Streets of Texada Island
| Texada Island Street Course | |
| 250px | |
| Location | Texada Island, British Columbia, Canada |
| Races | British Columbia Grand Prix |
The Streets of Texada Island is a 3.49-mile street circuit on Texada Island, which is located in the Strait of Georgia. Texada Island is British Columbia's largest island.
The Layout[edit | edit source]
The race has run on the same 3.49-mile layout since its 1992 inception. The track is unique in that it has four different sections: The Beach, Blubber Bay, The Neighbourhood, and The Business District. The race starts on The Beach, which features a long Start/Finish straight that has sand on each side. The left-handed Turn 1 leads to a small straight that takes them into Turns 2 and 3. This leads into the Blubber Bay Section of the circuit, named as such, because it looks out over the aforementioned bay. Not once do the drivers go straight in this section, as it features numerous left- and right-hand turns, as drivers run alongside a lone guardrail that keeps them from taking a plunge into the water. In case this ever happens (and it hasn't, yet), there are numerous rescue teams on speedboats, ready to go into action, if need be. A long, left-handed turn at the end of the Blubber Bay Section takes the drivers across a four-way intersection, into The Neighbourhood, named as such because there are houses lining it down both sides of the course. Families often gather on their front lawns and watch the cars pass by. They are not charged for this, because they are residents of the area. A large television screen is set up near the houses, so the families can watch the cars as they are waiting to pass by again. The families, and anyone they invite over, are counted towards race attendance. Race attendance often reaches upwards of 200,000, thanks to this. The drivers leave The Neighbourhood by way of a sweeping left-handed turn that passes by a Petro Canada station. Off to the right side, at the beginning of that turn, is a rock wall that was hit many times by drivers during the 2011 race weekend. Once past the Petro Canada station, the drivers enter The Business District, passing by many office buildings. Crossing a second four-way intersection takes them back to The Beach.