2005 Mosport International Raceway

2005 was the seventh season for the American Le Mans Series. The rules for the championship were the same as those used at the legendary 24-Hour of Le Mans. This meant there were four categories competing for class honours. In the offseason, the GTS and GT categories received a name change – now being designated as GT1 and GT2.

Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) – These are the purpose-built race cars powered by a 6.0-liter normally aspirated or 4.0-liter turbocharged engine. The vehicles can weigh no less than 924-kilograms (approximately 2,040-pounds). Competing in the series is the factory-supported Audi R8. Privateer teams are entered in cars such as the Lola B06/10, Lola EX257 and Zytek 04S.
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) – LMP675 class was introduced in 2001 for vehicles that could weigh no less than 675-kilograms. In 2004, this became the LMP2 class and the minimum weight was set at 775-kilograms (approximately 1,708-pounds). The rules are written so that the two LMP classes (LMP1 and LMP2) can contend for the overall win. Manufacturers producing cars for this class include the Courage C65, Lola and Radial.
Grand Touring 1 (GT1) – This class includes production-based vehicles such as the Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, Saleen S7R, Maserati MC12, Dodge Viper and Aston Martin DBR9. The cars are permitted to use 8.0-liter normally aspirated or 4.0-liter turbocharged engines. These cars can weigh no less than 1,125-kilograms (approximately 2,480-pounds).
Grand Touring 2 (GT2) – The GT cars are also restricted to a 1,125-kilogram weight rule and have similar engine limitations as the GT1 class. These are also production-based machines, which include vehicles such as the Porsche GT3RSR and Panoz Esperante GTLM.

The 2005 American Le Mans Series schedule includes ten North American events. The season kicked offs with the 53rd edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Sebring is followed by the series’ first of two visits to Road Atlanta. The third round is held in May at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Then the championship takes a break in June to allow some teams to compete at the 24-Hours of Le Mans. In early July, competitors return to North America to participate in the New England Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. The series then heads to the West Coast for race weekends at Infineon Raceway and Portland International Raceway. After the West Coast swing, events are held at Road America and the series only Canadian stop, Mosport International Raceway. The penultimate round is the second visit to Road Atlanta for Petit Le Man. In October, the 2005 season comes to a close with a 4-Hour contest at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Round eight of the 2005 American Le Mans Series was held at Mosport International Raceway. The event was impacted by a fuel shortage caused by Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico. As a result, Series Officials shortened the race by fifteen-minutes. The contest would be two-hours, thirty-minutes around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course.

The start of the Labour Day Weekend Grand Prix of Mosport. Leading the field into corner one is the second-fastest qualifier, James Weaver, in the No. 16 Thetford / Norcold sponsored Lola EX257. Behind Weaver is the pole-sitter and his teammate, Chris Dyson in the second Dyson Racing Lola. Trailing the leaders are the Champion Racing Audi R8s of Marco Werner, who qualified third and Emanuele Pirro, who was gridded fourth.

James Weaver was the quickest car during the practice sessions but in qualifying, he could only manage the second fastest time. It seemed of little consequence as he grabbed the lead on the opening lap. Throughout the contest, Weaver and his teammate, Butch Leitzinger, battled with the No. 1 Audi. The turning point of the event was the final pit-stop - Leitzinger only took fuel. He stayed ahead of the Audi and won by 3.625-seconds.

Sharing the GT1 point leading Chevrolet Corvette C6.R were Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta. During the qualifying session, Gavin was 0.315-seconds slower than the pole-winning Saleen S7.R of Terry Borcheller. Throughout his stint, Gavin chased the Saleen of Borcheller. The Corvette team was quicker during the handover to Beretta and the No. 4 C6.R took the lead and went on the score their fourth victory of the season.

Jorg Bergmeister was responsible for qualifying the No. 31 Porsche GT3RSR. He was just 0.125-seconds slower than the pole-winning Alex Job Porsche, driven by Romain Dumas. Bergmeister and his co-driver, Patrick Long, inherited the lead of the race when the Job Porsche had an alternator problem. On the final lap, Long lost the left rear wheel, but he had completed enough distance for the team to be declared the winners.

The Intersport Racing team lost the LMP2 points lead in the previous round when their Lola B05/40 caught fire. The crew was able to rebuild the Lola in time for Mosport. Intersport’s lead driver, Clint Field, put the car on the class pole. Field’s driving partner, Liz Halliday, started the race and kept pace with the class-leading Miracle Motorsport’s Courage. After the driver change, Field moved into the lead and held on for the win.

The LMP1 podium at Mosport International Raceway. In the center are the winners, Butch Leitzinger and James Weaver – they are joined by team owner Rob Dyson. This was the second win of the season for the Dyson team but was also Weaver’s 100th racing victory. Finishing in the second position and standing to the left are J.J. Lehto and Marco Werner. The final spot is occupied by the point’s leaders, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro.

The No. 1 Audi R8 of J.J. Lehto and Marco Werner were third fastest in qualifying. During his stint, Werner had contact with the Lola of James Weaver and took the lead. After the driver change, Butch Leitzinger closed the gap on Lehto. The complexion of the contest changed with the final pit-stops. Leitzinger only took fuel whereas, Lehto changed rear tires as well as taking on fuel. The extra time resulted in a second-place finish.

The second Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3RSR was shared by Darren Law and Ian Baas. Baas started the season with Randy Pobst but Porsche wanted Pobst to focus on winning the World Challenge title and he was replaced with Darren Law. At Mosport, Law and Baas would start seventh in the GT2 class. During the race, some of their competitors encountered issues that allowed them to capture a runner-up finish.

Sixteen consecutive races of starting on the GT1 pole would come to an end for Corvette Racing at Mosport. Terry Borcheller driving the No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7.R recorded the fastest time in qualifying. The team attributed their pole to hard work and aero changes to the car. Borcheller led early in the contest but a slower pit-stop than the Corvettes meant a third-place finish for him and his co-driver, Johnny Mowlem.

The LMP2 podium for Labour Day Weekend Grand Prix of Mosport. In the center are the winners, Clint Field and Liz Halliday. Their crew at Intersport Racing did a superb job of repairing the team’s Lola after it was severely damaged by a fire at Road America. Standing on the left side of the rostrum are the runner-ups from Miracle Motorsports, Jeff Bucknum and Chris McMurry. Completing the podium are Guy Cosmo and Jamie Bach.

Not only was the qualifying performance of the ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7.R impressive but also the speed of the No. 35 Risi Competizione Maserati MC12. The Maserati shared by Andrea Bertolini and Fabrizio de Simone was third fastest and started between the two Corvettes. Despite an excellent qualifying effort, the duo was not able to maintain the pace of the Corvettes and Saleen and finish fourth in class.

The No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3RSR driven by Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas started the season at Sebring with an engine failure. Since that event, they had been ‘on fire’ racking up four victories and two runner-up finishes to take the GT2 points lead. It appeared that another win may be imminent after Dumas put the Porsche on the pole. Unfortunately, an issue with the alternator resulted in a sixth-place finish.

The American Le Mans Series GT1 podium for round eight at Mosport International Raceway. In the center from Corvette Racing and winning for the fourth time this season are Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin. Standing to Beretta and Gavin’s right are the class points leaders and their teammates, Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell. The final spot is occupied by ACEMCO Motorsports’, Terry Borcheller and Johnny Mowlem.

Not only was Corvette streak of consecutive GT1 pole positions broken but the No. 3 C6.R shared by Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell would start fourth in class. This was an unusual position to be in for the GT1 point leaders. Fellows started the race and passed the third-fastest qualifier early in the contest. At the mid-point of the event, O’Connell moved into second place compliments of a quick pit-stop and held off a hard-charging, Terry Borcheller.

The No. 43 Porsche GT3RSR started the season with drivers, Mike Rockenfeller, Martin Jensen and Tony Burgess. At Infineon Raceway, Rockenfeller was joined by Wolf Henzler and the team started delivering podium finishes. At the end of the Mosport qualifying session, they were sixth fastest in GT2. The pair was one of many teams benefitting from the point’s leader electrical problem and finished third in class.

The second ADT / Champion Racing Audi R8 was shared by the LMP1 point leaders, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro. The No. 2 Audi started the race beside their teammates in fourth place. This weekend Biela and Pirro were no match for the No. 16 Dyson Racing Lola or their teammates in the No. 1 R8. At the checkered flag, they were third overall and one lap behind the race leaders.

Despite being quickest on Friday, the LMP2 point’s leaders, Miracle Motorsports, were relegated to second place in qualifying. Jeff Bucknum was 0.831-seconds slower than the pole-sitter, Clint Field. Bucknum, who was sharing the No. 10 Miracle Motorsports Courage C65 with Chris McMurry, started the race and moved into an early lead. But the team was not a match for the Intersport Lola and finished second in class.

The Labour Day Weekend Grand Prix of Mosport rostrum for the GT2 competitors. In the center are the winners, Jorg Bergmeister and Patrick Long. Their victory coupled with problems for Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard moved them to the top of the GT2 standings. The second-place finishers, Darren Law and Ian Baas, are standing on the left side of the podium. Completing the rostrum are Mike Rockenfeller and Wolf Henzler.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	LMP1	Weaver / Leitzinger	Lola EX257	127	-
2	LMP1	Lehto / Werner	Audi R8	127	-
3	LMP1	Pirro / Biela	Audi R8	126	-
4	LMP1	Wallace / Dyson	Lola EX257	125	-
5	LMP2	Field / Halliday	Lola B05/40	120	-
6	GT1	Beretta / Gavin	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	119	-
7	GT1	Fellows / O'Connell	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	119	-
8	GT1	Borcheller / Mowlem	Saleen S7R	119	Oil Leak
9	GT1	Bertolini / de Simone	Maserati MC12	118	-
10	LMP2	McMurry / Bucknum	Courage C65	117	-
11	LMP2	Cosmo / Bach	Courage C65	113	-
12	GT1	Belloc / Rugolo / Weickardt	Dodge Viper	112	-
13	GT2	Bergmeister / Long	Porsche GT3RSR	110	Wheel
14	GT2	Baas / Law	Porsche GT3RSR	110	-
15	GT2	Henzler / Rockenfeller	Porsche GT3RSR	109	-
16	GT2	Neiman / Pechnik	Porsche GT3RSR	109	-
17	GT2	Sugden / Jackson	Porsche GT3RSR	108	-
18	GT2	Bernhard / Dumas	Porsche GT3RSR	108	-
19	GT2	Sellers / Franchitti	Panoz Esperante GTLM	107	Fuel
20	GT2	Auberlen / Liddell	Panoz Esperante GTLM	91	Mechanical
21	GT2	Fogarty / van Overbeek	Porsche GT3RSR	311	Engin
22	LMP2	van der Steur / van der Steur / Devlin	Lola B2K/40	26	Mechnical

Copyright Notice:

All content (photographs and text) appearing on this website are the exclusive property of © www.zoompics.com and are protected under International copyright laws. The subject matter on this website may not be reproduced, copied, stored or manipulated.