Hargrove Keeps Eyes On Prize In Trois-Rivières

Subtitle:Championship Leader Turns Track-Record Lap To Pace Practice

Scott Hargrove kept one eye on the weather forecast and another eye on the championship standings before letting it rip Thursday in the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin.

Platinum Cup (2014 car models) championship leader Hargrove led practice at the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières with a track-record lap of 1 minute, 4.910 seconds in the No. 69 OpenRoad Racing Porsche in the second practice session.

The second practice was awash in warm sunshine after the first practice earlier in the afternoon took place in steady rain. Hargrove, from Surrey, British Columbia, was third in that session behind title rivals Chris Green and Spencer Pigot as he drove on the historic, 11-turn, 1.53-mile (2.46 km) Circuit Trois-Rivières for the first time and decided not to place his 911 GT3 Cup in peril a wet, unfamiliar track.

“We looked at the weather forecast and saw rain’s not in the forecast (this weekend), so there’s no point really in risking the car that much,” Hargrove said. “So we went out there and kind of took it easy on rain tires. I just found my way around the track.

“And then in the second session, when we put some slicks on and the sun was out, I actually went for it. The car was good and we were able to put the OpenRoad Porsche P1 in the first dry practice.”

Green, from Montreal, was second overall at 1:05.066 in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. Pigot, from Orlando, Florida, was third at 1:05.642 in the No. 21 Alegra Motorsports entry.

Marco Cirone, from Toronto, was fourth overall and the first Platinum Masters (age 45 and older) competitor at 1:05.919 in the No. 88 Mark Motors Racing 911 GT3 Cup car. Etienne Borgeat, from Montreal, rounded out the top five at 1:05.982 in the No. 2 entry fielded by Quebec-based GT Racing.

Jerimy Daniel, from Candiac, Quebec, was the leading Gold Cup (2010-2013 car models) driver at 1:06.696 in the No. 75 entry fielded by Quebec-based TRC. Chuck Harris, from Tampa, Florida, was the leading Silver Cup (2005 ½-2009 car models) driver at 1:10.466.

Hargrove leads Green, 116-100, with just four rounds remaining this season in one of the 19 global Porsche one-make series. Hargrove admitted his eyes are starting to focus on the prize.

“We’re definitely thinking about it at this point,” Hargrove said about winning the championship. “I have a good lead with four races to go. It’s going to be hard for anyone to catch me as long as I keep my nose clean and just get good finishes.

“But at the same time, we’re all here to win, and that’s the No. 1 priority. So we’re going to go out and be quickest every session. But it does give me that little buffer that we can play with and definitely gives me some margin for error.

Track activity for the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada resumes with qualifying at 9:20 a.m. (ET) Saturday, Aug. 9, followed by Round 7 of the season at 3:05 p.m. that day. Round 8 is scheduled for 9:20 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 10.