Late 1977. Roger Peart receives a call from the president of the Fédération Automobile Québécoise. Its the Labatt beer company, the then-title sponsor of the Canadian Grand Prix held annually at Mosport near Toronto. They want to know if Montreal can host a Formula One race. "Great question," says Peart, who then asks for a little time for reflection — 30 minutes to be precise. "I first thought of Île Notre-Dame. Then, I looked at a route that would start and end at the Olympic Stadium, but that would have been devilishly complicated to implement. I even looked at [building a track at] Laval." "We didnt have to go far down those roads," says Peart. "The first idea was always going to be the best." After 30 minutes, he phoned his interlocutor back to tell him yes, Montreal could accommodate a full-fledged Formula One Grand Prix, and that the best venue was Île Notre-Dame – a man-made island built to host Expo 67 a decade earlier – if for no other reason than its excellent access to public transit. The timing was perfect. Montreals then-Mayor Jean Drapeau had just announced that the artificial island would be devoted to sporting events, while the neighbouring nature-made Île Sainte-Hélène would host cultural-type events. By April 1978, Montreals city council had accepted the idea of a racetrack — "on the express condition that it cost the taxpayers nothing," recalls Peart. Peart, an engineer, is well-known in the world of international racing. Over the past five decades, he has not only competed as a driver (largely in amateur races) but has monitored and inspected racing circuits all over the world. Now 80-years-old, Peart is still president of the Canadian National Sports Authority (ASN Canada), and the only sports commissioner in the country recognized by the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile (FIA), Formula Ones governing body. Unsurprisingly, it was Peart who was given the mandate to design the Île Notre-Dame track, which would need to meet Formula Ones rigid standards. The Briton, who was then living in Montreal (he now calls Ontario home), still remembers the moment he went to first inspect what would become Canadas most famed racetrack. Mother Nature had dropped a major snowfall on top of the island, forcing him to develop the initial drafts without even being able to inspect the actual ground he was surveying. "I remember those days at my cottage in Saint-Sauveur in the Laurentians; when skiing conditions were poor, I drew up plans, plans and plans again." The challenge was more than he expected. "First, I had to ignore the old pavilions of the Expo 67 scheduled for demolition. Then I had to deal with some elements – the lake and park in the center, the river on one side, the Olympic basin on the other – that were obviously there to stay." "There wasnt much space and I had to fit a circuit in there, with rights and turns." Despite the challenges, the track, by and large, remains almost the same as Peart originally designed it. The buildings to the east of the island, where the boathouse was situated and where the hairpin turn is still today, were originally used as the pits. One weekend a year, the boats would then give way to the F1 cars — "It was an economical solution," recalls Peart. Because of the impracticality of this arrangement, new pits have subsequently been built in their current location, to the west, just before the Senna turn. This is the most significant change in the circuits 36-year history, a testimony to the excellence of Pearts original design. "Everything Was Going Too Fast!" The construction of the circuit that would later bear the name of Gilles Villeneuve was executed in record time. "It was a crazy time," says Peart. "Everything was going too fast!" After a winter spent developing the best possible layout, the British engineer travelled to Europe to attain approval for the plans by the FIA. By May 1978, after a meeting in Monaco, approval was granted and the construction began shortly thereafter, in July 1978. The first F1 race was held barely three months later. A Fairy Tale for All Sunday, October 8, 1978. The first of 35 Grand Prix of Canada races to be held on the new Circuit Île-Notre-Dame – its been held there every year since 78, except in 1987 during a sponsorship dispute between Labatt and Molson, and in 2009 when event funding became an issue – unfolds like a fairy. Its a fairy tale for Peart, who, serving as the race director, gets to hear firsthand from racers like Jackie Stewart that "his circuit" is "a little paradise in the middle of a great river." Its also a fairy tale for the Quebec public. In a race seemingly scripted by the gods of motor racing, Quebecs own Gilles Villeneuve takes the inaugural checkered flag in his Ferrari to the delight of more than 72,000 excited spectators. Its Villeneuves first win in 19 races, and he receives his much-deserved trophy from Prime Minister Pierre-Elliot Trudeau. For Ferrari, it is the companys first success in eight years. The track would be renamed in 1982 to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in honour of its first champion after Villeneuve tragically died in a crash during qualifying for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix 36 Years Later: Peart Still Hasnt Missed a Race A technical track - Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve requires full concentration at all times and leaves little room for error. It is a circuit of long fast rights, interrupted by tight corners where, even today, the tires, brakes, engines and transmissions are strained to their limits. However, "unlike so many other F1 racetracks, Montreal has several opportunities for overtaking," says Peart. "That means the races are always exciting." Peart has not missed a Canadian Grand Prix since 1978. He watches every race from the control tower, as one of the three sports commissioners delegated by the FIA. This year will be the first exception as Peart has delegated his position to another steward — hell still be there, just with a different view. And if you happen upon him and ask if, after all these years, he would change anything about his original design? Hell tell you that, to this day, throughout the world, he has never seen a track as perfect. Encounter With A Young Gilles Villeneuve Early 1970s. Peart is, at the time, chief instructor at the Fédération Automobile du Québec, when as he recalls, "a quiet little man from Berthierville comes to see me." "He wanted to drive race cars. I asked him about his experience, and he replied that he was racing, of all things, snowmobiles. "As our summer events were all finished, I suggested he rent [some time at] Sanair [Super Speedway], bring along a car and we would see what kind of automobile racer he would make." "The day he showed up with his brothers Mustang, I had to leave for a business appointment. But I asked a fellow instructor to work with him and give me a report. Later in the day, the instructor called me, excitedly saying, Hey, boss, we may have something here!" "Each and every lap, the young Gilles Villeneuve was faster than his instructor. Obviously, we gave him his racing license." "I remember that to thank me, he wanted to give me a five-dollar tip." Via www.Autofocus.ca Scarpe Nmd Nere Scontate . 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Last year, Islanders forward Colin Mcdonald released a "Do It For Colin" campaign to promote his teammate and friend John Tavares for the EA sports honour:The most popular sports voting video ever has to go to Chris Bosh who showcased his comedic abilities in his effort to get fans to vote him into the 2008 All Star Game:You can vote for TJ and other star players for the NHL 15 cover vote here.HARRISON, N.J. - James Rodriguez scored in the 75th minute as Colombia beat Canada 1-0 in an international soccer friendly Tuesday.Despite a valiant effort for 90 minutes, Canada found that Colombia and World Cup stars Rodriguez and Radamel Falcao were too much to handle.The Colombians brought pressure in the first half, but Benito Floros Canadian squad held well from the back line, got world-class goalkeeping from Milan Borjan, and even pushed forward, earning a few set pieces.Florio was happy with the defensive effort but still felt unfulfilled by his sides performance.We played mostly defensively today, not the way we would have liked, he said through a translator following the match. We wanted to play a little bit more offensive, but we actually played with them, that was good for us.Canadas best chance, however, may have been negated by a non-call on Alexander Mejia, who appeared to take down forward Tosaint Ricketts.Ricketts received an excellent through ball from Issey Nakajima-Farran, but the call wouldnt go the way of Ricketts. Colombia toyed with the Canadian defence, but put nothing through for more than an hour.Colombia finally scored when a quick restart off a free kick in the 75th minute, it was one touch to Rodriguez from Juan Quintero, and he needed only one touch before driving a bending ball from 25 yards out to beat Borjan. Canada had no time to set up a wall, but Floro felt that was out of a lack of preparedness.We discussed this with the players and we told them Colombia were very smart, very quick, and a lot of the set-pieces they work on played the ball quick, said Floro. Our players got distracted and (the goal by Rodriguez) was what happened.ddddddddddddAfter all of the fancy footwork from Colombia failed to beat the Canadians, it took all the might and craft of the worlds best striker to finally knock them down on Colombias fourth shot on target.University of Connecticut standout Cyle Larin had a scoring chance late in the game but was stopped by Colombian keeper Camilo Vargas. An ensuing free kick proved fruitless, and that was it for the Canadians.We had a couple chances, we shouldve scored that chance we have, but at least we got the experience out of it, Larin said. When this game was announced, I was amped, ready to play. James scored a great goal, and you cant take anything away from them.A loss is a loss, but the Canadians came away from the match emboldened.I think, as a team defensively, we played really good, said Borjan, who made three saves in net for Canada. Were still missing the attack, but we played the third-best country in the world, so I think we did very, very good as a team.We had to play well defensively. We have a very young team, inexperience, but we showed tonight that we can play together, and we improved.Larin agreed that the loss could be a learning opportunity for Canada.Theyre a great technical team. Its a process, and we played really well, said Larin. Hopefully in a couple years well be really good and be able to make it to a World Cup.With the loss, Canada dropped to 1-4-4 under Floro since his hiring in July 2013. Their next match will be against Panama in Panama City on Nov. 18.Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version reported that substitute Luca Gasparatto had Canadas lone shot when it was, in fact, Cyle Larin. ' ' '