2006 Mosport International Raceway - Ontario Touring GT Championship

After four seasons, the Canadian Automobile Sport Club Ontario Region (CASC-OR) Touring GT Championship continued to fill the void left by the demise of the Canada GT Challenge Cup.

The Touring GT Championship events are conducted at eight CASC-OR race weekends. On Saturdays, teams compete in a twenty-minute sprint event and the following day a longer forty-minute race is contested. The penultimate round of the championship will be a three-hour contest during the British Empire Motor Club’s Indian Summer Trophy Races weekend. The event will be called the War Bonnet 3-Hour.

Teams competed in one of three categories. The colour of the windshield banner identifies the groups.

Touring T2 - Blue – T2 if for cars with a normally aspirated six-cylinder engine not exceeding a displacement of 2.8-liters. Or, four-cylinder motors with forced induction systems are limited to a maximum displacement of 2.2-liters. Tire size combinations for this group are as follows – 205/60-13, 205/55-14, 205/50-15, 205/55-16 and 205/40-17.
Touring T1 – Yellow– T1 vehicles adhere to the same engine regulations as the Touring T2 category; however, they can use larger tires. The tire size combinations permitted for this category are – 225/50-15, 225/50-16, 235/45-17 and 235/40-17. The maximum rim width for Touring T1 and T2 is eight-inches.
Touring GT – White – GT include T class cars without a minimum weight restriction. The category also allows engine swaps and a tube frame chassis. Wheel and tire sizes are not restricted for GT vehicles.

The spec tire for all classes is the Toyo Proxes RA-1.

For the three categories, unless otherwise defined by the rules, modifications to the suspension, brakes, cooling system, exhaust, bodywork, transmission and ignition system are free.

The opening round of the 2006 Ontario Touring GT Championship was held on the weekend of May 13-14 during the British Empire Motor Club’s 56th Annual Spring Trophy Races. Teams would compete in two events – a twenty-minute race on Saturday and a forty-minute contest to end the weekend.

The start of Sunday’s race for the opening weekend of the 2006 Ontario Touring GT Championship at Mosport International Raceway. Leading the field of seventeen entries into corner one is race one winner, Allan DeWolfe, in the No. 31 Eurotec Racing BMW 323. On the outside of DeWolfe is the pole-sitter, Scott Nicol driving the No. 41 Honda Civic Si. Behind DeWolfe is Gunter Schmidt in a Chevrolet Camaro.

Alan DeWolfe finished sixth in last year’s Ontario Touring GT Championship Touring category. He was looking like a contender for the Touring T1 title based on his performance in the season opener. DeWolfe qualified second fastest during the damp conditions on Saturday. In the afternoon’s race, he moved into first-place on lap-1 and captured the victory. The next day, DeWolfe led flag-to-flag in the No. 31 BMW 323.

Another team to sweep the weekend was the No. 38 GT category Chevrolet Camaro shared by Gunter Schmidt and Steve Kent. Schmidt was gridded twelfth overall for the start of race one, but by lap-4, he moved the Camaro into third-place and the class lead, which he held to the checkered flag. On Sunday, Schmidt was gridded third for the forty-minute contest and finished second overall with another class victory.

Alain Lauziere wasn’t entered in the opening round of the Ontario Touring GT Championship and had to start from the rear of the grid for Sunday’s forty-minute race. By lap-5, Lauziere had moved the No. 47 Mini Cooper S from fifteenth to tenth overall. He proceeded to stage a battle with the Touring T2 class leader, Ian Madden. Madden’s Volkswagen started smoking on the last lap and Lauziere passed him for the T2 victory.

The Xiropolis brothers shared the No. 46 www.FullAutoStop.com sponsored Volkswagen Scirocco and competed in the Touring GT category. They qualified fifth overall and second in class for the opening round of the season. At the checkered flag, the No. 46 Scirocco was third in GT. On Sunday, they started fifth but finished third overall and inherited the runner-up position in their class when Ray Arlauskas retired.

During the qualifying session for round one of the 2006 Ontario Touring GT Champion, Steven Scala was eleventh fastest and started second in Touring 2. He was almost six-seconds a lap slower than the class pole-sitter, Ian Madden. However, reliability and consistency worked to Scala’s advantage. On Saturday, the faster cars retired and he captured the class victory. The next day, he wasn’t so lucky and finished fourth.

Scott Nicol debuted a new Honda Civic Si at the BEMC Spring Trophy Races. The team’s preparation paid off as Nicol was the fastest qualifier for the first race of the weekend. His place at the top of the lap chart didn’t last long and he finished second in Touring 1. Nicol was on the pole for the finale, but he was slowed by an issue. On lap-12, he spun at Moss Corner and damaged the rear of the Honda.

Ray Arlauskas returned for another season in the Ontario Touring GT Championship. Last year, Arlauskas finished second in the GT category standings driving the No. 266 BMW 325is. He started his 2006 campaign by qualifying on the class pole. Arlauskas was passed by Gunter Schmidt on lap-4 and finished in the runner-up spot. On Sunday, he got the measure of Schmidt but retired on lap-22 while in second-place.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	2	Touring T1	Allan DeWolfe	BMW 323	13
2	1	Touring T1	Scott Nicol	Honda Civic	13
3	13	Touring GT	Gunter Schmidt / Steve Kent	Chevrolet Camaro	13
4	4	Touring GT	Ray Arlauskas	BMW 325is	13
5	5	Touring GT	Steve Xiropolis / John Xiropodis	Volkswagen Scirocco	13
6	14	Touring T1	Cliff Daley	Volkswagen Golf 1.8T	13
7	10	Touring T1	C. Swinwood / P. Swinwood	BMW 318is	13
8	6	Touring GT	Sasha Anis	Nissan 240SX	13
9	16	Touring GT	Frank Evangelou	BMW M3	12
10	12	Touring T1	Bruno Lafosse	BMW E36	12
11	11	Touring T2	Steve Scala	Nissan Sentra	12
12	8	Touring T1	Andrew Elliott	Volkswagen Corrado	11
13	15	Touring T1	Tom Caluzic	Honda S2000	11
14	3	Touring T1	Nicholas Krikorian / Nigel Krikorian	Acura RSX Type S	11
15	7	Touring T2	Ian Madden	Volkswagen Golf	8
Did Not Finish	9	Touring T1	Hagen Hohn	BMW E36	3
Did Not Start	17	Touring T2	Perry Iannuzzi	Nissan Sentra XE	-

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	2	Touring T1	Allan DeWolfe	BMW 323	26
2	3	Touring GT	Gunter Schmidt / Steve Kent	Chevrolet Camaro	26
3	5	Touring GT	Steve Xiropolis / John Xiropodis	Volkswagen Scirocco	26
4	16	Touring T1	Andrew Wojteczko	Lexus IS300	26
5	7	Touring T1	C. Swinwood / P. Swinwood	BMW 318is	26
6	15	Touring T2	Alain Lauziere	Mini Cooper S	25
7	14	Touring T2	Ian Madden	Volkswagen Golf	25
8	13	Touring T1	Nicholas Krikorian / Nigel Krikorian	Acura RSX Type S	25
9	10	Touring T1	Bruno Lafosse	BMW E36	25
10	1	Touring T1	Scott Nicol	Honda Civic	25
11	9	Touring GT	Frank Evangelou	BMW M3	24
12	17	Touring T2	Perry Iannuzzi	Nissan Sentra XE	24
13	11	Touring T2	Steve Scala	Nissan Sentra	23
14	4	Touring GT	Ray Arlauskas	BMW 325is	22
15	8	Touring GT	Sasha Anis	Nissan 240SX	16
Did Not Finish	12	Touring T1	Andrew Elliott	Volkswagen Corrado	5
Did Not Start	-	Touring T1	Tom Caluzic	Honda S2000	-
Did Not Start	-	Touring T1	Hagen Hohn	BMW E36	-
Disqualified	6	Touring T1	Cliff Daley	Volkswagen Golf 1.8T	25

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