The 2017 season for the IMSA Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama kicks off its seventh season May 19-21 as part of the Castrol Presents the Victoria Day SpeedFest Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) in Bowmanville, Ontario.
The race weekend features two races, one Saturday, May 20 and one Sunday, May 21, each 45 minutes long, on the 2.459-mile (3.96 kilometer), 10-turn road course. The races will be preceded by two practice sessions on Friday, May 19 with qualifying taking place Saturday morning.
Series competition is divided into two classes: There’s Platinum Cup, featuring the all-new 2017 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, which is based on the current 911 street car; Gold Cup, which is comprised of the previous iteration (model years 2014-2016) of the race car. A Masters championship, for drivers 45 and over, is also contested within the Platinum Cup class.
There are plenty of contenders who will be fighting for the 2017 crown, including 2014 champion and 2016 runner-up Scott Hargrove, who already notched a win this year at the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA season opener at Sebring International Raceway.
Hargrove, who came up just five points shy in the championship chase last year, will be part of a four-car effort from Toronto-based Pfaff Motorsports, a veteran team with a history of success.
“It’s important to align yourself with like-minded people who are goal-oriented, and the group at Pfaff Motorsports is a perfect fit,” said Hargrove. “They want to win as much as I do.”
Hargrove, of Tsawwassen, British Columbia, will be driving the Castrol/Pfaff Porsche No. 9 entry in the Platinum Cup class.
Hargrove will be joined by Shawn McKaigue of Gilford, Ontario, in the FER-Pal No. 34 car of Pfaff Motorsports, as McKaigue moves to the Platinum Cup class from the Gold Cup class, where he was the 2016 champion.
The 2015 champion in the Gold Cup class, Orey Fidani of Woodbridge, Ontario, will be seeking another crown in the Pfaff Motorsports/Orlando Corporation No. 13. The fourth Porsche in the Pfaff stable will be driven by Ed Killeen of Buffalo, N.Y., moving up from the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport ranks. Killeen will be driving the No. 37 Life Storage car.
Like Pfaff Motorsports, Mark Motors Racing has multiple entries for the CTMP weekend. Zacharie Robichon of Ottawa, Ontario seeks to improve on his third-place finish in the Platinum Cup class championship in 2016, and he’s coming off a win in the final race of the season in his No. 98 GT3 Cup car.
Marco Cirone of Toronto is Robichon’s teammate in the Mark stables – he finished fourth in the 2016 Platinum Cup class standings, and will be looking to move up in his No. 88. Roman de Angelis of Belle River, Ontario, driving the Mark Motors No. 78, hopes to challenge Pfaff’s Fidani for Gold Cup class honors.
Alegra Motorsports, which fielded Daniel Morad’s championship-winning Platinum Cup class entry in 2016, is back with the No. 31 Insync entry for teenager Michael de Quesada of Tampa, Fla. Michael raced in several Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada events last year with his father, Carlos. And both were on the Rolex 24 At Daytona championship-winning Porsche team in the GT Daytona class last January, along with Morad.
Returning series veterans Tim Sanderson, from Pickering, Ontario, will be racing the DFC Motorsport-Speedstar Motorsport No. 07, and Martin Harvey of Berthierville, Quebec, will be competing in the Wingho Racing No. 08.
New to the series, and also worth watching in the Platinum Cup class: Pieter Baljet of Duncan, B.C., in the Porsche Center Victoria No. 15; Remo Ruscitti of Vancouver, B.C, in the No. 69 OpenRoad Racing Porsche; Maxwell Tullman of Chester Springs, Penn., in the Tullman Walker Racing No. 83, and Patrick Dussault of Montreal in the Lauzon Autosport-GT Racing No. 77. Also in a GT Racing entry: Etienne Borgeat of Montreal in the No. 2.
Another American racer, Neal Walker of Phoenixville, Pa., will be a teammate to Tullman in the No. 71 Tullman Walker Racing entry. This is the first season of Canadian competition for the Tullman Walker team who have contested several Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA events.
The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama produces 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 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 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
CTMP is the only circuit that hosts two event weekends for the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama. The final two rounds of the 12-round series take place during the Chevrolet Silverado 250 weekend on Sept. 1-3. The series also races in Montreal; Watkins Glen, N.Y.; Toronto and Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
For more information about the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama, visit www.imsa.com, and follow hashtag #GT3CAN at @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.
Schedule:
Practice: 8:55 – 9:25 a.m. (EDT) and 2:10 – 2:50 p.m. Friday, May 19
Qualifying: 9:00 – 9:20 a.m. Saturday, May 20
Round 1 (45 minutes): 3:00 – 3:45 p.m. Saturday, May 20
Round 2 (45 minutes): 11:25 – 12:10 p.m. Sunday, May 21
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.
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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