2005 Mosport International Speedway

2005 was the fifth consecutive year of the Grand American Road Racing’s Grand Am Cup Series for American and Foreign sports cars and sedans.

There was a significant restructuring of the classes in 2004. The season debuted with a single Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) class.

Grand Sport (GS): The quicker of the two classes - the group features the larger displacement engines as well as smaller four-cylinder motors with forced induction systems. The power-plants produce between 350 and 405-horsepower. Minimum weights range between 2,730 – 3,250-pounds, which is dependent on the motor configuration and displacement. The top speed for a Grand Sport car is approximately 160-mph. This class includes cars such as the Acura NSX, Cadillac CTS-V, BMW M3, Pontiac Firebird, Ford Mustang, Nissan 350Z and Porsche 996.
Sport Touring (ST): The smaller displacement cars compete in this class in which engines typically produce between 170 and 240-horsepower. The top speed of a Sport Touring car is approximately 135-mph. Popular vehicles found in this group are the Acura RSX-S, Mazda RX-8, BMW Z3, BMW 330i, Chevrolet Cobalt SS and Mini Cooper S.

The cars competing in the series are relatively unchanged from their road-going versions – modifications are mandated mainly for safety – roll cages, window nets, etc. They also used spec DOT-approved tires produced by Hoosier. Based on performance potential, the cars are placed in the Grand Sport or Sport Touring group.

The 2005 season consists of eleven race weekends and starts in February at Daytona International Speedway. New for this year is a Grand Sport only race in Santo Domingo. Returning to the United States, teams travel to California Speedway in early April. At the end of the month, the series competes at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Then there is a trip to the East Coast for race weekends at Watkins Glen International, Mosport International Raceway, Barber Motorsports Park, Trois-Rivieres (which would hold events for the Grand Sport and Sport Touring classes) and Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The penultimate rounds take place at Phoenix International Raceway with the Twin 200s. The Grand Sport and Street Tuner teams will compete in separate races. While the finale is held in early October at Virginia International Raceway.

After a one-year absence, the Grand Am Cup series returned to Mosport International Raceway. Teams competed in the Mosport 200 (200-miles / 85-laps subject to a two-and-a-half-hour time limit) around the 2.459-mile ten-turn road course.

Leading the field through Mosport International’s corner one is the pole-sitter, Gunnar Jeannette in the Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT. Behind Jeannette and running side by side is the Turner Motorsport BMW M3 driven by Justin Marks and the second fastest-qualifier, Spencer Pumpelly driving the Race Prep Motorsports Porsche 996. A total of fifty-four competitors started the event at Mosport.

The Mosport weekend presented some competitors with a scheduling conflict. One such driver was Scott Maxwell, who was entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Filling the seat vacated by Maxwell was Gunnar Jeannette. Jeannette started on the pole and shared the No. 05 Ford Mustang with David Empringham. The pair dominated the race leading 73 of the 82-laps with Empringham crossing the finish line first.

New York state laws prevented the father/son team of Jim and Jamie Holtom from competing together at Watkins Glen. That was not the case at Mosport and the two shared the No. 00 Chevrolet Cobalt SS. Starting on the Sport Touring pole, Jim led the class during his stint. After the driver change, Jamie chased down the Mazda RX-8 of Sylvain Tremblay and passed his him with three laps remaining for the lead and win.

Team owner, John Munson usually performs the qualifying duties for the No. 92 Anchor Racing BMW M3 entry. Other commitments prevented him from being at the track during the session. Munson’s co-driver, James Sofronas, qualified the BMW and put it on the pole. However, the team elected to change its starting driver, which meant Munson would start at the rear of the field. The pair would finish fifteenth in class and overall.

The round six Grand Am Cup Grand Sport podium at Mosport International Raceway. In the center are the winners, Gunnar Jeannette and David Empringham, with his entourage. With Scott Maxwell competing at Le Mans, his driver-partner, Empringham, took sole possession of the points lead. Standing on the left are the runner-up finishers, Anders Hainer and Boris Said. Completing the rostrum are Tommy Milner and James Gue.

The Grand Am Cup series uses split starts with the Sport Touring group receiving the Starter’s flag after the Grand Sport drivers. The field is led through Mosport International Raceway’s corner one by the Georgian Bay Motorsports Chevrolet Cobalt SS driven by the class pole-sitter, Jim Holtom. Behind Holtom is the Cobalt of the other front row starter, Tom Lepper and the category point’s leader, Don Salama.

Anchor Racing entered three BMW M3. Sharing the No. 99 M3 was Anders Hainer and Boris Said. Hainer performed the qualifying duties and was the fifth quickest. He drove the first half of the race and remained in contention. During his stint, Said was able to chase down the leader, David Empringham and challenged him for the top spot. Unable to pass Empringham, Said finished second by a margin of 1.317-seconds.

David Haskell drove the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 and could only manage the ninth quickest time. During the race, the defending Sport Touring champions, Haskell and Sylvain Tremblay, maneuvered their way through the field. Tremblay was in the lead until three laps from the finish when he was passed by the Chevrolet Cobalt SS of Jamie Holtom. Tremblay challenged Holtom, but could not make the pass.

With Scott Maxwell competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Multimatic Motorsports had to juggle their driver line-up and recruited Tommy Milner for this event. Gunnar Jeanette filled the seat vacated by Maxwell and Milner partnered with James Gue. During qualifying, Gue only managed to record the eighth quickest time. The duo moved the car into contention and on the final lap, Milner passed Terry Borcheller for third place.

One of the many local teams participating at Mosport International Raceway was the No. 75 Kensai Racing prepared Acura RSX-S, driven by Aaron Povoledo and Travis Walker. They started forty-sixth overall and thirteenth in the Sport Touring category. During the race, the pair moved up the race order and at the checkered flag, they finished twenty-second overall and third in class for their first Grand Am Cup series podium.

The Grand Am Cup Sport Touring podium for round five at Mosport International Racing. Standing in the center are the father and son team of Jim and Jamie Holtom. This was father, Jim’s second consecutive class victory and moved him into the points lead. On the left side are the defending class champions and runner-ups, Sylvain Tremblay and David Haskell. Rounding out the rostrum are Aaron Povoledo and Travis Walker.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS
1	GS	Empringham / Jeannette	Ford Mustang GT	Multimatic Motorsports	82
2	GS	Hainer / Hand / Said	BMW M3	Anchor Racing	82
3	GS	Gue / Milner	Ford Mustang GT	Multimatic Motorsports	82
4	GS	Marks / Borcheller	BMW M3	Turner Motorsport	82
5	GS	Rosser / Murry	Porsche 996	Fiorano Racing	82
6	GS	Kohler / Smith	Mustang Saleen	TF Racing	82
7	GS	Kapudija / Pecorari	Mustang Cobra SVT	Rehagen Racing / Speedquest	82
8	GS	Wilkins / Lacey	Porsche 996	Doncaster Racing	82
9	GS	Keravich III / Trinkler	BMW M3	Power Racing Team	82
10	GS	Plummer / Cosmo	Porsche 996	BGB Motorsports	82
11	GS	Nonnamaker / Nonnamaker	Porsche 996	Team Sahlen	82
12	GS	Finlay / McDowell	BMW M3	Finlay Motorsports	82
13	GS	Thornton / Russell	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	82
14	GS	Macleod / Gorriaran	Nissan 350Z	DWW/GorillaRacing.com	82
15	GS	Munson / Sofronas	BMW M3	Anchor Racing	81
16	GS	Ellis / Bavaro	Porsche 997	Bodymotion Racing	81
17	GS	Alhadeff / Sigal	Porsche 996	Fiorano Racing	81
18	GS	Wortzman / Wilden	BMW M3	Zoom Motorsports	81
19	GS	Riddle / Wilson	BMW M3	Automatic Racing	81
20	ST	Holtom / Holtom	Chevrolet Cobalt	Georgian Bay Motorsports	81
21	ST	Haskell / Tremblay	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	81
22	ST	Walker / Povoledo	Acura RSX-S	Kensai Racing	81
23	ST	Lepper / Roach	Chevrolet Cobalt	Franklin American Mortgage	81
24	ST	Thornley / Schwartzott	Acura TSX	Kensai Racing	81
25	ST	Salama / Turner	BMW 330ci	CSL Racing	81
26	GS	Bupp / Bupp	Nissan 350Z	Hamilton Safe Motorsports	81
27	ST	Johnson / Connolly	BMW 330ci	Matt Connolly Motorsports	81
28	ST	Fanelli / Dumoulin	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	81
29	ST	Pappas / Pfeffer	BMW 330i	Turner Motorsport	81
30	GS	Ellis / Rossi	Porsche 996	Knobel Racing	80
31	ST	Colembie / Tuaty	BMW Z4	TC Kline Racing	80
32	GS	Sahlen / Nonnamaker	Porsche 996	Team Sahlen	80
33	ST	Ciekiewicz / Thomson	BMW Z3	Compass360/Racing	80
34	ST	Abello / Espenlaub	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	80
35	GS	Himes / Linder	BMW M3	Power Racing Team	80
36	ST	O'Shaughnessy / O'Shaughnessy	BMW Z4	TC Kline Racing	79
37	ST	Schlesinger / Altenburg	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	79
38	ST	Wong / Diedrick	Nissan Sentra SE-R	DEI Racers Group	79
39	ST	Bisignano / Walker	Mazda RX-8	SpeedSource	79
40	ST	Curran / Endicott	Acura RSX-S	Bill Fenton Motorsports	79
41	ST	Briody / Halpin	BMW 330ci	Matt Connolly Motorsports	79
42	ST	Moorcones / Poscente	Acura Integra R	Radial Motorsports	78
43	GS	Gaffney / Pumpelly	Porsche 996	Race Prep Motorsports	75
44	ST	Boekdrukker/ Hrymack	BMW Z3	Compass360/Racing	74
45	GS	Zavodsky / Ackley	Mustang Cobra SVT	Rehagen Racing	69
46	GS	Skelton / Foster	BMW M3	Anchor Racing	65
47	GS	Powell / Knowles	Cadillac CTS-V	Powell Motorsport	60
48	ST	Magner / Strub	Chevrolet Cobalt	WTF Engineering	57
49	GS	Gaffney / Pumpelly / Pickett	Porsche 996	Race Prep Motorsports	44
50	ST	Robinson / Mitchell III	Mazda RX-8	Play Therapy Racing	34
51	GS	MacAlpine / Martin	Mustang Cobra SVT	Rehagen Racing	24
52	GS	Grande / Ellis / Fox	Porsche 996	Knobel Racing	16
53	GS	Guindon / Camirand	Cadillac CTS-V	Powell Motorsport	7
54	ST	Stewart / Schwartzott	Acura TSX	Stewart Motorsports	1
55	GS	McCalmont / Law	Porsche 996	Zoom Motorsports	0
56	GS	Putman / Courtney	Porsche 996	Knobel Racing	0

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