2014 Exhibition Place Toronto - Porsche GT3 Challenge Cup Canada

This year’s Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin kicks off on the Victoria Day Speedfest Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Drivers will collect championship points during Saturday and Sunday’s forty-five-minute heat races. Each event on the 2014 calendar is a doubleheader race weekend. The series then travels to Calabogie Motorsports Park in mid-June for rounds three and four. Next on the schedule is the series most high-profile weekend when teams compete at Toronto’s Exhibition Place as a support event for the Honda Toronto Indy. This is followed by a trip to Quebec for the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres. Championships are decided during the final two races of the season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’s Chevrolet Silverado 250 Weekend.

Drivers score points towards one of three classes. There is also a Masters division for drivers 45-years of age and older.

Platinum Cup – This category is for the 2014 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup models. The GT3 Cup Porsche is based on the 911 street version.
Gold Cup – Older (2010 - 2013) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars compete in this division.
Silver Cup – This final group is for cars manufactured between 2005-1/2 -2009.

A 3.8-liter aluminum six-cylinder engine powers the current generation Porsche GT3 Cup. The motor produces 460-horsepower at 8,500-rpm and is fitted to a six-speed sequential transmission. Stopping the Porsche are aluminum six-piston calipers on the front – while the rear is equipped with four-piston calipers. The alloy rims on the front of the Porsche are 9.5J X 18 and use 24/64-18 Michelin tires. And, on the rear are 12J X 18 wheels with 30/68-18 tires. The GT3 Cup weighs just over 1,180-kg.

Rounds five and six of the 2014 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada were held at Toronto’s Exhibition Place as a support event for the Honda Toronto Indy. Competitors would race around the eleven turn 1.786-mile temporary street circuit in two forty-five-minute heat races. Due to rain delays on Saturday, the first contest of the weekend was reduced to thirty-nine-minutes.

The series points leader, Scott Hargrove, qualified second fastest for round five. In the race, Hargrove trailed Chris Green until Green spun and then he assumed the lead. Next, it was his turn to spin, allowing Spencer Pigot to take the point. Pigot encountered engine problems and Hargrove moved back into the lead for the win. On Sunday, he received a penalty for contact but still finished second.

After four rounds, Spencer Pigot was yet to find the top step of the podium. Pigot qualified third fastest for round five in Toronto driving the No. 21 Alegra Motorsports Porsche GT3 Cup. Early in race one, he trailed Chris Green and Scott Hargrove. When they spun, Pigot inherited the lead, but a broken belt forced him to retire. In the finale, his rivals, Hargrove and Green, encountered issues that allowed Pigot to grab the win.

After a dismal outing at Calabogie Motorsports Park, where he failed to finish both races, Jerimy Daniel lost the lead in the Gold Cup standings. Toronto would be an opportunity for Daniel and the team to redeem themselves. He started from the class pole in the first contest of the weekend and led flag-to-flag, despite a challenge from Tim Sanderson. The next day, Daniel scored his second win of the weekend.

Recording his best result of the season was the 2013 Platinum Cup Masters champion, Marco Cirone. Cirone driving the No. 88 Mark Motors Racing Porsche GT3 Cup, entered the Toronto rounds with three fourth-place finishes. He qualified sixth for race five and inherited a runner-up result when Chris Green and Spencer Pigot had issues. Unfortunately, Cirone crashed on the first lap of Sunday’s contest.

Making his series debut at Toronto was Mexico’s, Santiago Creel. Creel, who drove the No. 60 Wright Motorsports prepared Porsche GT3 Cup was a regular in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA. He was gridded fifth for Saturday’s event and benefitted from the problems facing the leaders to finish third. The next day, Creel started in the sixth position and crossed the finish line in the fifth spot.

After four rounds of the 2014 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada is was becoming apparent that the title contenders for the Gold Cup division would be Tim Sanderson and Jerimy Daniel. Sanderson driving the No. 07 Porsche GT3 Cup started, behind Daniel in Saturday’s contest and pressured him before finishing second in class. In the weekend’s final race, Sanderson trailed Daniel to the checkered flag.

The most enviable record in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada belonged to Silver Cup competitor Chuck Harris. The driver of the No. 50 Alegra Motorsports prepared Porsche GT3 Cup had four class victories in as many starts. At Toronto’s Exhibition Place, Harris was gridded eighteen for race one and finished sixteenth – good for another class victory. On Sunday, he kept his streak alive with another first-place result.

To date, Chris Green was the only driver to beat Scott Hargrove. Green won round three at Calabogie Motorsports Park. His weekend in Toronto started out well when he captured the pole for Saturday’s contest. Unfortunately, Green hit the turn eight wall on lap-6 and finished twelfth. Contact with Scott Hargrove in the final event took him out of contention but Green managed to salvage a third-place finish.

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR / SPONSOR	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	Platinum	Scott Hargrove	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Openroad - 6th Gear	27	-
2	Platinum	Marco Cirone	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Mark Motors Racing	27	-
3	Platinum	Santiago Creel	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Wright Motorsports	27	-
4	Platinum	Perry Bortolotti	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Mark Motors Racing	27	-
5	Gold	Jerimy Daniel	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / TRC	27	-
6	Gold	Tim Sanderson	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	27	-
7	Gold	Ilker Starck	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / SCB Racing	27	-
8	Gold	Martin Harvey	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Wingho Motorsport Racing	26	-
9	Platinum	Etienne Borgeat	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / GT Racing	26	-
10	Gold	Shaun McKaigue	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Fiorano Racing	26	-
11	Silver	Chuck Harris	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	26	-
12	Platinum	Chris Green	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Pfaff Motorsport	26	-
13	Platinum	Andre Belzile	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / GT Racing	25	-
14	Silver	Keith Bass	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	25	-
15	Platinum	Spencer Pigot	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	22	Did Not Finish
16	Platinum	Carlos De Quesada	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	0	Did Not Finish

FINISH	CLASS	DRIVER	CAR / SPONSOR/font>	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	Platinum	Spencer Pigot	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	32	-
2	Platinum	Scott Hargrove	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Openroad - 6th Gear	32	-
3	Platinum	Chris Green	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Pfaff Motorsport	32	-
4	Platinum	Carlos De Quesada	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	32	-
5	Platinum	Santiago Creel	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Wright Motorsports	32	-
6	Platinum	Perry Bortolotti	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Mark Motors Racing	32	-
7	Gold	Jerimy Daniel	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / TRC	32	-
8	Platinum	Etienne Borgeat	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / GT Racing	32	-
9	Gold	Tim Sanderson	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	32	-
10	Gold	Ilker Starck	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / SCB Racing	32	-
11	Silver	Chuck Harris	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	31	-
12	Silver	Keith Bass	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Alegra Motorsports	29	-
13	Gold	Shaun McKaigue	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Fiorano Racing	26	Did Not Finish
14	Platinum	Marco Cirone	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / Mark Motors Racing	0	Did Not Finish
15	Platinum	Andre Belzile	Porsche 991 GT3 Cup / GT Racing	0	Did Not Finish
16	Gold	Martin Harvey	Porsche 997 GT3 Cup / Wingho Motorsport Racing	0	Did Not Finish

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