1980 Mosport

On August 17, 1980, Mosport Park hosted the Molson Canadian 1000, a six-hour contest for the FIA World Championship of Makes and the IMSA GT Series. Both organizations used the same rules for their premier class. In addition to the Mosport event, they share a North American race date with Daytona International Speedway.

The World Championship of Makes season began in February at Daytona International. After Daytona, teams returned to Europe to compete at Brands Hatch, Mugello, Monza, Silverstone, Nurburging and the 24-Hours of Le Mans, before returning to North America. The championship’s first stop was Watkins Glen International, followed by Mosport Park. The penultimate round was held at Vallelunga, with the finale taking place at Dijon.

The IMSA GT Series also kicked off with the 24-Hour event at Daytona International Speedway. Next on the schedule were the 12-Hours of Sebring followed by events held at Road Atlanta, Riverside International Raceway, Laguna Seca, Lime Rock Park, Brainerd International Raceway and a second stop at Daytona. Prior to the 6-hour event at Mosport in August, the teams visited Golden State International Raceway and Portland International Raceway. After the series only Canadian event, the championship competed at Road America and made a second visit to Road Atlanta for the penultimate race of 1980. Daytona hosted the final contest of the season.

Competitors in the IMSA GT Series collect points in the GTU, GTO or GTX divisions.

GTU - The GTU category is for vehicles prepared to FIA Group 4 rules with an engine displacement of less than 2.5-liters. The Mazda RX-7, Porsche 911 and Datsun 280ZX compete in this group.
GTO – GTO is for cars over 2.5-liters and built in accordance to FIA Group 4 regulations. This division is home to the Triumph TR8, Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche Carrera and 934.
GTX – GTX and FIA Group 5 automobiles share the same rules. However, the World Championship of Makes has an over and under 2.0-liter classes. In both IMSA GTX and the FIA Group 5 over 2.0-liter category, Porsche is the dominant manufacturer. Lancia owns the under 2.0-liter division with their Montecarlo model.

Round nine for the FIA World Championship of Makes and race eleven for the IMSA GT Series were conducted during the Molson Canadian 1000 at Mosport Park. Teams would compete in a six-hour contest around the ten turn 2.459-mile road course.

The start of the Molson Canadian 1000 at Mosport Park. On the pole is the point-leading Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 935 K3 shared by John Fitzpatrick, Brian Redman and team principal Dick Barbour. Starting on the outside is the second Barbour entry driven by Bobby Rahal and Bob Garretson. Occupying row two is the No. 18 JLP Racing Porsche 935 and the first of three Lancia Beta Montecarlos.

During the 1980 racing season, John Fitzpatrick was competing on both sides of the Atlantic, but his main focus was the IMSA GT Series with Dick Barbour Racing. Before Mosport, Fitzpatrick had six IMSA victories in nine starts driving the No. 6 Porsche 935K. He was partnered with Brian Redman at Mosport and the duo started on the pole with Fitzpatrick earning his first World Championship of Makes win of the year.

The GTO winners make a pitstop at the Molson Canadian 1000. Canadian Bill Adam stands ready to jump into the Group 44 Triumph TR8 and relieve the team owner, Bob Tullius. The Mendez Racing team dominated the category this season, but the Group 44 entry won at the 12-Hours of Sebring and the second Daytona event. Adam and Tullius were dominant at Mosport, winning by a margin of eight laps.

Racing Beat brought two Mazda RX-7 to the Molson Canadian 1000. Their No. 7 entry had five GTU victories before the Mosport event. Unfortunately, the car shared by Jim Downing, Walt Bohren and Jeff Kline was eliminated from the race on lap-32 when it was involved in a crash at corner three. The No. 17, which had two wins this season, driven by John Morton, Kline and Bohren, would dominate the category.

Finishing second overall and in the Group 5 and IMSA GTX classes was the No. 18 JLP Racing Porsche 935 JLP-2. The only car to finish on the same lap as the winners was shared by the father and son team of John Paul Sr. and Jr. Paul senior won the 1979 Tran Am championship. At Lime Rock Park, earlier this season, the pair became the first father and son duo to win an IMSA GT Series race.

The No. 46 DeNarvaez Racing Porsche Carrera RSR opened the season at the 24-Hours of Daytona with a runner-up result in the GTO category. It wasn’t until round eleven at Mosport Park that the team collected their second podium finish. Mauricio DeNarvaez was paired with Tony Garcia. The duo started twenty-first overall and sixth in class. After 6-hours of racing, they were eleventh overall and second in GTO.

The No. 00 Interscope Racing Porsche 935 K3 of team owner Ted Field and Danny Ongais finished third overall and in the Group 5 and IMSA GTX categories at the Molson Canadian 1000. The duo collected rostrum results at the 24-Hours of Daytona and 12-Hours of Sebring. They were gridded in the sixth position for the start of the race and finished one lap behind the winners.

In the first two rounds of the season, Brad Frisselle drove the Mandeville Racing GTU Mazda RX-7 with Roger Mandeville. By race three, Frisselle was competing in his own entry, the No. 47 Frisselle Racing Mazda RX-7 and would share the driving duties with Mandeville at Mosport. They qualified second in class at the Molson Canadian 1000 and earned a runner-up result, albeit four laps behind the category winners.

The Group 5 Lancia Beta Montecarlos, entered by Lancia Corse Italia, were dominant in the previous round at Watkins Glen. Of the three cars in the event, two of them finished first and second. Mosport would be more of a challenge for the team. On lap-186, an accident led to the retirement of the No. 15 Lancia. The ‘best of the rest’ was the No. 14 car, shared by Hans Heyer and Walter Rohrl, who finished fourth.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	Gr. 5/ GTX	Fitzpatrick / Redman	Porsche 935 K3	Dick Barbour Racing	245	-
2	Gr. 5/ GTX	Paul, Jr. / Paul	Porsche 935 JLP-2	JLP Racing	245	-
3	Gr. 5/ GTX	Field / Ongais	Porsche 935K3	Interscope Racing	244	-
4	Gr. 5/ GTX	Heyer / Rohrl	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	Lancia Squadra Corse	241	-
5	Gr. 5/ GTX	McKitterick / Mears	Porsche 935 K3	Dick Barbour Racing	237	-
6	Gr. 5/ GTX	Miller / Akin / Nierop	Porsche 935 K3	Racing Associates	234	-
7	Gr. 5/ GTX	Facetti / Finotto	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	Jolly Club	232	-
8	GTO	Tullius / Adam	Triumph TR8	Group 44	223	-
NRAF	Gr. 5/ GTX	Whittington / Henn	Porsche 935 K3	Thunderbird Swap Shop	219	Spin
10	GTU	Morton / Kline / Bohren	Mazda RX-7	Racing Beat	218	-
11	GTO	de Narvaez / Garcia	Porsche Carrera	De Narvaez Racing	215	-
12	GTU	Frisselle / Mandeville	Mazda RX-7	Brad Frisselle Racing	214	-
13	GTU	Soto / Honegger	Mazda RX-7	Z&W Enterprises Racing	208	-
14	GTX	Haywood / Leven	Porsche 935-77A	Bayside Disposal Racing	205	-
15	GTO	Hochreuter / Brezinka / Ridgely	Porsche 911	Fritz Hochreuter	204	-
16	GTO	Koll / Cook	Porsche 911	Koll Motorsport	202	-
17	GTO	Currin / Carusso	Chevrolet Corvette	Dynasales	195	-
NRAF	Gr. 5/ GTX	Ghinzani / Darniche	Lancia Beta Montecarlo	Lancia Squadra Corse	186	Accident
NC	GTX	Heimrath / Hardacre / Reski	Porsche 911	Climax Racing	155	-
DNF	GTU	Davenport / Carney	Datsun 280ZX	Raytown Datsun	136	Accident
DNF	GTX	Heimrath / Rutherford	Porsche 935	Heimrath Racing	127	Suspension
NC	GTO	Bulkowski / Kulczyk	Triumph TR8	Bruce Kulczyk	120	-
DNF	GTX	Carter / Valentine	Chevrolet Camaro	Carter Racing Services	104	Accident
DNF	GTO	Bytzek / Bartling	Porsche Carrera	Bytzek/Litens Automotive	103	Accident
DNF	GTX	Rahal / Garretson	Porsche 935	Dick Barbour Racing	98	Spin
DNF	GTO	Herman / Naon	Porsche Carrera	Montura Racing	64	Accident
DNF	GTO	Wietzes / Bienvenue	Chevrolet Corvette	Fifth Essence Racing	59	Suspension
DNF	GTU	Drolsom / Davenport	Porsche 911	Drolsom Racing	59	Clutch
DNF	GTU	Stiff / Posey	Datsun 240Z	NTS Racing	58	-
DNF	GTO	Mendez / Gonzalez	Porsche Carrera	Hector Huerta Racing	56	Accident
DNF	GTO	Edwards / Carter	Chevrolet Corvette	Murray Edwards	54	Transmission
DNF	GTU	Downing / Bohren / Kline	Mazda RX-7	Racing Beat	32	Accident

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