2004 Mosport International Raceway - Ontario Touring GT Championship

Despite declining entries for the Canada GT Challenge Cup and the series demise in 2002, there was still a demand for this format of racing among closed wheel competitors in the Canadian Automobile Sport Club Ontario Region (CASC-OR). The Touring GT Championship filled this vacancy.

Teams competed in one of two categories. Last season’s Touring SGT class was eliminated for 2004. The colour of the windshield banner identifies the groups.

Touring GT – Blue – This class is home to vehicles with V8 or six-cylinder engines and cars with forced induction systems.
Touring T – Yellow - Vehicles commonly found in this category include the Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra, Volkswagen Rabbit, Acura Integra, etc. Engine displacement is limited to 2.8-liters.

Both classes compete on Toyo Proxes RA-1 tires.

The Touring GT Championship events are conducted on nine 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 Championship has also been invited to participate in three professional weekends at Mosport International Raceway – Victoria Day, CASCAR Super Series and American Le Mans Series. At these events, drivers compete in a one-hour endurance race with a mandatory pit-stop.

All one-hour races require a mandatory one-minute pit-stop. For teams that use two drivers, one-minute is sufficient time to make the change. Competitors driving solo can remain in the car during the stop. Re-fueling is not allowed.

In addition to the Drivers’ Championship, there are awards given for:

Rookie of the Year
Most Improved Driver
Most Professional Team
Crew Chief of the Year
Masters Champion
Hard Charger

The final rounds of the 2004 Ontario Touring GT Championship were held on the weekend of October 2-3 at Mosport International Raceway. The Touring GT title had been secured before this weekend by Robert Gay, but the Touring T category was still up for grabs. Championship contenders included Michael Thornley, Jeff Lorriman and Nicholas Krikorian.

Touring GT front-runner Allan DeWolfe was only thirteenth fastest during the wet qualifying session for Saturday’s contest. At the start, he charged through the field and was in second place by lap-2. When the race leader, Michael Boekdrukker, retired, DeWolfe inherited first place and the victory. In the finale, he went flag-to-flag in the No. 31 BMW 325i. With these results, DeWolfe finished second in the standings.

A wet qualifying session worked to the advantage of many Touring T competitors. One such driver was Howard Chin. His lightweight, front-wheel-drive Volkswagen Rabbit, allowed him to qualify on the outside of the front row. Saturday’s race was on a dry track and Chin was passed by the quicker Touring GT cars, but he managed to win his category. The next day, Chin was fourth in class and ninth overall.

The Touring T category would be determined at the Celebration weekend. The drivers with the best odds were Michael Thornley and Jeff Lorriman. Thornley was the quicker of the two, but Lorriman was consistent. In race one, Thornley and the No. 133 Acura Integra Type R started one position ahead of Lorriman but finished second to Lorriman’s ninth-place. On Sunday, a class victory secured the title for Thornley.

Touring GT competitor Jody Trudeau did not participate in every event. When he made an appearance, he was quick; in fact, he won the opening round. Trudeau qualified fifth overall and second in class, driving the No. 50 Trudeau Racing Chevrolet Camaro. In the race, he was passed by Allan DeWolfe and inherited a runner-finish when Michael Boekdrukker retired. On Sunday, Trudeau earned another second-place.

Newcomer Scott Nicol joined the Ontario Touring GT Championship late in the season but made good progress at each event. Nicol, driving the No. 41 Acura EL, was twenty-first fastest in the wet qualifying session. During Saturday’s contest, he moved through the field and finished eleventh overall and seventh in Touring T. In the finale, he drove an excellent race and finished second in class.

Two weeks earlier, at the BEMC Indian Summer Trophy event, Allan Jones had his best weekend of the season. Jones scored second and first place finishes piloting the No. 54 Toyota Supra. Unfortunately, his year would end on a ‘low note.’ He started the first race of the weekend at the back of the field but charged to a third-place finish. On Sunday afternoon, contact late in the contest resulted in a twenty-second place result.

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	13	Touring GT	Allan DeWolfe	BMW 325	8
2	5	Touring GT	Jody Trudeau	Chevrolet Camaro	8
3	26	Touring GT	Alan Jones	Toyota Supra	8
4	2	Touring T	Howard Chin	Volkswagen Rabbit	8
5	6	Touring GT	Bob Armstrong	Nissan NX2000 Turbo	8
6	8	Touring T	Michael Thornley	Acura Integra Type R	8
7	1	Touring T	Ian Madden	Volkswagen Golf	8
8	18	Touring T	Nicholas Krikorian	Honda Prelude	8
9	14	Touring T	Gunter Schmidt	Volkswagen Jetta	8
10	22	Touring T	Nigel Krikorian	Honda Prelude	8
11	21	Touring T	Scott Nicol	Acura EL	8
12	16	Touring GT	Robert Racki	Chevrolet Camaro	8
13	27	Touring GT	Ray Arlauskas	BMW E30	8
14	30	Touring GT	Allan Lewis	BMW E30	8
15	11	Touring T	Eric Nummelin	Mazda RX-7	8
16	7	Touring T	Ian Law / C. Calder	Honda Civic	8
17	9	Touring T	Jeff Lorriman	Hyundai Tiburon	8
18	15	Touring T	John Bondar	Acura Integra	8
19	17	Touring T	Andrew Elliott	Volkswagen Corrado	8
20	29	Touring T	R. Microys / M. White	Volkswagen Jetta	8
21	3	Touring T	Perry Iannuzzi	Nissan Sentra	8
22	28	Touring T	Gregory Chang	Acura Integra Type R	7
23	20	Touring T	Terry Mueller	Nissan Sentra	7
24	19	Touring T	John Powell	Mazda RX-7	7
25	12	Touring T	Cindy Armstrong	Nissan NX2000	7
26	24	Touring T	Cliff Daley	Volkswagen Golf	7
27	4	Touring GT	Mike Boekdrukker	BMW M3	6
28	10	Touring T	Ian Houston / Grant Houston	Volkswagen Golf	6

FINISH	START	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR	LAPS
1	1	Touring GT	Allan DeWolfe	BMW 325	26
2	2	Touring GT	Jody Trudeau	Chevrolet Camaro	26
3	14	Touring GT	Allan Lewis	BMW E30	26
4	6	Touring T	Michael Thornley	Acura Integra Type R	26
5	13	Touring GT	Ray Arlauskas	BMW E30	26
6	11	Touring T	Scott Nicol	Acura EL	25
7	12	Touring GT	Robert Racki	Chevrolet Camaro	25
8	8	Touring T	Nicholas Krikorian	Honda Prelude	25
9	4	Touring T	Howard Chin	Volkswagen Rabbit	25
10	16	Touring T	Ian Law / C. Calder	Honda Civic	25
11	19	Touring T	Andrew Elliott	Volkswagen Corrado	25
12	15	Touring T	Eric Nummelin	Mazda RX-7	25
13	17	Touring T	Jeff Lorriman	Hyundai Tiburon	24
14	18	Touring T	John Bondar	Acura Integra	24
15	26	Touring T	Cliff Daley	Volkswagen Golf	24
16	21	Touring T	Perry Iannuzzi	Nissan Sentra	24
17	22	Touring T	Gregory Chang	Acura Integra Type R	24
18	24	Touring T	John Powell	Mazda RX-7	23
19	23	Touring T	Terry Mueller	Nissan Sentra	23
20	20	Touring T	R. Microys / M. White	Volkswagen Jetta	23
21	25	Touring T	Cindy Armstrong	Nissan NX2000	23
22	3	Touring GT	Alan Jones	Toyota Supra	22
Did Not Finish	5	Touring GT	Bob Armstrong	Nissan NX2000 Turbo	13
Did Not Finish	7	Touring T	Ian Madden	Volkswagen Golf	12
Did Not Finish	28	Touring T	Ian Houston / Grant Houston	Volkswagen Golf	7
Did Not Finish	27	Touring GT	Mike Boekdrukker	BMW M3	2
Did Not Start	9	Touring T	Gunter Schmidt	Volkswagen Jetta	-
Did Not Start	10	Touring T	Nigel Krikorian	Honda Prelude	-

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