Hargrove Leads Way At GP3R

Subtitle:Reigning Champ Paces Both Practice Sessions At Trois-Rivières

TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Quebec (July 31, 2015) – Scott Hargrove began the job of erasing the only spot on his Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin racetrack record, leading both rounds of practice Friday at the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres.

Hargrove, from Surrey, British Columbia, showed impressive consistency during both 30-minute sessions on the 10-turn, 2.433-km (1.5207 miles) temporary street circuit in the No. 25 OpenRoad Racing Porsche. His best overall time was 1 minute, 5.017 seconds in the second session, while he led the first practice at 1:05.095. He used the same set of Michelin tires in both sessions.

The Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières (GP3R) was the only event last season in which Hargrove didn’t win at least one round en route to the Platinum Cup championship as a rookie in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned Single-Make Series.

“We’re just working on setting up the car, just working on making it quick so when we get into qualifying, it will be good,” Hargrove said. “Rolling out of the box here, the OpenRoad Porsche is great, as always.

“We learned from last year. This is the only track I didn’t win at, so we’re really hungry to get a win here and going to do everything to make that happen.”

Qualifying is scheduled for 9:10 a.m. (ET) Saturday. Round 7 of the 10-round championship will start at 3:10 p.m. Round 8 starts at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Both races are 45 minutes.

All Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin action this weekend from the popular street festival of speed will be streamed live on fanschoice.tv. Fans also can follow live timing at scoring.imsa.com, and live text commentary is available on Twitter @IMSALive.

Platinum Cup championship leader Chris Green was second quickest overall Friday at 1:05.340 in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. Green, from Montreal, was the only driver in the top five to turn his best lap during the first practice.

Etienne Borgeat, from Montreal, returned to the series after a one-event absence and was third overall at 1:05.423 in the No. 2 GT Racing Porsche.

Two-time reigning Platinum Masters champion Marco Cirone, from Toronto, was fourth at 1:06.071 in the No. 88 Mark Motors Racing Porsche and was the quickest driver in the Platinum Masters class.

Rookie Daniel Morad, from Thornill, Ontario, rounded out the top five at 1:06.081 in the No. 22 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry.

Shaun McKaigue, from Gilford, Ontario, led the Gold Cup class at 1:07.158 in the No. 34 Fiorano Racing Porsche. His best lap came in the second session.

Gold Cup championship contender Martin Harvey, from nearby Berthierville, Quebec, was second quickest in Gold Cup at 1:07.546 in the No. 08 Wingho Motorsport Porsche.