The Grand Prix of Mosport featuring the American Le Mans

American Le Mans Series, IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada, Cooper Tires Prototype Lites, Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship, Star Mazda Championship and F2000 Championship Highlight The Mobil 1 Presents The 2011 Grand Prix of Mosport, July 21-24

 

The top sports car racing teams and an international field of drivers from 15 countries will arrive at Mosport International Raceway in two weeks’ time for the Mobil 1 presents The Grand Prix of Mosport featuring the American Le Mans Series, July 21-24.

The highlight of the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport will be the prestigious American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron, making their only stop north of the border in 2011.  It will be the fourth of nine rounds, as the Series continues its summer stretch following the long layoff for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The world leader in green racing boasts more top manufacturers than Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar combined.  The elite marques that run in the series include Aston Martin, BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Ford, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Mazda, Panoz and Porsche.

2011 marks the third year for the MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge, a revolutionary competition that rewards Series teams (one prototype and one GT) for their overall performance and environmental impact at each event.  The Michelin Green X Challenge is also a season long point’s championship for both race teams and manufacturers.  The formula is simple, Clean + Fast + Efficient = MICHELIN® Green X® Challenge.

Toronto’s own Tony Burgess will be looking to make some noise at his home track in the Autocon Motorsports Lola, in the top-level LMP1 class.  This will be the Toronto native’s first race of the season and he will be hoping to duplicate his podium finish from a year ago.  Kyle Marcelli of Barrie returns to the LMPC class again this year and he will co-pilot the #89 Intersport Racing Oreca FLM09.  Mosport veteran Ken Wilden of Oakville will join the Jaguar RSR team in the highly competitive GT class.  The last time Wilden took to Mosport’s historic track, was in the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series in 2010 where he set the track qualifying and race fast lap records.

 

In addition to the American Le Mans Series, six popular series, the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada, Cooper Tires Prototype Lites, Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship, Star Mazda Championship and the F2000 Championship will also take to the 3.957 km Mosport circuit.

The IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge comes back to Mosport after a one year absence. The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars will feature a pair of Torontonians; Marco Cirone and Randy Oswald.  Joining their American counterparts, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada will make its Mosport debut.  The inaugural championship will be decided during the doubleheader weekend.  Kanata’s Perry Bortolotti is poised to win the Platinum Cup championship after a successful first four rounds.

Cooper Tires Prototype Lites, the developmental sports car championship, that runs a three-class format race, will have a strong Canadian contingent.  6th Gear Racing and its trio of Ontario drivers – Amherstberg’s Max De Angelis, Toronto’s Robert Sabato and Windsor’s Michal Chlumecky are prepared to give the local fans a good show.  The Cooper Tires Prototype Lites will run a doubleheader at Mosport.

The country’s top sedan road-racing series, the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship, will make its third and final stop of 2011 at Mosport, boasting a field of more than 30 cars, competing in two distinct classes, Touring and Super Touring. This will be a doubleheader weekend for the Championship.  In the Super Touring class, Richard Boake of King City, ON has won all four races at Mosport this year but holds just a 10-point lead over Amherstburg’s Dean Fantin.  Markham native Tom Kwok holds a 17 point advantage in the Touring class championship standings over his nearest competitor.

The Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear continues their season with round Six of 13.  Series rookie Jérimy Daniel of Montreal will be the lone Canadian running this weekend.

The U.S. based F2000 Championship Series returns to Mosport and will feature Quebec native and current point’s leader Remy Audette.

Mobil 1 presents The Grand Prix of Mosport features a wide-array of fun things away from the track for fans to see and do, such as Tech Talks, Driver Chats and autograph session with American Le Mans Series and other series’ drivers.  There will also be vendors selling authentic race-related merchandise.  The American Le Mans Series will also feature its famous Open Grid Walk on race day, giving fans an up-close, interactive experience with the teams and drivers on track just minutes prior to the drop of the green flag.

 

The action kicks-off on Thursday (July 21) with a full-day of testing for all series’ except the American Le Mans Series.  Friday (July 22) will see practice sessions for all supporting series’ and the American Le Mans Series will hold their testing.  Saturday’s (July 23) schedule starts with both practice and qualifying, followed by races for F2000, IMSA GT3 Cup, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada, Cooper Tires Lites and the Castrol Touring Car Championship.  Sunday (July 24) morning opens with more qualifying and then races in Star Mazda, Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada, Cooper Prototype Lites, Castrol Touring, IMSA GT3 Cup and the two-hour, 45 minute feature American Le Mans Series race to close out the weekend.

A four-day SuperTicket is just $70 until July 20 ($80 at the Gate).  Each ticket includes parking, access to the race team paddock, Mosport Expo and Marketplace and admission to Mosport Speedway’s Saturday Night Stock Car racing, located on the grounds.  As with all Mosport events, children 12 and under are admitted for free when accompanied by a paid adult admission.  Single day tickets are also available.

Family and general camping areas are available.  An advanced general camping pass is just $45 for the weekend when purchased before July 20 (tents or pop-up trailers).  Advance RV passes are $65.  There are full-service washrooms and located on the Mosport grounds.

For the spectators that like to get closer to the action, the Grand Prix Club offers a VIP hospitality package which includes a fully catered BBQ lunch, beverages and bar service (beer and wine) on Sunday.  The GP Club Chalet tent is located trackside overlooking the start/finish straight and corner one.  Passes are just $200 and are also good for admission to the event on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

For more information and to purchase tickets call the Mosport Hotline at 1-800-866-1072 (Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm ET), visit online at www.mosport.com, or email info@mosport.com

 

© RIF