HISTORY Grand Prix of July 6,7 & 8, 2007

The streets of played host to the Castrol Canadian Touring Car Championship's marquee event, the Steelback . Team 6thGear arrived with the freshly painted 115 Corvette, and a new project race car, a 2001 Corvette previously raced in the SCCA's stock T1 category. Roberto and Marco would face distinctly different challenges behind the wheel: at the sharp end of the grid, Roberto would vie for the overall win in the white number 115, while Marco would wheel the new and underdeveloped number 55.

The decision paid immediate dividends: after only a single practice session to get familiar with the Lakeshore , Roberto qualified on top of the 50-car field. Rob's flying lap averaged over 125kph, clocking in nearly two seconds a lap clear of the second-placed Sequence Garage Nissan. Four rows back, Marco had hustled the Red number 55 around to a top-ten starting spot, on a course favouring the more nimble Super Touring cars over the big, powerful GT class machinery.

The team's rival Viper Competition Coupe of Majors and McGrath had crashed in a non- championship race the previous weekend, and was unable to make the Toronto weekend. Roberto's strategy was to control the pace ahead of his remaining competitors. True to plan, a measured and precise drive in Saturday's race 1 earned Rob a flawless flag-to-flag victory, his first win of the year. Battles were a bit tougher in the thick of the field: despite an impressive start, Marco's Corvette sustained a hit from behind during a full-course yellow. The resulting suspension damage would force the number 55 Corvette out of the race on lap 6.

Isolated thunderstorms were forecast for Sunday's race, sending 6thGear's supporting Strudwick crew scrambling for rain tires. The course alternated from wet to dry conditions with each passing hour, until the decision was finally made to start both cars on shaved dry-weather tires. With cars lined up in the previous race's finishing order, Roberto again led the field while Marco's DNF put him on the tail end. Roberto would lead all but three laps on the dry course for his second win of the season, fending off Sequence Garage's powerful and drifting Nissan. Meanwhile, eyes were on Marco's monumental charge through the field, passing 26 cars in 16 laps - ten of them on lap 1. Marco's 'Vette finished 13th overall in the 42 car field; 7th in the premier GT class. Despite falling victim to mid-pack contact, the debut of 6thGear Racing's second Corvette maximized the team's points advantage coming out of the weekend, thanks in no small part to the efforts of the Strudwick Motorsports crew.