The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada series made its debut in 2011.
The championship is one of twenty-three similar GT3 Cup series contested throughout the world.
The Canadian GT3 Cup events receive support from Ultra 94 fuel and Yokohama tires.
Drivers compete in one of two classes:
- Platinum Cup – This is for the 2017-18 models of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car.
The GT3 Cup Porsche is based on the 911 street version.
- Gold Cup – Older (2014 - 2016) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars compete in this category.
The 2018 season kicked-off in March when Canadian competitors completed with their American counterparts at Sebring, Florida.
This event was followed by races on the Victoria Day Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The series then visited two prestigious venues – Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the Toronto Indy.
The penultimate round was at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres in early August and the season finale was the
championship’s second visit to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The final rounds of the 2018 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada championship were contested on Canadian
Tire Motorsport Park’s 2.459-mile ten-turn road course.
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A field of thirteen Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada competitors enters Moss corner during the first lap of the penultimate round.
As expected, the pole-sitter and points leader, Zacharie Robichon driving the Mark Motors Racing sponsored Porsche leads the way.
Behind Robichon is the second-place starter and his teammate, Roman DeAngelis.
Trailing DeAngelis are Remo Ruscitti and Michael Di Meo.
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What a season for Zacharie Robichon – other than the first race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, he was victorious at every Canadian event.
Robichon entered the final two contests at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with a comfortable 38-point lead in the championship.
On Saturday and Sunday, his title hopes were never in jeopardy – both days he started on the pole and led flag-to-flag.
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The only threat to Zacharie Robichon’s title hopes was his teammate, Roman DeAngelis.
The Mark Motors Racing driver was able to beat Robichon at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve but the remainder
of his season was a series of runner-up finishes – only once did he not finish on the podium.
It was business as usual in the final rounds at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park – another pair of second-place finishes to end 2018.
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Remo Ruscitti spins in corner one at the start of the season’s final race.
Ruscitti in the OpenRoad Racing-prepared Porsche qualified second quickest but the mistake dropped him down the order.
He spent the next forty-five minutes attempting to catch the leaders and ended his day sixth place.
The previous day, Ruscitti fared much better, he started and finished third.
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Under less threatening skies, the field of thirteen starters heads in to corner one for the last race of the 2018 season.
Leading the charge into the first turn as it has been for most of the season is the pole-sitter, Zacharie Robichon.
Immediately behind Robichon is the second fastest qualifier, Remo Ruscitti who will lose the position by the exit of the corner.
Trailing Ruscitti are Roman DeAngelis and Michael Di Meo.
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Marco Cirone won the Gold class both days and on Sunday earned the Yokohama Hard Charger Award for gaining the most positions during the race.
Four victories during the season tied Cirone with Michel Bonnet for the class championship.
To break the tie, the title was given to the driver who was the first to achieve the best result -
that was Bonnet who scored a class victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in June.
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Policaro Motorsport had three entries in the season finale.
Quickest of the three Porsches was the No. 35 driven by Michael Di Meo.
Di Meo did not participate in the Sebring or Trois-Rivieres events.
Prior to the final weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, his best result was a third.
He would repeat this performance in round twelve on Sunday.
The previous day, started and finished fourth.
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Another driver racing a Policaro Motorsport prepared Porsche GT3 Cup was Jeff Kingsley.
The rookie, Kingsley had spent the previous season competing in the Canadian Touring Car Championship driving a BMW M235iR.
After a string of sixth place finishes in the GT3 Cup series, he captured a fourth at the Toronto Indy.
Kingsley matched this result in the final race of the season. On Saturday, he had a fifth-place finish.
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FINISH | CLASS | DRIVER | SPONSOR / CAR | LAPS | RETIREMENTS
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1 | Platinum | Zacharie Robichon | Mark Motors Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 26 | -
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2 | Platinum | Roman DeAngelis | Mark Motors Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 26 | -
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3 | Platinum | Remo Ruscitti | OpenRoad Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 26 | -
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4 | Platinum | Michael Di Meo | POLICARO MOTORSPORT - Porsche 991 / 2018 | 26 | -
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5 | Platinum | Jeff Kingsley | POLICARO MOTORSPORT - Porsche 991 / 2018 | 26 | -
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6 | Platinum | Patrick Dussault | Lauzon Autosport - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 26 | -
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7 | Gold | Marco Cirone | Mark Motors Racing - Porsche 991 / 2014 | 26 | -
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8 | Platinum | Perry Bortolotti | Mark Motors Racing - Porsche 991 / 2018 | 26 | -
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9 | Platinum | Max Tullman | Tullman Walker Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 26 | -
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10 | Gold | Ilker Starck | POLICARO MOTORSPORT - Porsche 991 / 2015 | 25 | -
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11 | Platinum | Martin Harvey | Wingho Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 25 | -
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12 | Platinum | Stefan Rzadzinski | Speedstar Motorsport - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 25 | -
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13 | Platinum | Michael Fantin | Fanco Motorsports Inc. - Porsche 991 / 2018 | 25 | -
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FINISH | CLASS | DRIVER | SPONSOR / CAR | LAPS | RETIREMENTS
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1 | Platinum | Zacharie Robichon | Mark Motors Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 34 | -
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2 | Platinum | Roman DeAngelis | Mark Motors Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 34 | -
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3 | Platinum | Michael Di Meo | POLICARO MOTORSPORT - Porsche 991 / 2018 | 34 | -
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4 | Platinum | Jeff Kingsley | POLICARO MOTORSPORT - Porsche 991 / 2018 | 34 | -
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5 | Platinum | Patrick Dussault | Lauzon Autosport - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 34 | -
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6 | Platinum | Remo Ruscitti | OpenRoad Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 34 | -
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7 | Platinum | Stefan Rzadzinski | Speedstar Motorsport - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 34 | -
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8 | Gold | Marco Cirone | Mark Motors Racing - Porsche 991 / 2014 | 34 | -
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9 | Platinum | Perry Bortolotti | Mark Motors Racing - Porsche 991 / 2018 | 34 | -
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10 | Platinum | Michael Fantin | Fanco Motorsports Inc. - Porsche 991 / 2018 | 34 | -
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11 | Platinum | Martin Harvey | Wingho Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 33 | -
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12 | Gold | Ilker Starck | POLICARO MOTORSPORT - Porsche 991 / 2015 | 33 | -
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13 | Platinum | Max Tullman | Tullman Walker Racing - Porsche 991 / 2017 | 30 | -
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