Skeer Clinches Platinum Cup Title After Dominant Round 15 Victory

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A special text message from a friend motivated Elliott Skeer to forget about the math and clinch the Platinum Cup Drivers Championship in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama in the most powerful way possible.

 
Skeer, from Carlsbad, California, led by 25 points over Jesse Lazare entering the final two rounds of the season in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned single-make series this weekend during Porsche Rennsport Reunion V at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. He only needed to lead by 21 points after Round 15 on Saturday, Sept. 26.
 
Instead, Skeer dominated the race, leading from start to finish in the No. 14 Wright Motorsports Porsche to pad his lead to 27 points over Lazare and clinch the Drivers Championship in his first year in the series.
 
The Wright Motorsports team salutes Elliott Skeer with the checkered flag in sight.

“There were the talks of ‘Oh, just survive this,’ ‘You need to finish here,'” Skeer said. “Actually, I got a text from (Porsche factory driver) Patrick Long a couple hours ago, and he said, ‘Just go win.’ The simplicity of it all, and I said: ‘OK. I’ll just go see if I can win.’ That was the motto going into it, and it paid off.

 
“Wow. Just relief, happiness, excitement – just every happy, positive emotion you can really feel.”
 
Lazare, from Montreal, placed second after finishing 4.992 seconds behind Skeer in the No. 21 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche. Angel Benitez Jr., from Miami, completed the podium finishers in the No. 05 JDX Racing Porsche.
 
2014 Platinum Cup champion Colin Thompson, from Doylestown, Pa., finished fourth in his first start of the season in the series in the No. 05 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche. Lucas Catania, from Cazenovia, New York, rounded out the top five in the No. 26 NGT Motorsport Porsche.
 
David Ducote, from Houston, edged two-time and reigning Platinum Masters champion Kasey Kuhlman in his first start of 2015 in the class after racing this entire season in Gold Cup.
 
Newly crowned Gold Cup and Gold Masters champion Jeff Mosing, from Austin, Texas, continued his dominance of those classes by winning both today on the circuit in Northern California that features the iconic “Corkscrew” turn complex.
 
Platinum Cup podium finishers (from left): Jesse Lazare, Elliott Skeer, Angel Benitez Jr.

Skeer, 21, pulled away from pole at the start and avoided all of the side-by-side contact that unfolded behind him in the tight first three corners of the 11-turn, 2.238-mile track. He built a 4.977-second lead over Lazare just 13 minutes into the race when the only full-course yellow of the race was triggered when Kurt Fazekas’ car was stuck in the gravel in Turn 3 after an incident.

 
Lazare, Benitez and Thompson lined up behind Skeer on the restart, hoping for an opening to drive through for the lead. Skeer never opened the door even a crack.
 
Skeer motored away on the restart and built a 2.552-second lead over Lazare with 20 minutes left in the 45-minute race. That lead inexorably grew over the closing laps, with Skeer in cruise control.
 
The victory was Skeer’s fifth of the season, tying him with Lazare and Benitez atop the Platinum Cup win list this season. But those statistics stood in the background for Skeer, who didn’t secure his drive in the championship until earning the IMSA Scholarship – an award also supported by Porsche and Yokohama – just a few weeks before the season started in March at Sebring International Raceway. Skeer’s road toward the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama started after he participated in the Porsche Young Driver Academy in October 2014.
“If you go back a year, I think it was 50 weeks ago this week, I think I still wasn’t sure what I was doing in 2015,” Skeer said. “There were still a lot of uncertainties, but it all came together.
 
“And if you had told me that a year later we would be at this point, I would be very, very surprised. Everything that has worked up to this point has all clicked, and I’m just so happy with it all, and there are so many people I have to thank. I’m humbled by the situation.”
 
Benitez faced pressure late in the race from 2014 Platinum Cup sparring partner Thompson, who raced in another Porsche GT3 Cup series this year. But he held his line and edged Thompson by .959 of a second at the finish.
 
Platinum Masters
 
Platinum Masters podium finishers (from left): Kasey Kuhlman, David Ducote, David Baker

Ducote returned to Platinum Masters for the first time since June 2014 at Watkins Glen, where his car was damaged in a heavy crash. He then switched to Gold Cup in August 2014 at Road America and has stayed in the class since then.

 
But his Gold Cup car was damaged during the last event, Sept. 16-18 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. So Ducote accepted the loan of a Platinum Cup car from Kelly-Moss Motorsports teammate Frank Selldorff and earned his first victory since capturing Gold Cup honors in Round 3 in mid-April at NOLA Motorsports Park.
 
“I figured I’d try it, and Kelly-Moss really prepared the car well, and I’m surprised at how well I have done,” Ducote said. “I’m happy with the result.
 
“It seems like I’m always in a battle with somebody. But Kasey is a great driver, and he raced clean.”
 
Ducote earned the victory after a race-long duel with Kuhlman, from Cincinnati, who clinched his second consecutive Platinum Masters championship last week at COTA. Ducote prevailed at the finish by just .301 of a second.
 
It was only the fifth time Kuhlman didn’t stand atop the Platinum Masters podium after a victory in the No. 15 Wright Motorsports Porsche. But he welcomed the competition from good friend Ducote.
 
Yokohama Hard Charger Award winner John Goetz

“It was fun racing with David,” Kuhlman said. “I’ve begged him all year to get back into his 991 (Platinum Cup) car because I know he’s a fast driver. He’s a good friend of mine, and we want to have fun on the track. Congratulations to him for winning today. He drove really well.”

 
David Baker, from Colleyville, Texas, finished third in the No. 56 TOPP Racing Porsche. It was his fifth podium finish of the season.
 
John Goetz, from Weston, Connecticut, earned the Yokohama Hard Charger Award. He finished 15th overall after starting 18th in the No. 18 Wright Motorsports Porsche.
 
Gold Cup/Gold Masters
 
Gold Cup/Gold Masters podium finishers (from left): Mark Llano, Jeff Mosing, Joe Catania

Mosing pulled away from the Gold Cup pole to earn his eighth Gold Cup and 11th Gold Masters victory in a season of domination.

 
Series veteran Mosing never has finished lower than second in either class through the first 15 rounds this season.
 
“I really like this track a lot,” Mosing said. “It’s a lot of fun, and there are a lot of elevation changes and the track really is demanding as far as working our crew chiefs over and trying to figure out a setup. We’re going to work on the setup for tomorrow and try to be a little bit more consistent, but even so, they gave me a good enough car to stay out front.
 
“Again, the big thing was just to avoid anything in the first lap of the race. We were able to do that and then just put our heads down and put some laps in.”
 
Mark Llano, from Wellington, Florida, finished second in both classes to continue his strongest season in the No. 22 NGT Motorsport Porsche. Llano padded his lead over Joe Catania for second place in Gold Cup and Gold Masters standings with his seventh Gold Cup and seventh Gold Masters podium finish of the season.
 
Catania, from Cazenovia, New York, finished third in both classes in the No. 24 NGT Motorsport Porsche. It was his third Gold Cup and sixth Gold Masters podium finish of the season.
 
“At this point of the year, the same guys, we always seem to be the same speed,” Catania said. “We know how to race together; we know how to play together. So we had a great race. A lot of challenging, but also a lot of respect.”
 
 
 
For more information about Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, visit www.gt3cupchallengeusa.com, follow hashtag #GT3USA @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.
Adam Sinclair
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