rose. A total of 26 people – drivers and spectators – were killed in the five events from 1950 to 1954.

But, after a group of American and Mexican car enthusiasts got together in 1988, they revived La Carrera Panamericana as a staged rally for vintage cars in which drivers race against the clock for a week.

The cars don’t race at full speed for the entire time. Each of the seven days (or legs) are divided into driving stages: transit stages, which will take cars through regular traffic in cities and towns, and speed stages, which involves racing on closed highways.

The cars are timed as they compete in the stages. The winner (or winners) take home a trophy, but no prize money. This year, the race takes place from Oct. 21-27. It begins in Huatulco in the south of the country and ends in Zacateca, near the centre of Mexico and will cover a total of 3,000 km. There are about 100 entries to the race in 10 classes, according to North American co-ordinator Gerie Bledsoe. The race attracts a mix of professional race car drivers and adventurous amateur racers, people like the husband and wife racing team Tony and Lee-Ann Strelzow of Vancouver. The Strelzows – and four other Canadians – will once again tackle the gruelling course that nearly cost them their lives in 2009.

“We had a bad accident in ’09,” says Lee-Ann, matter of factly. “Our car was demolished when we went off a 100-foot cliff.”

The Strelzows were spared any major injuries, but their car, a 1965 Corvette, was badly damaged and their race was over. This year, they’ll race the same car, repaired and rebuilt, in the Historic C class, for cars made from 1955-1965 with V-8 or V-12 engines. So, why do it again? Both Tony and Lee-Ann say it’s a combination of the fast driving, racing competition, the welcoming Mexican people and the festival atmosphere that envelops the event.

“The people in Mexico are just really, really friendly,” says Lee-Ann. “When we get to some of the larger cities, thousands of people flock to the streets to the see the cars.”

The Strelzows both have substantial amateur racing and endurance driving experience – they’ve also taken part in the Targa Newfoundland, the Chihuaha Express race (in Northern Mexico) and recently returned from Paris where they bought a 1936 Bentley convertible to race in the 2013 Paris to Peking endurance race.

And while they are physically and mentally prepared, they know the Pan Am can be especially tough. “In the Chihuahua, you come back to the same hotel every night,” says Tony. “But in the Carerra you can arrive at the (end of the stage) at one or two in the morning, and you’ve been going 160 km/h all day. Then you can be back at six in the morning to start all over again.”

Competitors will typically drive eight to 12 legs of the total route during each of the seven days. A leg is about 35 km, but can take drivers up and down twisting mountain roads, past tiny villages or through crowded city streets. Still, the Strelzows have some good memories from the 2009 event. Tony recalls how during one stage their car overheated near a mountain peak and they coasted into a small town. The car was almost immediately surrounded by people who were eager to help and several ran off and happily returned with buckets of water.

“That kind of stuff happens all the time,” says Tony. “In the smaller towns and villages, it’s really a party atmosphere.”

The couple have blogged about their racing exploits as a way of keeping family and friends up to date on their whereabouts – and their safety. “A lot of people follow our blog,” says Lee-Ann. “But our friends, they think we’re crazy.”

To follow the Strelzows’ adventure online, click here

Published in The Globe and Mail’s Globe Drive on Oct. 19, 2011

Categories
Auto racing Formula 1 Indy Racing Safety Technology

Globe Drive story on racetrack designers

From Indianapolis to Daytona to Monaco, famous racetracks can take on a life and mystique of their own. How they’re designed and built can be as complicated and circuitous as the twists and turns that they make race cars endure.

Some tracks, like the Indy course at Toronto’s Exhibition Place, aren’t so much designed as simply laid out and constructed.

From Indianapolis to Daytona to Monaco, famous racetracks can take on a life and mystique of their own. How they’re designed and built can be as complicated and circuitous as the twists and turns that they make race cars endure.

Some tracks, like the Indy course at Toronto’s Exhibition Place, aren’t so much designed as simply laid out and constructed.

As vice-president and general manager of the Honda Indy Toronto, Charlie Johnstone is also the de facto track designer – he didn’t map out the track, but it’s up to him to maintain its design and update it as necessary, working closely with officials from ASN FIA Canada, the Canadian representatives of the FIA (International Automobile Federation), motorsport’s international governing body.

The first Indy-style race took place in Toronto in 1986, making this year the 25th anniversary of the race (there was no race in 2008). The 11-turn, 2.824-km (1.76-mile) track makes use of both Canadian National Exhibition grounds and city streets.

Street circuits present a unique challenge to racetrack designers in that designers need to figure out the best vantage points that allow fans to see a race, while allowing race cars to safely manoeuvre around existing buildings and other structures.

“On a street circuit, it’s not like we can build new roads, and we have to accommodate the fans,” says Johnstone. “The overriding factor becomes safety; of the drivers and the fans.”

Johnstone believes when an Indy-style racetrack was first discussed for the city in the late 1970s, initial plans called for the Lakeshore straightaway to extend to the western edge of Exhibition Place, well beyond its current location. But, says Johnstone, that would have meant an excessively long straightaway that would be great for drivers testing the red line on their cars, but not so great for fans who would have had to wait too long for the cars to make a return appearance.

An ideal time for a complete lap is between 60 and 90 seconds. (In 1999, Gil de Ferran recorded the fastest pole time registered for the track with a lap of 57.143 seconds.)

“It’s pretty unique to have a back straight like Lakeshore on a street course,” he says, especially compared to notoriously tight street courses like Monaco, which offer drivers too few passing options.

The track’s design is also inspected by FIA officials every year and if there’s wheel-to-wheel contact during a race. “We look at every accident that happens to see if we can make any improvements to the course,” says Johnstone. “The cars are analyzed, as well as the walls and fences, to make sure they’re doing what they’re supposed to do.”

The track will get some new walls and fences in time for this year’s event, partly funded by the federal government. They were redesigned to meet FIA specifications for height, thickness and weight.

“We’re the only sport that builds our stadium and tears it down every year,” says Johnstone.

Roger Peart knows all about motorsport “stadiums” such as the Honda Indy racetrack. Peart is the president of ASN Canada FIA. In addition to his work inspecting racetracks and working around the world for FIA, Peart can also lay claim to designing what became known as Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, in 1977.

At the time, Peart was an engineer by trade and a part-time race driver. Labatt held the sponsorship rights to F1 in Canada and had decided to move the race from Mosport. Peart, who had also become involved in track safety and race officiating, took it upon himself, with Labatt’s support, to design a track on Ile Notre Dame. At the time, the Expo 67 buildings were languishing on the site and some were ready to be condemned; so Peart thought it would be a great spot for a racetrack.

But an island presents its own unique challenges.

“We had a lot of water, but not much land,” he says. “I would have liked to take advantage of the grandstand that faced the (Olympic) rowing area, but that was impossible. So we had to squeeze both directions of the track behind that grandstand.

“We ended up creating the hairpin, which has become a very popular spot.”

The track came together over just a matter of months – the design was approved in May, 1977, and the first F1 race took place in November. It received the perfect opening-day gift when Canadian Formula One star Gilles Villeneuve won the first Grand Prix on Nov. 13, 1977.

Since that time, Peart has remained active in track design and safety and became a member of the FIA Circuits Commission in 1979. All his work on track inspections hinges on safety, the definition of which has evolved from catch-fences to gravel traps to systems using sophisticated computer models.

One such system is in use by FIA. Making use of CAD drawings supplied by tracks around the world, the system can plot the ideal racing line around a particular track, using data from a selection of racing cars, with Formula One cars setting the fastest benchmark.

The system can plot the escape line of a car that has lost control and is leaving the track, mapping how far it will go before coming to a stop. “It will allow you to look at the amount of runoff room, and make modifications (to make that portion of the track safer),” he said.

Like Peart, designer Alan Wilson was a driver first and a track designer second. He also worked at the Brands Hatch circuit in the U.K. in the late 1970s, became involved in track safety, which led to track design and eventually to full-time work as a track designer. The process of seeing a racetrack from concept to design to construction can be long and difficult, yet he still gets about three requests a week to design one, and has designed about 100 in his career, with 31 tracks completed and operating.

Wilson says the requests to design a racetrack usually originate with an enthusiast or business person looking to develop a parcel of land. Often, he adds, they have “strong pre-conceived ideas” of what they want the finished project to look like.

Wilson’s first task is make a general assessment of the business aspects of the project and get a sense of the environmental impact a racetrack would have on the area – it can’t be near wetlands, for example – and he’ll look at overall terrain and identify infrastructure issues such as proximity of access to sewer and water services and ease of access for pedestrians and motorists.

From that point, he’ll try to find the flattest piece of land to situate the paddocks and the main straightaway along with the main entrance.

Tracks are typically built to accommodate a variety of racing machines, from motorcycles to vintage cars, so the main straightaway should be about 2,000 feet in length. Like other designers, Wilson keeps safety a top priority as the design begins to take shape, but he also tries to take into account harder to define elements such as where the sun will hit a driver’s eyes at a certain time of day.

Wilson designs the track with motorcycle racing in mind – cars can race on a motorcycle track because of their width and huge runoff areas. Typically, Wilson says customers will ask for one 150-mph (240-km/h) corner, and he tells then they’ll also need a 2,500-foot straightaway that will allow the cars to build up the speed necessary to take a 150-mph corner. They then also need a large safety zone and a wide radius near the turn, in keeping with FIA guidelines.

Early on in its development, a track will begin to develop its own character as the designers and their teams begin to adapt the track to the natural terrain. Wilson is currently working on a new motorsports complex in New Orleans (which will be part country club, race track and private driving facility). The terrain there is mostly flat, with some of it below sea level, which means the ground is fairly soft and it’s difficult to add weight to it.

At Calabogie Motorsports Park near Ottawa, a track he also designed (based on an old track) and which remains one of his favourites, designers and construction crews had quite a different challenge. They had to work around the rocky terrain – a turn is named Big Rock.

“At Calabogie, it’s an organic track. It’s the only one I didn’t design on a computer,” says Wilson. “The terrain was so different that I actually walked through the woods with a bulldozer behind me pointing out areas to avoid.”

Published in The Globe and Mail’s Globe Drive on June 8, 2011