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After a long absence, the Sundown Grand Prix returned to Mosport International Raceway in 2005 and became a regular fixture on the Victoria Day Weekend Speedfest schedule.
The first Sundown Grand Prix was held in 1959 at Harewood Acres and won by Roger Penske and Harry Blanchard driving a Porsche RSK. From 1964 to 1976, the event was conducted at Mosport. A list of past winners includes such racing greats as Al Pease, Eppie Wietzes, Craig Fisher, Mo Carter and Ludwig Heimrath. Most competitors in this year’s Sundown Grand Prix were from Ontario; however, the event also attracted teams from Quebec. The classes for this year’s race were set by using a bracket system. Based on lap times, teams would be placed in one of six categories – GT1 (the fastest) to GT6 (the slowest).
If a team goes faster than the breakout time they are registered in, they will be moved up a class. This year’s edition of the Sundown Grand Prix was 180-minutes long around the ten-turn 2.459-mile road course. The event began at 5:00 pm on Saturday and ended in the dark. The original races were six-hour contests.
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Andrew Romocki made his Sundown Grand Prix debut last season, driving a Porsche 944 Turbo. Unfortunately, Romocki’s race ended at the mid-point of the three-hour contest. This year he was entered in the No. 291 Panoz GTS and competed in the GT1 category. Romocki qualified second overall and grabbed the lead for the final time late in the race. He won by a two-lap margin over Nicholas Krikorian. |
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There were three entries in the GT2 category. The fastest was the No. 111 Too Cool Racing BMW M3 shared by Quebec’s Jean-Luc Bergeron and Marc-Antoine Camirand. The duo qualified third overall and first in class. They pitted early for a driver change that allowed Camirand, who was the quicker of the two, to drive most of the race. The strategy paid off as the pair won their category and finished third overall. |
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Serge Tousignant has competed in three Sundown Grand Prix. His best result was second-place in GT2 at last year’s event. Tousignant and the No. 57 BMW M3 were ninth fastest during the qualifying session but slowest in the GT3 category. During the race, Tousignant benefitted from problems for last season’s winner, Mark Gawronski and the disqualification of the Cirone / Sabato Porsche to claim the victory. |
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Richard Foegele and Matt Graham participated in last year’s Sundown Grand Prix and finished tenth overall and won the GT5 category. The defending class champions returned in the familiar No. 59 Mazda Miata. GT5 was the best-subscribed field in this season’s event and they started fifth in class. As the faster teams encountered issues, they moved up the race order and won the category finishing fifth overall. |
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Winners of the GT4 category were Steven Leitao and Nigel Heron. This was their second time competing in the Sundown Grand Prix; they finished third in class at their last event. The No. 35 Honda Civic was gridded seventh overall and first in their group for this year’s contest. The pair dominated the three-hour race and finished twenty-two-laps ahead of the Muise / Saslove / Greiner Acura Integra. |
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2011 was Nigel Krikorian’s third Sundown Grand Prix. This year, he was entered in the same Subaru WRX STi that he put on the overall pole last season and used to win the GT1 category, albeit five laps behind the overall winner. Krikorian dominated practice and qualifying this year, claiming the pole by 2.259-seconds. Unfortunately, his raced only lasted thirty-six-laps before the Subaru retired. |
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| FINISH | START | CLASS | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GT1 | Andrew Romocki | Panoz GTS | 112 |
| 2 | 4 | GT1 | Nicholas Krikorian | Subaru WRX STi | 110 |
| 3 | 3 | GT2 | Jean Luc Bergeron / Marc-Antoine Camirand | BMW M3 | 103 |
| 4 | 9 | GT3 | Serge Tousignant | BMW M3 | 102 |
| 5 | 14 | GT5 | Richard Foegele / Matt Graham | Mazda Miata | 102 |
| 6 | 7 | GT4 | Steven Leitao / Nigel Heron | Honda Civic | 101 |
| 7 | 5 | GT2 | Ilker Starck / Robert Burgess | Porsche 997 | 101 |
| 8 | 13 | GT5 | David Shep / Gary Browne | Nissan Sentra | 99 |
| 9 | 16 | GT5 | Vincent Basile / Carl Werner | Honda Civic | 99 |
| 10 | 11 | GT5 | Paul Janusauskas | BMW M3 | 97 |
| 11 | - | GT5 | Jean-Michel Isabelle / Pierre Clavet | Honda Civic | 96 |
| 12 | 8 | GT3 | Mark Gawronski | Honda Civic | 92 |
| 13 | 15 | GT4 | Jay Saslove / Richard Muise / Steve Greiner | Acura Integra Type R | 79 |
| 14 | 12 | GT5 | Jason Sharpe / Damon Sharpe / Diane Dale | Nissan Sentra | 72 |
| Did Not Finish | 1 | GT1 | Nigel Krikorian | Subaru WRX STi | 36 |
| Did Not Finish | 19 | GT2 | Luc Lesage / Etienne Borgeat | Pontiac Soltice | 26 |
| Did Not Finish | 10 | GT5 | Ian Madden / Howard Chin | Volkswagen Jetta | 23 |
| Disqualified | 6 | GT3 | Marco Cirone / Roberto Sabato | Porsche 997 | 102 |
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