Toronto, Ontario, May 26, 2017 - The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama series kicked off this past Victoria Day long weekend with a grand total of 16 Porsche GT3 Cup vehicles. 14 of the 16 were the new 991.2 race car participating in the Platinum class. The other Gold class that ran alongside Platinum was driving the 991.1.
Increasingly clear skies and the sun shining down on the track created the perfect setting for the opening race weekend. Day 1 began bright and early with qualifying rounds at 9:00 am. Downtown Porsche’s driver, Tim Sanderson, in car No. 07 qualified with a time of 1.20.078 – an improvement of 1.402 seconds from Practice rounds on Friday. This placed Tim near the top at position 2 within the Masters Platinum class.
Round 1 of the series had a delayed start, but took off at 3:15 pm. Sanderson started strong and displayed his seasoned understanding of the track’s nuances. In laps 15-18, a tough battle was fought with fellow Platinum Masters class competitor Etienne Borgeat. Sanderson fought hard and reached the podium by taking 3rd in the Platinum Masters championship.
Round 2 on Sunday proved to be a very different day as racers and teams alike held their breaths as the promise of rain seemed to be realized. Regardless, focus and determination was unwavering. This was particularly true for Sanderson as he competed fiercely against not one, but two Mark Motors cars. The battle among the 3 cars garnered the greatest attention with spectators at the edge of their seats wondering who would take the lead and for how long. This went on from Lap 2-16 with Sanderson. After a hard fought race, Tim was victorious taking 1st in the Platinum Masters class. With the victory on Sunday, Tim leads the group with 36 points in the Masters Class championship.
“Tim represented Downtown Porsche and lead sponsor, Harry Rosen, extremely well through the focus and competitive spirit he exhibited. We are extremely proud of his and the team’s performance and are looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season pans out,” said Dealer Principal, President and CEO, Ms. Helen Ching-Kircher.
“I was a bit discouraged with my performance during the practice,” Sanderson said “but I found my comfort level with the new Cup car during qualifying and by last race I was right in the groove and able to really push things.” Sanderson went on to say “I want to thank the DFC Motorsport / Speedstar Motorsport team for a great beginning! Their dedication and commitment was critical to my 1st place finish in our class.”
A big round of thanks to all our sponsors: Harry Rosen, Eton, Mizrahi Developments, Carbonleo Real Estate Inc, ICON Visual Communications Inc. and Hunter Engineering.
The next event on the six event, 12-race calendar is a series highlight – the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada – June 9-11 at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve in Montréal, Quebec.
The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama season will be highlighted with four televised races on The Sports Networks (TSN), Réseau des sports (RDS) and Motorsport.tv in Europe.
Highlights of the weekend can be seen on our website, dfcporsche.com, along with our Facebook page, Downtown Porsche.
Make sure to keep up with all the action for the weekends to come by following our Facebook (Downtown Porsche), Instagram (@downtownporsche), and Twitter (@DFCPorsche).Date Posted: May 26, 2017