Hargrove Sweeps Trois-Rivières For Fifth Win In Six Starts This Season - Speedway Digest

Scott Hargrove delivered a long-distance birthday present to his father by winning Round 8 of the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin on Sunday, Aug. 2 at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières (GP3R), completing a weekend sweep of both races.

Hargrove’s father, Jim, celebrated his birthday Sunday at home in Surrey, British Columbia. Reigning Platinum Cup champion Scott Hargrove earned his fifth victory in six starts this season in the No. 25 OpenRoad Racing Porsche, driving away from the field to win by 15.760 seconds.

“You couldn’t ask for anything better than this,” Hargrove said. “And first off, I would like to say happy birthday to my dad. It’s his birthday today, and hopefully this is a good present for him this weekend. Just an incredible, incredible weekend, and I am so happy.

“The OpenRoad Porsche was amazing. My teammates at Mark Motors were phenomenal. I don’t really have words for what happened this weekend. Everything went perfectly, and I am just thankful for everyone, and especially the fans here. This is what we dream of when we think of a race weekend. The fireworks last night and the crowds today. I love it here. I wish I could race here every weekend.”

Daniel Morad, from Thornhill, Ontario, finished second in the No. 22 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry after another tough street fight with Platinum Cup championship leader Chris Green on the 10-turn, 2.433-km (1.5207 miles) temporary circuit.

Green, from Montreal, finished third in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche for the second consecutive day. Green is the only driver to finish on the podium in all eight rounds this season, and he carries an 11-point lead over Morad into the season-ending Rounds 9 and 10 on Aug. 28-30 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) in Bowmanville, Ontario.

Etienne Borgeat, from Montreal, placed fourth in the No. 2 GT Racing Porsche. Harry Steenbakkers, from Ottawa, rounded out the top five in the No. 78 Mark Motors Racing Porsche.

Tim Sanderson, from Pickering, Ontario, earned his second Platinum Masters victory of the season in the No. 05 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry. His 15-year-old teammate Michael de Quesada stretched his Gold Cup win streak to four consecutive rounds in the No. 24 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports car.

Scott Hargrove drove away from the field for his fifth win of the season.

Hargrove’s path to victory followed almost the exact blueprint as Saturday. He drove away from the field from pole, managing a gap of two to three seconds to Morad during the first half of the 45-minute race before pulling away through deft navigation of lapped traffic during the final 20 minutes.

The win vaulted Hargrove – who missed the first two rounds of the season in mid-May at CTMP – to third in the standings with 118 points, 22 behind leader Green.

Morad and Green raced hard for second place for the second consecutive day. Morad squeezed past Green in Turn 1 at the start, and the margin between the two main title contenders never grew to more than a second for the next 40 minutes.

Green tried to pass Morad for second in Turn 10, the final turn leading to the front straightaway, with five minutes remaining. The two cars made contact, bringing the large, passionate crowd to its feet.

But Morad held second and pulled away over the closing laps to take the checkered flag .544 of a second ahead of Green. The hard duel set the table for an intriguing, intense rivalry for the championship later this month at CTMP.

“Alegra and Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports gave me a good car again today,” Morad said. “It was solid even though I had quite a bit of contact from the rear from Chris Green. It was unfortunate because it was a great battle. He’s fighting for a championship, and I just don’t understand why he was fighting so hard. He tapped me in my left rear tire and my rear bumper and spun me halfway around in the last turn.

“But I managed to save it and came back on with a little bit of left rear suspension damage, but I managed to hold on to second in the end. Overall it was a good weekend and two second-place finishes, and we are getting closer in points. Now it’s going to go down to the wire in CTMP.”

Said Montreal native Green: “It’s really emotional for me to come home. To be on the podium twice is a real success for the Castrol/Pfaff Motorsports team. I think we had everything in place to be able to win this weekend, but you know what, this wasn’t my weekend. Sometimes it comes to us; sometimes it doesn’t.”

Platinum Masters

Platinum Masters podium finishers (from left): Marco Cirone, Tim Sanderson, Chuck Harris

Sanderson scored his second Platinum Masters victory of the season, trimming Marco Cirone’s points lead to 156-148 with two rounds remaining.

2014 Gold Cup champion Sanderson took the lead with 26 minutes left when Cirone spun in Turn 1 in his No. 88 Mark Motors Racing Porsche. Sanderson then drove away to a clean victory as the final car on the lead lap, finishing sixth overall.

“It was a good, smooth race,” Sanderson said. “The racing gods were with us a little bit today. Marco had a little spin there, and we were able to take advantage of it. I hate it when that happens because it can happen to any of us at any time. He’s a hell of a driver and a hell of a competitor.”

Two-time defending Platinum Masters champion Cirone, from Toronto, again was battling with Borgeat when he twice brushed the concrete walls lining the challenging circuit. The contact knocked the steering of his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup out of alignment, leading to the spin in Turn 1.

“It all went downhill from then on,” Cirone said. “My steering wheel was off, and the car was just a nightmare to drive after that. But it was all my fault. It’s great for Tim to finish in the No. 1 spot. He’s a great driver. He deserved it, and he drove well. It’s been a great event.”

Chuck Harris, from Tampa, Florida, finished third for the second consecutive day in the No. 50 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry. It the third podium finish of the season for 2014 Silver Cup champion Harris.

Gold Cup

Gold Cup podium finishers (from left): Shaun McKaigue, Michael de Quesada, Martin Harvey

De Quesada launched himself into the tight Gold Cup championship race with his fourth consecutive victory of the season. He climbed to second with 128 points, just eight behind leader Orey Fidani, with two rounds remaining at CTMP.

The two victories this weekend also cemented a place for de Quesada, 15, in the storied lore of GP3R. He is the youngest winner in any series in the 46-year history of the popular event, which started in 1967.

Pole sitter De Quesada lost the lead to Shaun McKaigue early in the race but then squeezed past McKaigue to seize first place in the class. He then gradually eased away from McKaigue despite a close call at one point.

“Shaun got ahead of me; he did a great job. I eventually got past him, and I just tried not to make any mistakes. Which I did; I just carried a little bit too much speed and had a small lockup and just grazed the wall. But I was fine, and I made it to the end of the race. I just tried my best to stay ahead.”

2011 Gold Cup champion McKaigue, from Gilford, Ontario, tied his best finish of the season by placing second in the No. 34 Fiorano Racing Porsche. This was McKaigue’s best event weekend of 2015, with two podium finishes. He placed third Saturday.

Martin Harvey, from nearby Berthierville, Quebec, earned a popular third-place finish in the No. 08 Wingho Motorsport Porsche. He rebounded from a challenging weekend that included a crash in qualifying and a fourth-place finish in Round 7 Saturday, nursing his car to the finish Sunday despite a gearbox problem.

“Yesterday was a very bad day for me because of the problem with the throttle, and today I started at the back of the field,” Harvey said. “But I finished third, and I am very, very happy. I finished third here at Trois-Rivières, which means a lot to me.”

Championship leader Fidani, from Woodbridge, Ontario, placed fourth in the No. 13 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche.

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.

Author
Recent Posts

Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
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.