MOSPORT - TRANS AM


Corner one and the start of round four at Mosport. Pole sitter Paul Gentilozzi in the Jaguar XKR takes the lead with Brian Simo in close pursuit. Gentilozzi would lead until lap thirty when he had a spin at Moss corner. He worked his way back to a seventh place finish.

Long Beach winner Tomy Drissi drove this Ford Mustang during the 2000 season. Drissi qualified ninth at Mosport but was able to improve upon his starting spot and capture the final podium position.

Rookie Jeff Altenburg was part of Paul Gentilozzi’s Rocketsports team. At Mosport Altenburg started fifth and with a bit of luck and good driving finished second. He would go on to finish third in the final standings and win the rookie of the year award.

Former F1 and sports car builder Alejandro de Tomaso revived the Mangusta brand in 1996 and with some help from, US importer, Bruce Qvale introduced the model to the American market. Unfortunately, de Tomaso and Qvale had a falling out which led him to drop his name from the cars and they were built in Italy as Qvale Mangustas.

Randy Ruhlman in the No. 49 Oldsmobile Aurora and No. 64 Johnny Miller were in a race long battle for third place. On the final lap at the last turn Miller hit Ruhlman while trying to make a pass and took both drivers off the track. Ruhlman finished eighth and Miller was penalized for his move, which dropped him to ninth place.

The podium at Mosport. On the left is second place finisher Jeff Altenburg and the right Tomy Drissi who captured third. Between these two is the winner Brian Simo. Altenburg and Drissi were able to finish on the podium by capitalizing on the incident between Ruhlman and Miller.


Return