Road To Championship Starts At Sebring

The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama enters its 12th season with new drivers and new teams but the promise of the same level of exciting action.

Competition in one of Porsche’s 20 single-make Cup Challenge series in the world starts March 16-18 at Sebring International Raceway as part of WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida.

Practice takes place from 9:30-10 a.m. (ET) and from 1:55-2:35 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, with qualifying from 9:20-9:40 a.m. Thursday, March 17. Round 1 is set for 3:50 p.m. Thursday, with Round 2 at 9:10 a.m. Friday, March 18. Both races are 45 minutes each.

Racing in the series is divided into two classes – Platinum Cup, featuring the 2014-2016 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, which is based on the current seventh generation of the street car, and Gold Cup, which is comprised of the previous iteration (model years 2010-2013) of the race car. A Masters Championship is also conducted in the Platinum class. Each class is awarded with its own podium at the end of every race and individual champion at the end of every season. Points are awarded by finish in class.

The multi-class structure of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned series teaches drivers essential skills for an eventual career in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship or professional GT races worldwide. The championship produces intense, exciting competition for semi-professional and aspiring professional drivers in the world’s most produced and iconic race car, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.

There is a guarantee of a new champion this season in the premier Platinum Cup class. Last year’s champion, Elliott Skeer, moved up to the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge paddock. A strong group of returning standout drivers and the addition of new talent will provide a competitive start to the 2016 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA season.

Wright Motorsports will defend its Platinum Cup Team Championship this season with multiple entries. In addition to a team championship, the Ohio-based team claimed the 2015 Platinum and Platinum Masters Driver Championships.

The team could have another title contender as it fields a Platinum Cup car for Andrew Longe, 21, from Naples, Florida.

Longe will enter his first season with Wright Motorsports and second in Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama. He finished fourth in Platinum Driver Championship standings in the 2015 season, which was highlighted by a second-place finish at NOLA Motorsports Park. Longe showed superb consistency, never finishing outside of the top seven.

Series rookies Anthony Imperato and McKay Snow will join Longe in Platinum Cup with the powerful Wright Motorsports team. Snow is the younger brother of 2013 Platinum Cup champion Madison Snow.

Longe will be pushed at every turn by Jesse Lazare, the top returning driver from 2015. Lazare, 18, from Montreal, finished second in the Platinum Cup Championship last season with five wins and 10 podium finishes for Kelly-Moss Road and Race.

The powerhouse Kelly-Moss team, based in Madison, Wisconsin, finished last season in second place in the Platinum Cup team and driver standings with Lazare behind the wheel. The team also had two drivers in the top three of the Platinum Masters standings, with Jay Patel and the returning Bill Peluchiwski. Mike Hedlund also will race for the Platinum Cup championship, and series veteran Wayne Ducote makes a return in the Gold Cup class.

Another title contender could be NGT Motorsport’s Lucas Catania. He made his series and Platinum Cup debut last season with longtime championship team NGT Motorsport. Catania, from Cazenovia, New York, finished sixth in championship standings and strung together four podium finishes in the last seven races to end the season on a high note.

The young stars must watch out for reigning Gold Cup and Gold Masters champion Jeff Mosing, who is climbing to Platinum Cup after a dominating 2015 season. Mosing won eight of the 16 rounds last season. He finished second in the remaining eight races.

Rookie Victor Gomez IV will join Lucas Catania and his father, Joe, with NGT Motorsport in Platinum Cup competition.

Gomez, 19, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, climbs to the series in a Platinum Cup entry after receiving the IMSA Scholarship. He finished seventh last season in the World Challenge GT Cup series.

Other teams competing for the championship this season include series mainstays Moorespeed, TOPP Racing, Snow Racing and JDX Racing.

Moorespeed will return for its third season in the championship and second with driver Will Hardeman, who produced a season-best fourth-place finish in Round 4 at VIRginia

International Raceway.

JDX is bringing back Oscar Arroyo, and making his series debut for the team is fellow Mexico City resident Ricardo Pérez de Lara.

The top returning Gold driver will be Mark Llano, who finished second in last year’s Gold Cup and Gold Masters championship. Llano figures to duel again with Michael Levitas and Maryland-based TPC Racing, which will return after a shortened season in 2015.

Levitas will be joined in Gold Cup by Sebastian Landy, who placed on the podium in four of the six races he ran in 2015, and Phillip Martien.

Tullman Walker Racing will return in 2016 after joining the series at VIRginia International Raceway last season. The team has participated in Spec Miata racing for the past four years and took a dip into Gold Cup competition in late August 2015. Max Tullman had a season-best third-place finish in his series debut, and his father, Steve, also stood on the Gold Masters podium in his debut weekend. Neal Walker will drive the No. 69 for the opening two rounds with Max Tullman in the No. 96.

All three 2015 season champions are leading a strong contingent of six drivers from the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama competing at Sebring. Platinum Cup champion Chris Green and Gold Cup title winner Orey Fidani will drive for Pfaff Motorsports, while three-time reigning Platinum Masters champion Marco Cirone will compete in a Mark Motors Racing Porsche.

Cirone, from Toronto, has become a Sebring specialist the last few years. He placed third overall in a Sebring race in 2014 and fourth overall in 2015.

Other Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama competitors racing at Sebring include Gold Cup veterans Shaun McKaigue and Michael de Quesada and Gold Cup rookie Gerald Panneton.

IMSA sanctions an eight-venue, 16-round schedule for the 2016 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama. The series will run 14 of its 16 rounds during WeatherTech SportsCar Championship events, including the season opener during the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida.

Follow IMSA on Facebook and @IMSA on Twitter with the hashtag #GT3USA for updates on the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama.

Schedule

Practice: 9:30-10 a.m. (ET) and 1:55-2:35 p.m., Wednesday, March 16

Qualifying: 9:20-9:40 a.m. Thursday, March 17

Round 1 (45 minutes): 3:50-4:35 p.m. Thursday, March 17

Round 2 (45 minutes): 9:10-9:55 a.m. Friday, March 18

Race Coverage

Live timing: All on-track sessions at scoring.imsa.com

TV: Delayed television coverage will be provided on major network affiliates in numerous U.S. markets by Sinclair Broadcast Group. The schedule will be announced soon, and the broadcast will be available on YouTube after it airs on television.

Twitter: Live text commentary from all sessions at @IMSALive