Driver Okell hopes to bite back at Indy

With Edmonton earning a reputation as the mosquito capital of Canada this summer, race car driver Bill Okell says the only thing he’s itching for at this weekend’s Edmonton Indy is a win.

With Edmonton earning a reputation as the mosquito capital of Canada this summer, race car driver Bill Okell says the only thing he’s itching for at this weekend’s Edmonton Indy is a win.

Okell will race his rebuilt 1960s MGB in the July 24 grand touring sports car race, just a few hours ahead of the event’s headline Indy Car race.

Throughout Okell’s race the grandstands will fill to as many as 40,000 people. To keep the race fans happy, helicopters will drop anti-mosquito spray across the area.

“If anything, it could end up making the track real sticky,” joked Okell.

Okell will be joined on the track by Victoria’s Dave Cormier, though Okell’s car is graded GT4 and Cormier’s 2008 Porsche Cup Car is a GT1. They’ll share the track, but their results will be listed in separate standings.

Okell is currently fourth in the GTU series points standings out of Mission Raceway, with Saanich’s Ian Mackie in sixth.

Peninsula News Review