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GT Daytona (GTD) class champion Nielsen and American
Porsche factory driver Patrick Long. San Antonio’s Fred
Poordad, a frequent Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by
Yokohama competitor over the past several years, will
drive the team’s No. 20 Porsche, while another series veteran,
Anthony Imperato, drives the team’s No. 91 entry.
Last year’s championship-winning team, Kelly-Moss Road
and Race, will fi eld four entries, three in the Platinum Cup
class and one in the Gold Cup class for slightly older versions
of the 911 GT3 Cup car. Leading the way for the team
in Platinum Cup will be Canadian youngster Roman De
Angelis, who won the 2017 Gold Cup title in the Ultra 94
Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama series,
which also kicks off its season here at Sebring in the same
races as the GT3 Cup Challenge USA series.
De Angelis will drive the No. 1 Porsche for Kelly-Moss, with
Scott Welham of Louisville, Kentucky in the No. 61 and
Alan Metni of Austin, Texas in the No. 99 also competing
in the Platinum Cup class. Kurt Fazekas, from Indianapolis,
drives the No. 52 Kelly-Moss Gold Cup Porsche.
Another one to watch this season will be 18-year-old
Trenton Estep from San Antonio, Texas in the No. 11 JDX
Racing Porsche in the Platinum Cup class. Estep won twice
last year, at Circuit of The Americas and the season fi nale
at Road Atlanta, en route to third in the fi nal season
standings.
There’s no shortage of fast Texans in the 2018 series,
which also includes Austin’s Will Hardeman in the No. 19
Platinum Cup machine for the Austin-based Moorespeed
team. The three-car Topp Racing team also has a trio of
Texas-based drivers with Colleyville’s David Baker in the
team’s No. 56 Platinum Cup entry and two Gold Cup cars,
the No. 10 for Frank Raso from Cleburne, Texas and the No.
42 for Dallas’ Bill Smith.
The fi rst Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge race of the weekend
will be held Thursday from 4:25 to 5:10 p.m. and the second
runs from 11:25 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. Friday.
Porsche GT3 Cup Canada to Join
American Counterpart at Sebring
The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama
returns for its eighth season of competition in 2018,
with its traditional 12-round schedule running as a companion
to the biggest motorsport events in North America,
starting with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented
by Advance Auto Parts.
For the only time this year, the series will contest a pair
of races alongside its American counterpart, the Porsche
GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama in a classic battle
of the border.
Longtime series Porsche GT3 Cup Canada competitor Mark
Motors is set to fi eld at least two cars, with the star-power
lineup of 2017 Gold class champion Roman de Angelis
and 2017 Platinum class runner-up Zach Robichon leading
what will be hopefully another championship run for the
team.
Mark Motors is also supporting the single-car entry of
OpenRoad Racing with driver Remo Ruscitti in his sophomore
season. Ruscitti competed in all but three rounds of
the 2017 Porsche GT3 Cup Canada Platinum season after
coming from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
and Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.
Also entering his sophomore season is Patrick Dussault,
who returns with GT Racing and posted a best fi nish of
third in the Platinum class during his rookie year in 2017.
Additionally, a multiple-car effort is set to come from Policaro
Motorsport with Sports Car Boutique. Jeffrey Kingsley
and Nelson Mason will be in two of the team’s race cars.
Kinglsey joins the series after collecting one win and Rookie
of the Year honors in the 2017 Canadian Touring Car
Championship, while Mason comes off a stint in the World
Series Formula V8 3.5 Championship.
Ahead of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring weekend, race
fans in Sebring previously saw several of these teams in action,
as a handful participated in either the 48 Hours At Sebring
with Porsche Club Racing of America in early February
or the IMSA-sanctioned test at the end of February.
The cars return to track, though, for its fi rst round on
Thursday from 4:25 to 5:10 p.m. and the second from
11:25 a.m. to 12:10 p.m. Friday.
110 T h e 6 6 t h A n n u a l 1 2 H o u r s o f S e b r i n g