Hargrove Highest: Pfaff 911 GT3 R Continues as Top PWC Porsche at Long Beach

Scott Hargrove continued to show the way for the Porsche customer teams in the Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) this weekend at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Canadian was fourth overall in the No. 96 Pfaff Porsche 911 GT3 R on the Southern California street circuit, having won the first two 50-minute races in the Sprint Championship at St. Petersburg, Florida in March. The 2014 Porsche Young Driver Academy graduate and PWC rookie was involved in multiple on-track battles throughout the day with fellow GT class Porsche racers Michael Christensen (Denmark) in the No. 24 Alegra Motorsports 911 GT3 R – who ultimately finished in 11th position – and Alec Udell (The Woodlands, Texas) in the No. 41 GMG-prepared GT3 R who finished 13th overall.

The No. 66 TRG Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR driven by Spencer Pumpelly (Atlanta, Georgia) took third-place in the GT4 Invitational class on the 1.968-mile street course that cuts through the Southern California city. Legendary Motocross champion and Indianapolis 500 runner-up Jeff Ward (San Juan Capistrano, California) was fifth in his GTS class debut.

Porsche customer teams ran as high as third-fourth-fifth in the early going of Round Three of the single-driver sprint format of the PWC. Hargrove and Udell fought early for the third-spot overall before Udell made contact with the No. 83 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR while lapping the car driven by Mike Sullivan. Sullivan then made hard contact with the wall but walked away from the incident, while Udell was given a one-minute penalty dropping the young Texan from contention.

Hargrove would also fight for position with Porsche factory driver Christensen. With ten minutes to go, the Dane made contact with the Hargrove while trailing when the Pfaff driver had to brake for a slower competitor through the Long Beach historic hairpin corner. Hargrove spun and was able to continue while Christensen had to serve a drive-through penalty, ending his chance at a podium result.

In the GT Amateur (GTA) class, David Calvert-Jones (Australia) finished eighth overall and fourth in class in the No. 12 Black Swan Racing 911 GT3 R while teammate and team principal Tim Pappas was just behind in the No. 54 Porsche.

Source. Porsche