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).

  • Enduro GT1 – 1.27:999 and faster
  • Enduro GT2 – 1.28:000 and slower
  • Enduro GT3 – 1.32:000 and slower
  • Enduro GT4 – 1.36:000 and slower
  • Enduro GT5 – 1.41:000 and slower
  • Enduro GT6 – 1.45:000 and slower

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.

At last year’s running of the Sundown Grand Prix Quebec’s, Mark Gawronski shared the driving duties of the No. 118 Honda Civic. In 2010, Gawronski decided to complete the three-hour event by himself. He qualified seventh overall and fourth in the GT3 category. As the faster teams encountered issues during the contest, Gawronski moved into the overall lead just before the halfway point and held-on for the victory.
Another duo benefitting from the challenges faced by some of the faster competitors were Paul Taylor and Joe Chan. They were gridded in the ninth position for the start of the Sundown Grand Prix and second in the GT4 category – the group with the largest number of entries. A trouble-free run allowed them to move up the race order and finish first class and third overall – two-laps behind the race winner, Mark Gawronski.
There were a total of nine drivers entered in this year’s Sundown Grand Prix that decided to compete solo. One of them was Nicholas Krikorian. Krikorian, a former Canadian Touring Car Championship series competitor, drove the No. 67 Versace Parfums sponsored Subaru WRX STi in the GT2 category. He qualified second overall and finished fifth but won his class by a margin of twenty-two-laps.
The Krikorian family entered a second Subaru WRX STi. The No. 76 Subaru was driven by Nicholas’ brother Nigel. Nigel was the 2008 Canadian Touring Car Super Touring champion. His car has received extensive upgrades from Can-Jam Motorsports and competed in the GT1 category. Nigel was the only driver in class and started on the pole, but issues during the contest resulted in an overall finish of sixth-place.
GT5 competitors Richard Foegele and Matt Graham competed in the last two Sundown Grand Prix. Their best result was a second in class during the 2008 event. The No. 59 Mazda Miata started the three-hour race eighteenth overall and second in their group. The duo took the class early when the faster Shep/Browne Nissan encountered problems. Foegele and Graham would win their category by five-laps.
One of the more unique vehicles entered in this year’s edition of the Sundown Grand Prix was the No. 03 Saturn SC2 shared by Nick Berry and Aaron McCauley. The team was one of two entered in the GT6 group – the other was a Nissan Sentra driven by Alex Toth. The Saturn was the twentieth fastest qualifier in a field of twenty-four cars. They finished fifteenth overall and finish ahead of Toth by a margin of six-laps.

FINISHSTARTCLASSDRIVERCARLAPS
17GT3Mark GawronskiHonda Civic110
26GT3Gunter Schmidt / Andrew DanyliwChevrolet Cobalt109
39GT4Paul Taylor / Joe ChanChevrolet Cobalt108
44GT3Marco Cirone / Robert BurgessPorsche 997107
52GT2Nicholas KrikorianSubaru WRX STi107
61GT1Nigel KrikorianSubaru WRX STi105
715GT4Andrew ElliottHonda Prelude105
819GT4M-A Seguin / J-P DumoulinHonda Civic103
98GT4Tom Kwok / Gary KwokAcura CSX102
1018GT5Richard Foegele / Matt GrahamMazda Miata101
1121GT4Jesse Bradburn / Corey BradburnHonda Civic97
1222GT5Robert Burgess/ Mike EdmondsPorsche 944S96
1317GT3Jay Saslove / Richard MuiseAcura Integra Type R94
1413GT4Kevin Robb / Howard ChinVolkswagen Jetta94
1520GT6Nick Berry / Aaron McCauleySaturn SC293
1612GT4Ken Baird / Antoine CremerAcura Integra Type R92
1723GT6Alex TothNissan Sentra87
1810GT2Serge TousignantBMW M385
195GT3Arek Wojciechowski / Eric HochgeschurzBMW 328i84
2016GT5David Shep / Gary BrowneNissan Sentra Spec V78
Did Not Finish3GT2Andrew RomockiPorsche 944 Turbo58
Did Not Finish11GT3Steve AndersonDodge SRT-436
Did Not Finish24GT5Cliff Daley / Ian MaddenVolkswagen Jetta5
Did Not Finish14GT4Steve GreinerAcura Integra3


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