Competitors in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, one of Porsche’s 20 single-make global Cup Challenge series, have completed 14 of their 16 races for the 2016 championship. Jesse Lazare, from Montreal, claimed the Platinum Cup Championship after sweeping the last two rounds, in mid-September at Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
But it will all come down to the final two races on the 12-turn, 2.54-mile circuit at Road Atlanta to crown the remaining champions. The field is set at 28 cars, the largest U.S. standalone grid since the season opener in March at Sebring International Raceway. The series will run alongside the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Petit Le Mans presented by Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.
Round 15 is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29. The season finale will start at 9:10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 30. Both races are 45 minutes. There will be two practices Wednesday, Sept. 28, with qualifying at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Racing in the series is divided into two classes – Platinum Cup, featuring the 2014-2016 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, which is based on the current seventh generation of the street car, and Gold Cup, which is comprised of the previous iteration (model years 2010-2013) of the race car. A Masters Championship is also conducted in the Platinum class. Each class is awarded with its own podium at the end of every race and individual champion at the end of every season. Points are awarded by finish in class.
Jeff Mosing, from Austin, Texas, has been at the top of the Platinum Masters standings for most of the season in the No. 01 Porsche fielded by TOPP Racing. Mosing, also a standout in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, earned his first overall podium finish this season in GT3 USA after placing third in Round 11 at VIRginia International Raceway.
Mosing is locked in a tight Texas battle for the Platinum Masters title with Fred Poordad, from San Antonio, who drives the No. 20 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Mosing leads Poordad, 255-240.
David Baker, from Colleyville, Texas, also is a threat for regular podium finishes in the Platinum Masters class. Baker drives the No. 56 TOPP Racing Porsche. He is third in the points standings with 191.
Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Canada by Yokohama Platinum Masters champion Marco Cirone also will make a strong case for podium finishes. Cirone swept the first two rounds in March at Sebring International Raceway.
The Gold Cup class championship also will be decided at Road Atlanta.
Michael de Quesada, from Tampa, Florida, has led the Gold Cup class in his first season in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama since sweeping the opening weekend at Sebring in the No. 31 Alegra Motorsports Porsche. De Quesada leads Sebastian Landy, from Great Falls, Virginia, by 15 points.
Landy earned two, hard-fought victories at the last event at COTA in the No. 49 TPC Racing Porsche, including a last-lap pass to take Round 14.
Philip Bloom, from New York, is third with 198 points in the No. 11 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Bloom is in his first season in the series.
Overall podiums are still up for grabs despite Lazare locking up the championship. Lazare has 11 wins this season in the No. 21 Kelly-Moss Road and Race Porsche, a series record.
But the journey to the top step won’t be easy. 2016 Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama Platinum Cup Champion Daniel Morad, from Toronto, will be back to challenge his fellow Canadian in the No. 17 Porsche Centre Oakville/Alegra Motorsports Porsche. The two had fierce battles in both Rounds 13 and 14, with Lazare prevailing in both.
Morad is a leading contender for the inaugural IMSA North American Cup, awarded to the driver who scores the most points overall in competition in the USA and Canada championships.
Second place in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama Platinum Cup standings is also up for grabs in a heated battle between Lucas Catania in the No. 26 NGT Motorsports Porsche and Andrew Longe in the No. 47 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Catania, from Cazenovia, New York, leads, 199-198, over Longe, from Naples, Florida.
Other Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama regulars joining the U.S. series for the finale include Zach Robichon of Mark Motors Racing, Shaun McKaigue of Fiorano Racing and Orey Fidani of Pfaff Motorsports.
Schedule
Practice: 12-12:40 p.m. (ET) and 4:20-4:50 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 28
Qualifying: 9-9:20 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 29
Round 15 (45 minutes): 2:15-3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 29
Source. LST Marketing