The thrones in two of the three classes of the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin are empty and waiting to be filled in the 10-round season that stretches from mid-May to late August at four Canadian venues. The season starts May 15-17 with Rounds 1 and 2 during the Victoria Day SpeedFest Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP).
Round 1 will start at 2:45 p.m. (ET) Saturday, May 16 on the fearsome, fast, 10-turn, 2.459-mile circuit at CTMP. Round 2 will start at 10:55 a.m. Sunday, May 17. Both races are 45 minutes.
Practice and qualifying take place Friday, May 15, the first day of competition on this popular holiday weekend of racing at one of Canada’s most iconic circuits.
The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin enters its fifth season in 2015 ready to produce more intense, exciting competition for semi-professional and aspiring professional drivers in the world’s most produced and iconic race car, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned championship is one of 20 global Porsche single-make Cup Racing series and is the perfect platform for aspiring drivers to ascend to the highest levels of GT competition, such as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
Racing is divided into two classes – Platinum Cup, featuring the 2014 and 2015 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, which is based on the seventh, and current, generation of the street car; and Gold Cup, which is comprised of the previous iteration (model years 2010-2013) of the race car. A Masters Championship also is conducted in the Platinum class. Each class is awarded with its own podium at the end of every race and individual champion at the end of every season. Points are awarded by finish in class.
Both the Platinum Cup and Gold Cup driver titles are vacant entering the 2015 season.
Young Canadian star Scott Hargrove added to his impressive resume by winning the Platinum Cup championship last season in an OpenRoad Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, starting his season with a sweep of both Victoria Day Weekend races at CTMP. Last year’s Gold Cup champion, Tim Sanderson, is climbing to Platinum Cup this season.
Veteran Chris Green is the leading contender to earn his first Platinum Cup Drivers Championship, with Toronto-area team Pfaff Motorsports. Green, from Montreal, finished second in the Platinum Cup standings in 2013 and 2014. He won two races last year in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche, which he also will drive this season.
Two-time reigning Platinum Masters champion Marco Cirone could be Green’s top rival. Cirone, from Toronto, returns to Ottawa-based Mark Motors Racing for the third consecutive season after finishing fourth overall in the championship in 2014. He will be joined this season in Platinum Cup by rookie Harry Steenbakkers, from Ottawa, who replaces veteran Perry Bortolotti in the Mark Motors team.
Sanderson held off a competitive field to win the Gold Cup championship last season by just two points over Jerimy Daniel. Sanderson, from Pickering, Ontario, is stepping up to the Platinum Cup in 2015 with Northwest Atlantic Motor Sports and will be a strong challenger for overall podium finishes and to Cirone in Platinum Masters.
Etienne Borgeat, from Montreal, returns in Platinum Cup with Quebec-based GT Racing. Series veteran Borgeat scored his only podium finish last season by placing third in Round 1 during the Victoria Day SpeedFest.
2012 Gold Cup champion Carlos De Quesada, from Odessa, Florida, pushed Cirone all the way to the finish in Platinum Masters last season before finishing runner-up and aims for the title this year in his Alegra Motorsports entry.
Sanderson isn’t the only driver climbing into Platinum Masters from other classes. Keith Bass, from Tampa, Florida, is making the jump in an SB Racing entry after finishing second in the Silver Cup class in 2014.
Antony Validzic, from Port Hope, Ontario, is a newcomer to the series. He will race in the Platinum Cup in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car fielded by RS Motorsport.
Daniel, from Candiac, Quebec, is the leading returning driver in Gold Cup after winning a class-high six races last season. He will continue with his family-owned TRC Racing Porsche.
Three new drivers to the series should push Daniel starting at CTMP.
Brazil native Bruno Chapinotti, now living in Toronto, is racing in Gold Cup for SpeedStar Motorsports. Chapinotti, 34, returned to racing in F1600 open-wheel competition last season in Canada after a long hiatus. During his childhood, he was a Brazilian karting champion who raced against and defeated future open-wheel stars such as Felipe Massa, Bruno Senna, Nelson Piquet Jr., Cristiano da Matta, Antonio Pizzonia and Raphael Matos.
Michael De Quesada, the 15-year-old son of Platinum Masters standout Carlos De Quesada, will compete in the Gold Cup class as a rookie with Alegra Motorsports.
Orey Fidani, from Woodbridge, Ontario, will make his Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin debut in Gold Cup with the powerful Pfaff Motorsports team as a teammate to Platinum Cup star Green.
Gold Cup veteran Martin Harvey, from Berthierville, Quebec, will start his fifth season in the series in his Wingho Racing entry. Harvey and Cirone are the two drivers in the field this weekend who were on the grid for the very first Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin event in May 2011 at Calabogie Motorsports Park.
Schedule
Practice: 10:35-11:20 a.m. (ET), Friday, May 15
Qualifying: 3:45-4:15 p.m. Friday, May 15
Round 1 (45 minutes): 2:45-3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 16
Round 2 (45 minutes): 10:55-11:40 a.m. Sunday, May 17
Race Coverage
Live timing: All on-track sessions at scoring.imsa.com
Twitter: Live text commentary from all sessions at @IMSALive
For more information about Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin, visit www.imsa.com, follow hashtag #GT3CAN @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.
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