David Tremblay looks to uphold Canadian honor in the GT ranks. (LAT photo) » More Photos

Canadians Tremblay, Dumoulin and Fellows Lead GT Teams

Tremblay and co-driver Nick Ham look to continue their upswing at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazdaspeed/Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8. With two poles and two victories in as many races (Brumos Porsche 250 and Porsche 250 at Barber), the duo is inching closer to GT point leaders Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards in the No. 07 Banner Racing Banner Engineering Pontiac GXP.R, with only 14 points separating the teams (292-278). The SpeedSource sister car, the Watkins Glen-winning No. 69 machine driven by Emil Assentato and Jeff Segal, looks to rebound from two straight 17th-place finishes.

After winning three races early in the season, Collins and Edwards have been off the podium in three straight events. They look for better results at Montreal, where they placed eighth last year despite running third on the final lap. The sister Banner car, the No. 06 Pontiac GXP.R that finished fifth here last year, is slated to be driven by team owner Leighton Reese and Canadian native Ron Fellows, who will also drive Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s Nationwide Series car in the Saturday race.

With one victory in 10 GT events in 2008, Porsche will be looking to return to the form that saw it win here last year and take three of the top four positions. Andy Lally, who teamed with RJ Valentine to win last year’s race, returns to lead four Porsche GT3s entered by TRG, which is seeking its first race victory since last year at Montreal. Lally will co-drive with Tim George Jr. in the No. 67 entry, while Valentine teams with Bryan Sellers in the No. 68 Porsche GT3. Also entered are the No. 65 TRG/Riegel Autosport Porsche GT3 driven by Craig Stanton and Canadian Hima Maher and the No. 66 TRG Porsche GT3 driven by Ted Ballou and Spencer Pumpelly.

Dirk Werner and Bryce Miller of the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 look to continue their hot streak, with two consecutive second-place finishes in the past two races. The pair also finished second in the 2007 Montreal 200. Leh Keen and Eric Lux of the No. 86 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche won at Mid-Ohio, and the team’s third car, the No. 88 Porsche, is slated to be driven by Toronto’s Dave Lacey and Steven Johnson.

The No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Stevenson Automotive Pontiac GXP.R team of Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell hope to capture a podium finish, which narrowly eluded them in the last contest at Barber. They are sitting first in number of podium finishes in GT for the season with six, and are tied for fifth in points with 265.

Blackforest Motorsports have two cars entered for this weekend’s competition with a lineup dominated by Canadians. The No. 15 Blackforest Motorsports Ford Mustang GT will be driven by Jean-Francois Dumoulin of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, and Tom Nastasi of Stamford, Conn. The No. 50 Mustang will seat drivers David Empringham and John Farano - both of Toronto.

Practice for the Montreal 200 begins at 12:30 p.m. ET Thursday. Qualifying begins at 1:15 p.m. ET Friday, with the 200-mile race (74 laps with a two hour time limit) taking the green flag at 4:21 p.m. ET.

RACE SPECS

- This is Round 11 for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16. The combined Daytona Prototype/GT race is two hours or 200 miles (74 laps), whichever comes first.

- The green flag for the race is scheduled to fly at 4:21 p.m. ET on Friday. The race will air same day delay on SPEED, beginning at 8 p.m. ET (Leigh Diffey - Play-by-Play; Dorsey Schroeder, Calvin Fish - Analysts; Brian Till, Chris Neville - Pit Reporters).

- All cars must make a mandatory pit stop prior to the 45-minute mark in the race, and each driver must complete 30 minutes of the race in order to earn points for their respective standings.

- 2007 Montreal race winners were Max Angelelli and Jan Magnussen (Daytona Prototypes), and Andy Lally and RJ Valentine (GT).

ROLEX SERIES WEEKEND SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES EASTERN)

- Thursday: Rolex Series Practice (12:30-1:30 p.m.); Rolex Series Practice (2-3 p.m.); Rolex Series Practice (3:30-4:30 p.m.); Rolex Series Practice (5-5:30 p.m.); Rolex Series Trueman/Akin Practice (5:30-6 p.m.)

- Friday: Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Qualifying (1:15-1:30 p.m.); Rolex Series GT Qualifying (1:35-1:50 p.m.); Montreal 200 (4:21 p.m.; 200 miles/74 laps/two- hour time limit).

2008 IN REVIEW

Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas hold a 60-point advantage (295-235) in the Daytona Prototype standings after six victories and second and third-place finishes in their first nine starts. They won the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the GAINSCO Grand Prix of Miami, the Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, the Brumos Porsche 250 and the Porsche 250 presented by Bradley Arant in the No. 01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley. In the Brumos Porsche 250, Pruett passed Gurney on the final lap to win the Brumos Porsche 250. Defending series champs Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty won the rain-soaked EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley. Marc Goossens and Jim Matthews won the Mexico City 250 in the No. 91 Bob Stallings/Riley-Matthews Motorsports Pontiac Riley, while Ryan Dalziel and Henri Zogaib earned their initial Daytona Prototype victories in the No. 2 SAMAX BMW Riley at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Consistency and nine top 10s - including three class victories this season - have No. 07 Banner Racing Pontiac GXP.R co-drivers Kelly Collins and Paul Edwards atop the GT point standings, 14 points (292-278) over their closest competitors, Rolex 24 At Daytona winners Sylvain Tremblay and Nick Ham in the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8. Overall, Tremblay and Ham have won three GT races this season. No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Pontiac GXP.R co-drivers Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis won two straight races this season, and No. 69 SpeedSource Mazda RX-8 drivers Jeff Segal, Emil Assentato and Nick Longhi won the Sahlen’s Six Hours. Eric Lux and Leh Keen drove the No. 87 Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 to the victory at Mid-Ohio.