Scott Hargrove earned his sixth victory of the 2015 Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin season, while Chris Green, Marco Cirone and Orey Fidani edged closer to season championships in an incident-filled Round 9 on Saturday, Aug. 29 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
Reigning Platinum Cup champion Hargrove, from Surrey, British Columbia, has won five consecutive rounds in the No. 25 OpenRoad Racing Porsche and six of his seven starts this season. Hargrove, 20, did not participate in the opening two rounds of the season on Victoria Day Weekend in May at CTMP.
Hargrove remains in third in the Platinum Cup championship race, 16 points behind leader Green and nine behind Daniel Morad.
The 45-minute race featured just 15 minutes of green-flag racing due to two incidents that triggered long caution periods. Hargrove and the field finished under caution on the 10-turn, 3.957-km (2.459 miles) circuit.
“It’s just too bad we didn’t get more green-flag laps, but still, this car, we were able to walk away when it was green,” Hargrove said. “I’m just super, super happy with the OpenRoad Porsche. So hopefully tomorrow we’ll get to stretch the legs a little more and win by a bigger gap.”
Morad, from Thornhill, Ontario, finished second in the No. 22 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports Porsche. Marco Cirone, from Toronto, finished third in the No. 88 Mark Motors Racing Porsche.
Green, from Montreal, stayed on track for his first series championship despite finishing fourth in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. It was his first finish outside of the top three in a season of remarkable consistency.
Michael de Quesada, from Odessa, Florida, kept his Gold Cup championship hopes alive by winning that class and rounding out the top five overall finishers in the No. 24 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry.
The season-ending Round 10, a 45-minute race, starts at 4:15 p.m. (ET) Sunday.
Green’s lead over Morad slimmed to seven points, 154-147. Green must finish fourth or better Sunday to clinch his first Platinum Cup title.
Cirone extended his Platinum Masters points lead to 14 points, 176-162, over Tim Sanderson as he attempts to earn his third consecutive season championship in the class. Cirone needs to start the race Sunday to clinch the title.
Orey Fidani, from Woodbridge, Ontario, leads fellow series rookie de Quesada by six points, 154-148, for the Gold Cup championship entering the final Sunday. He must finish at least third to earn his first title.
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| Scott Hargrove drove to his sixth victory of the season Saturday at CTMP. |
Hargrove started from pole and never trailed in the race. The first caution period was triggered by a two-car incident at the end of the first lap between Gold Cup competitors Shaun McKaigue and Carlos de Quesada.
McKaigue, from Gilford, Ontario, spun in his No. 34 Fiorano Racing Porsche in Turn 10. De Quesada, from Odessa, Florida, trailed McKaigue and collided with his car in the No. 48 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry. Both drivers were eliminated from the race in the incident but were released from the infield care center without injury.
Hargrove wasted no time pulling away from Morad on the restart with 19 minutes remaining. He built a lead of .936 of a second on the first lap, a gap that expanded to 2.361 seconds just four laps later.
“Scott drove a really great race and controlled the whole way through,” Morad said. “On the restart after the long caution, I thought he was going to bin it. If he doesn’t want to continue in GT3 Cup, he’d be a suitable fit for D1 drifting.”
Cirone, who started third, earned his first overall podium finish since the opening weekend of the season in mid-May at CTMP by resisting intense pressure from Green during nearly all of the green-flag action. Green started fourth and pulled to within a length of Cirone numerous times during the race but couldn’t find an opening.
“The little time that we raced, I was getting a lot of pressure from Chris Green, and I had to defend,” Cirone said. “I think I did that well. We’re both in the hunt for a championship, so we didn’t want to do anything stupid. At the same time, I wanted a podium finish, as well. So I’m glad everything worked out well.”
The final caution period came with six minutes left.
2014 Gold Cup champion Sanderson, from Pickering, Ontario, held fifth place in a stern duel with rookie Harry Steenbakkers. But Sanderson careened off course in Turn 3 and nosed into the tire barrier with his No. 07 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports after contact from behind from Steenbakkers’ No. 78 Mark Motors Racing Porsche.
Sanderson was unhurt. Steenbakkers was penalized one lap for incident responsibility and credited with ninth place.
The race ended under a full-course yellow.
Platinum Masters
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| Platinum Masters podium finishers (from left): Chuck Harris, Marco Cirone, Keith Bass |
Cirone earned his seventh Platinum Masters victory in nine starts this season, nearing the finish line for a third consecutive class championship.
Chuck Harris, from Tampa, Florida, placed second in the No. 50 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports Porsche for his best finish of the season. Harris won the Silver Cup title in 2014 before climbing to Platinum Masters this season.
Harris’ Tampa neighbor, Keith Bass, placed third in the No. 28 SB Racing Porsche. It was his third podium finish of the season.
Cirone started third and kept a steady gap over Sanderson before Sanderson’s race-ending incident. That margin let Cirone focus on holding off Green for an overall podium finish and also gain ground on Morad, who was running second overall.
“I was starting to creep up on Daniel, but obviously not a lot of time left,” Cirone said. “I’m just thankful to the team. Thank you so much to Mark Motors Racing.”
Gold Cup
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| Gold Cup podium finishers (from left): Orey Fidani, Michael de Quesada, Andrew Gucciardi |
De Quesada continued his summer charge with his fifth consecutive victory in the class in the No. 24 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry. He is unbeaten since earning his first career series victory in early July at Calabogie Motorsports Park.
Series rookie de Quesada, 15, started from pole and avoided the incident that involved his father and McKaigue. He then kept Fidani at bay for the rest of the green-flag racing.
“Everything was good,” de Quesada said. “It was disappointing that my dad and Shaun had that run-in. I’m happy I didn’t run into that because it was quite close. Good job to Orey. He did good. He didn’t get into any trouble. Good job to everyone on the team, everybody out there.”
Fidani placed second in the No. 13 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche, his seventh podium finish of the season. He steered clear of the incident between McKaigue and Carlos de Quesada and overcame a vibration to reduce Michael de Quesada’s points gain.
“I think I had too much pick-up on my left tires,” Fidani said. “I had a serious vibration when I would make left-hand turns. So I know if I hold my position and pull off a third tomorrow, I’m good for the championship, so I just figured I would hold my position.”
Andrew Gucciardi, from Woodbridge, Ontario, finished third in the No. 71 Gammat Racing Porsche to earn a podium finish in his series debut.
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.
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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