By Kathleen Wong, UCR Vice President. Photos by Matthew Lam and Kathleen Wong (from July 2016 Provinz page 20)
Downtown Porsche/Pfaff Porsche/Porsche Centre Oakville Score Podium Wins!
The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama entered its sixth season in 2016. This International Motor Sports Association-sanctioned spec series is one of Porsche’s 20 global single-marque Cup Challenge series worldwide. The first of six Canadian series took place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (“CTMP” or previously known as Mosport) during the Victoria Day SpeedFest weekend May 20 to 22, 2016. The race was divided into three classes:
- Platinum Cup features 2014-2016 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Car, which is based on the seventh generation of the street car;
- Gold Cup features the previous iteration model years 2010-2013 GT3 Cup Car; and
- Silver Cup features the 2016 Cayman GT4 Clubsport, which is a state-of-the-art spec race car based on the Cayman GT4 street car.
Figure 1 captures the podium wins of teams sponsored by three Porsche dealerships in Ontario, and two long-time PCA-UCR (Porsche Club of America-Upper Canada Region) members. (Source: Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada website)
Daniel Morad’s No.17 Alegra Motorsports GT3 Cup (sponsored by Porsche Centre Oakville) won Race 1 on Saturday by .308 of a second over Scott Hargrove, who was 2014 Platinum Cup champion. Bruno Chapinotti’s No. 03 DFC Motorsport GT3 Cup (sponsored by Downtown Porsche) took the first and second place in the Gold Cup class in Race 2 and Race 1, respectively. Both Shaun McKaigue and Tim Sanderson are long-time UCR members and they ventured into performance driving via the UCR Drivers’ Education (“DE”) program. They both joined PCA Club Racing years later and eventually became season veterans in the semiprofessional GT3 Cup series. Shaun McKaigue No.34 Fiorano Racing GT3 Cup (sponsored by Fer-Pal Infrastructure/Auqa Pipe) took the first and second place in the Gold Cup class in Race 1 and Race 2, respectively. Tim Sanderson was the 2014 Gold Class champion and he is currently the Co-Chief Instructor of UCR DE program.
The 2016 Pirelli World Challenge is the 27th running of the Sports Car Club of America’s World Challenge series. Round 5 of the series also took place during Victoria Day SpeedFest weekend at CTMP. There were eight classes with a total of 91 entries. Porsche competed in the following three classes:
- GT (Grand Touring) – Models include the Cadillac ATS V.R., Porsche 911 GT3 R, Ferrari 485 Italia, Nissan GTR GT3, McLaren 650S, Bentley Continental GT3, Acura TLX-GT, Audi R8, BMW Z4, Lamborghini and Mercedes-Benz AMG.
- GTA (Grand Touring Amateur) – This class debuted in 2014 and it recognizes amateur drivers that compete in the GT class.
- GT Cup – This spec class debuted in 2015 and it features Porsche 991 Cup Cars that are run as part of the GT Class races with a separate victory circle presentation alongside that of the GT/GTA class winners.
There were a total of 26 cars that competed in the GT-GTA-GT Cup races during the Victoria Day SpeedFest weekend.
Figure 2 captures the winner at each of the GT, GTA and GT Cup class. (Source: Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada website)
Patrick Long (North America’s only Porsche Factory Driver) led from “green-to-checkered flag” during Race 1 on Saturday, capturing the GT class pole position driving the No. 58 Porsche Consulting Porsche 911 GT3 R. His new teammate, Michael Schein did likewise in the GTA class piloting car No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R. Both Patrick Long and Michael Schein maintained the top spot during Race 2 on Sunday. Patrick Long’s best lap time over the weekend was 1.15.481 during the qualifying session!
Chris Green (2015 GT3 Cup Challenge Canada Champion) took the pole position for both races with his No. 09 Pfaff Motorsports 911 GT3 Cup. Unfortunately, a punctured left-rear tire caused by a carbon piece on the track cost him Race 1 on Saturday. However, Chris Green took the victory at Race 2 on Sunday.
Congratulations to Downtown Porsche, Pfaff Porsche and Porsche Centre Oakville for their great performance at the Victoria Day SpeedFest! For more pictures of 2016 Victoria Day SpeedFest, please see below link:
https://pcaucr.org/media/image-galleries/nggallery/all/Victoria-Day-Speedfest-at-CTMP_May-22-2016
