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The British Empire Motor Club introduced a three-hour endurance race for Ontario GT Challenge competitors in 2005.
The concept was popular with teams and attracted strong fields.
It also drew a healthy contingent from Quebec.
The race was governed by many of the same rules used for the Sundown Grand Prix, with one major exception. Drivers entered in the three-hour enduro would score double points towards the Ontario GT Challenge championship. Results were posted for the contest at the 90 and 180-minute marks. 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 penalized a lap. This year’s BEMC three-hour endurance event attracted twenty-nine cars. It was held at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s ten-turn 2.459-mile road course during the BEMC Indian Summer Trophy Races weekend.
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The defending overall and GT2 class winners, Russell Saulnier and Robert Mitten, returned for another attempt to grab victory. And, they succeeded driving the No. 42 Dodge Ram. In fact, the pair won their category in 2010. The Dodge started from the pole and traded the top spot early in the race with Martin Barkey. Before the contest’s halfway point, the pair moved into the lead and never relinquished the position. |
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Scott Tapley was one of several drivers that chose not to compete in the three-hour enduro with a teammate and was successful. Tapley was fourth fastest in the qualifying session and first in the GT3 category driving the No. 78 Chevrolet Silverado. The GT3 driver went unchallenged during the event and moved into second overall late in the contest. He finished four-laps behind Randy Saulnier and Robert Mitten. |
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Joe Chan and Paul Taylor were veterans of the local endurance scene having previously competed in BEMC’s 3-Hour Enduro and the Sundown Grand Prix. Like Saulnier and Mitten, they won their category last year and were also victorious in 2008. The pair were sharing the No. 101 Chevrolet Cobalt and started seventh overall and first in GT4. The duo were the class leaders at the halfway mark and won by 38.311-seconds. |
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Another veteran of Ontario amateur endurance events was Robert Burgess. This year he teamed up with Gino Vendittelli driving the No. 145 Porsche 944S, which competed in the GT5 category. They were sixteenth fastest when the qualifying session ended and would start second in class. The duo moved into first place at the ninety-minute mark and finished ahead of the early leader, Andrew Cordeiro, by one lap. |
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Richard Foegele and Matt Graham had class victories in the Sundown Grand Prix and won last year’s GT5 category at BEMC’s 3-Hour Enduro. They returned to defend their title in Foegele’s familiar No. 59 Mazda MX-5. The duo challenged the leader, Andrew Cordeiro, for the first half of the race but slipped down the order and crossed the finish line fourth in class. |
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Another team that was in contention during the first half of the race was the No. 171 Mazda RX-7 shared by Mike Dolan, Ted Rance and Patrick Dolan. The team was competing in the GT2 category and started third overall. Ninety-minutes into the contest, the trio was able to maintain their position – third overall and in class. Before the checkered flag, the team lost a lap and would finish in the eighth position. |
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A series of misfortunes prevented Martin Barkey from securing a victory. Barkey recorded the fastest time in qualifying driving the No. 110 Dodge Viper ACR-X. Unfortunately, he was disqualified and started at the back of the field. Barkey wasted no time moving forward but was excluded from the results for the first half of the race for a pass under the yellow and lost two laps for breakouts. He would finish fifth overall. |
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Gary Browne usually competed with David Shep in the Ontario endurance events, but he was driving solo at the BEMC 3-Hour Enduro. Browne was ninth fastest during qualifying and started third in GT4. At the mid-point of the race, he was second and one lap behind the class-leading Chevrolet Cobalt. Browne got his lap back in the final hour but could not catch the first-place team and finished second by a margin of 38.311-seconds. |
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Of the twenty-seven teams recording a time in the qualifying session, the No. 711 BMW 328is was the slowest. Sharing the BMW, which would compete in the GT3 category, were Robert Microys and Luc Bouchard. They moved up the lap chart as their rivals encountered issues. By half distance, the duo had moved from tenth to second in class. The team would finish third in GT3, albeit fourteen laps behind the winner. |
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| FINISH | START | CLASS | DRIVER | CAR | LAPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GT2 | Russell Saulnier / Robert Mitten | Dodge Ram | 112 | - |
| 2 | 4 | GT3 | Scott Tapley | Chevrolet Silverado | 108 | - |
| 3 | 7 | GT4 | Paul Taylor / Joe Chan | Chevrolet Cobalt SS | 106 | - |
| 4 | 9 | GT4 | Gary Browne | Mazda Miata | 106 | - |
| 5 | 9 | GT2 | Martin Barkey | Dodge Viper ACR-X | 105 | - |
| 6 | 20 | GT3 | Mark Gawronski | Honda Civic | 105 | - |
| 7 | 11 | GT4 | Marcus Glarner | BMW 328i | 103 | - |
| 8 | 3 | GT2 | Mike Dolan / Ted Rance / Patrick Dolan | Mazda RX-7 | 103 | - |
| 9 | 8 | GT4 | Tom Kwok / Gary Kwok | Honda Civic | 103 | - |
| 10 | 16 | GT5 | Gino Vendittelli / Robert Burgess | Porsche 944 S | 102 | - |
| 11 | 13 | GT5 | Andrew Cordeiro | Volkswagen GTI | 101 | - |
| 12 | 12 | GT4 | Lloyd Service / Keith Minkhorst | Porsche 944 S2 | 100 | - |
| 13 | 21 | GT5 | David Shep | Nissan Sentra | 100 | - |
| 14 | 17 | GT5 | Richard Foegele / Matt Graham | Mazda MX-5 | 100 | - |
| 15 | 14 | GT4 | Evan Groenke / Eric Nummelin | Subaru Legacy GT Spec B | 98 | - |
| 16 | 15 | GT4 | Justin Chan | Nissan 240SX | 97 | - |
| 17 | 25 | GT5 | Peter Adamovits / Mike Adamovits | Mazda Miata | 96 | - |
| 18 | 26 | GT3 | Robert Microys / Luc Bouchard | BMW 328is | 94 | - |
| 19 | 23 | GT4 | Jay Saslove / Bruce Mackie | Ford Mustang | 94 | - |
| 20 | 7 | GT3 | Bryan Rashleigh / Jonathan Rashleigh | Subaru Legacy Spec B | 67 | Did Not Finish |
| 21 | 2 | GT2 | Bob Attrell | Hyundai Genesis | 56 | Did Not Finish |
| 22 | 18 | GT4 | Michael Murillo / Andrew Elliott | Honda Prelude | 53 | Did Not Finish |
| 23 | 6 | GT3 | Serge Tousignant | BMW M3 | 42 | Did Not Finish |
| 24 | 19 | GT4 | Tom Calusic / Steven Scala / Frank Ho | Acura Integra Type R | 34 | Did Not Finish |
| 25 | 10 | GT3 | Mark Durrant / Ian Madden | Volkswagen Jetta | 29 | Did Not Finish |
| 26 | 27 | GT3 | John Noble | BMW E46 325 | 24 | Did Not Finish |
| 27 | 24 | GT3 | Alex Habrich | Porsche 944T | 20 | Did Not Finish |
| 28 | 22 | GT3 | Allan Dewolfe / David Ryan / Andrew Elliott | BMW 328 | 7 | Did Not Finish |
| 29 | 5 | GT3 | Paul Myers | Porsche 968 | 1 | Did Not Finish |
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