37-CAR ENTRY LIST FOR AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES GRAND PRIX AT MOSPORT
COULD PRODUCE RECORD LINEUP AT 38-YEAR-OLD TRACK

INDIANAPOLIS , June 22, 1999 - The 37-car entry list for Sunday's American Le Mans Series Grand Prix at Mosport could produce a record field at the 38-year-old Mosport International Raceway facility.

According to research by Steve Schuler of Auto Racing Analysis and Mosport track historian Bob Brockington, if all the entries start, they'll tie the mark of 37 in the 1966 Player's 200, the largest Mosport
field for a non-24-hour major race.

The field could also exceed the SPORTS CAR mark of 33 for a GT event set in 1981, when the organization was known as the International Motor Sports Association.

The largest number of starters for a Can-Am event was 28 in 1970. The largest for a Trans Am event was 35 in 1981. The largest for a Sports Car World Championship event was 23 in 1977. The 1963 Canadian Grand
Prix had 34 starters.

The 1991 Toronto Star Wheels 24-hour race had 60 starters, the most of any race in track history.

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The return to racing of 1985 Indianapolis 500 winner Danny Sullivan at Mosport takes him back to another era of his career.

Sullivan raced in four Can-Am events at Mosport in the early '80s and qualified for another but did not start. In 1981, he started fourth and finished third in June and started fifth and finished seventh in September. In 1982, he started third and finished second in both Mosport Can-Ams, getting the runner-up spot to Al Unser Jr., both times. Although he didn't post a victory in the Toronto CART races, Sullivan had a formidable record in the Canadian event. He made eight starts, got poles in 1988 and 1990, finished second in 1986, 1987 and 1988 and third in 1989, 1992 and 1993.

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The Mosport entry list shows a wide array of driver experience. There are three overall Le Mans winners: Hans Stuck (1986, 1987), AndyWallace (1988) and Allan McNish (1998).

There are nine Formula One veterans: Stuck (74 races contested), Erik Comas (59), Alex Caffi (56), Eric Bernard (45), Karl Wendlinger (41), Jan Magnussen (18), Sullivan (15), Olivier Beretta (10) and Mimmo
Schiattarella (7).

There are three Indianapolis 500 veterans: Sullivan, Johnny O'Connell and Didier Theys.

There are six overall Sebring 12 Hours winners: O'Connell (1994), Wayne Taylor (1996), Wallace (1992, 1993), Theys (1998), John Morton (1994) and Stuck (1975, 1996, 1998).

There are four CART veterans of the Toronto round of the series: Sullivan, Canada's Ross Bentley, Schiattarella and Theys. Morton, another CART veteran, has not raced in that group's Toronto event.

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Elliott Forbes-Robinson, the current American Le Mans Series driver point leader, returns to Mosport in the 25th anniversary year of his first Mosport win, a Super Vee victory in 1974. He also won a Pro
Atlantic race in 1975 at Mosport and a World Challenge event in 1993.

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Thierry Boutsen of Monaco, who suffered a fractured vertebra in a crash at Le Mans, announced his retirement from racing Tuesday at a Paris hospital, according to Porsche Racing spokesman Chris Dirato.

Boutsen was scheduled to be be paired with McNish in the Champion Porsche at Mosport. Ralf Kelleners of Germany has been officially substituted as McNish's co-driver.

Boutsen, 41, had 163 Formula One starts with three wins and 15 podium finishes.

In another substitution, French Formula One veteran Erik Comas of Santa Barbara, Calif., has replaced the injured Eric van de Poele in the Team Rafanelli entry that won the Grand Prix at Road Atlanta in April.

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Anthony Lazzaro, the Kool/Toyota Atlantic point leader with two wins in five races, has been named to join Jim Matthews in the Doran/Matthews Ferrari 333SP for the Mosport round.

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A look at other competitors' records at Mosport: Toronto's Scott Maxwell won the 1992 Canadian Firehawk 2 Hours and 24 Hours events and a CERRC sports race in 1993.

Butch Leitzinger, currently second in American Le Mans Series driver points, posted overall SPORTS CAR victories in 1996 and 1998. James Weaver did the same in 1996 and 1998.

Wallace posted an overall win in 1995 and a GT1 triumph in 1998. Peter Cunningham has four victories - 1988 and 1989 U.S. Endurance Championship and 1990 and 1991 World Challenge 24 Hours.

Stuck won the 1985 FIA Sports Car World Championship round in the year that he set the existing track record of with a time of 1:09.775 and average speed of 126.87 miles an hour in a Porsche 962.

Other entrants with wins at Mosport include Bentley (1998 GTS), David Brabham (1998 GT1), Morton (1980 GT, 1983 GT1), Andy Pilgrim (1990 World Challenge, 1997 GT1, 1998 SS GS), Mark Simo (1998 GT), Terry Borcheller (1998 SS GS) and Mike Davies (1997 Sports Toyota).

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Media Contacts: Jan Shaffer, American Le Mans Series, (317) 388-8745,
email jan@shaffercommunications.com
Glenn Butt, Mosport International Raceway, (905) 983-9141, email
mosport@idirect.com