CASC-OR: BRYAN RASHLEIGH

Seventy-One-Year-Old Racer Leads Pirelli Grand Touring GT3 Class

Story by J. Wally Nesbitt

Withhis beloved Toronto Argonauts out of town, Bryan Rashleigh was able to put his entire July 29-30 weekend’s focus on the BARC Canadian Touring Trophy race event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park where the Caledon, ON resident was hoping to build on his points lead in the Pirelli Grand Touring GT3 class.

Directing his focus and getting his ‘race face’ on is not an issue for the driver of the No. 87 Red and White Subaru Legacy, it’s something that this motorsport veteran been doing for the past 54 years, competing on ovals, ice and road courses all over Southern Ontario.

“My, or rather our (along with my brother) first car was a 1960 Ford that had belonged to a friend of our father,” recalled Rashleigh. “We paid $100 for it, it had an automatic transmission and we put recapped tires on it. In 1969 we hauled it to the old Acton (ON) Speedway and entered it in the Diamond class where my brother decided that I should be the test dummy. Being a newcomer, I got to start on the pole but ended up finishing second last!”

Despite this rather inauspicious start, Rashleigh persisted and when the class was re-designated as Hobby Cars (later Canadian Vintage Modifieds), he claimed the Flamboro Speedway track championship in 1976.

He eventually gave up the driver’s seat to work alongside CVM executives and act as the series’ pace car driver. At the same time, Rashleigh’s day job saw him working for Attrell Toyota where one of his tasks was preparing owner Bob Attrell Sr.’s ice racer. On a trip to Young’s Point (near Peterborough, ON) to watch his boss race, Rashleigh became infatuated with this racing discipline and decided that “I need to do this.”

As luck would have it, Rashleigh was doing a tune-up on a customer’s AMC Pacer and in return was gifted a used Toyota Tercel, a car that he prepared for his own Ice Racing challenges. His second Ice car came courtesy of his former employer.

“Bob Attrell had this car and took it off the road at 6,000 kilometres. He and his son raced the car on ice for several years and then I picked it up in 1989.”

This car became Rashleigh’s long-serving Ice Racing mount, still active to this day on 42 Inside Track Motorsport the Minden, ON track where it has carried him to ten ‘Rubber-to-Ice’ championships and an SS-II class Street Stud title.

“I’m probably the longest running ice guy currently in CASC-OR,” continued Rashleigh. “The camaraderie has always stayed the same over the years. If someone needs a hand fixing their car, someone is always there. The fun part is the same, the friendships I have made over the years, definitely stay the same, but nothing compares to racing with my two sons and watching them do better than I did.”

While Rashleigh continues to maintain his Ice Racing program, he was looking to expand his motorsport involvement, so he began switching his Tercel between Ice and Road Racing configurations, joining the ranks of the CASC-OR road racing fraternity in 1980. His passion has twice been rewarded with the CASC-OR Wilson Award as the ‘Most Active Driver.’

Over the past four-plus decades Rashleigh has competed aboard this Tercel, and a Sports Racer (1985-1989) before picking up a Corolla GTS from Ken Shaw that had originally been used for Ice competition. In 2010, the Rashleigh Racing effort purchased a Subaru Legacy with Koni Challenge experience, a ride that he continues to race to this day.

“It’s a Spec-B Subaru, all-wheel-drive with a 2.5 litre, turbocharged motor and six speeds,” noted Rashleigh. “It’s a good handling car and has the power to keep up with most of the guys in class. We re-did the motor for more power and moved up to the Grand Touring Sprints GT3 division so I could race against my son, Jonathan.”

Over his CASC-OR career, Rashleigh has captured a pair of GT4 titles and a championship in GT5. An admitted high point of his career came in 2015 when he guided his Corolla to victories in 19 of 24 races and the GT5 crown.

After three rounds of the Grand Touring 2023 campaign, the 71-year-old currently sits atop the GT3 standings, despite suffering a trying weekend at the Canadian Touring Trophy races.

‘I slid off the track in Turn 3 in the wet, on Saturday, and punched the tire wall. I thought we just cut the rad hose, but after we did the repairs, we went to fire it up again and we still had issues, probably with a cooked head gasket. Sunday morning we loaded that car up and hauled it back to the shop. We put the old Corolla on the trailer and brought it back to the track and managed to finish in sixth place in the weekend’s final race. We earned a few points towards the championship anyway.” IT