Mosport, Canada 2nd September 2006

The qualifying grid for the 10th round of the Speed World GT Challenge race here in Mosport Canada was thrown into complete disarray due to the arrival of very heavy rainfall, courtesy of tropical storm Ernesto. What promised to be a battle between the championship front runners turned out to be a romp for the only four wheel drive car in the field.

The two Aston Martin DBRS9s of Autosport Designs Racing had to contend with a myriad of problems during practice, including a broken half shaft, issues with a clutch master cylinder and a leaking differential, all of which meant that the team worked into the early hours of the morning in order to have both cars ready for qualifying. Qualifying was hampered by spotty rain showers which saw most drivers completing no more than four fast laps. Johnny Mowlem put the 44 car twelfth on the grid, while Tom Papadopoulos took the fifteenth spot for car 43.

Race day loomed dark and miserable with not a sign of any let up in the constant, driving rain. As the flag dropped and the field took off in what seemed to be one large rooster tail, Tom Papadopoulos (43) had by gotten by his team mate into tenth place and, despite a spin toward the end of second lap to avoid contact between two other racers, he recovered to finish seventh overall having lapped a good number of his fellow competitors in the process. Johnny Mowlem (44), despite going off track and gently brushing the tire wall in order to avoid two cars spinning in front of him necessitating a visit to the pits and re-joining the race thirty five seconds behind everyone else, drove thru the field to finish a very creditable eleventh overall.

This race was a first for the Autosport Designs Racing team, in that both cars finished the race in very difficult conditions and continue to become more competitive. Tom Papadopoulos, team principal and driver said “I am very happy the way the car performed in these terrible conditions and I feel that we have taken another step forward. We look forward to Road Atlanta where we hope another creditable finish for both team cars. Johnny Mowlem said “a good overall team result in very tough race conditions. Tom drove a great race and I believe Tom and I should be in the running for a top five finish in the upcoming races”.