Robichon Clinches Title With Race 1 Win at CTMP

Zch Robichon has clinched the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama championship with a win in Saturday’s penultimate race of the season at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

It marked Robichon’s tenth victory of the season.

“The team has believed in me the whole time,” said Robichon, who delivered the first overall championship for Mark Motors since 2014.

“I think I’m happier for them than I am anything because they deserve it more than anybody. They’ve been working so hard the last few years.

“For me, it was a matter of delivering that championship for them and I’m really happy I was able to do it. I’m happy for myself too, it’s fun to win races but everybody wants to win championships. I’m also more happy with the way that we did it this year. We had a great year and there’s still one more race to go and it’s another race we’re going to try to win.”

Robichon overcome challenges in the 45-minute race, including constant pressure from teammate Roman De Angelis in the No. 78 Porsche and rainy skies that opened up just before the halfway point

The race ultimately finished under red flag, which flew with just under 10 minutes remaining.

“The race today was weird because of the weather,” said Robichon. “I think we had a good car, we had the pace. As soon as I saw raindrops, I was very cautious. I saw that (De Angelis) was catching me, so I knew there was a little more grip.

“It was just a matter of, was I willing to take the chances with the grip – which turns out was there – but when I saw the rain, I was a little bit conservative.”

De Angelis finished second and Remo Ruscitti in the No. 96 OpenRoad Racing Porsche finished third.

The Platinum Masters championship was also clinched during Saturday’s race, with Martin Harvey in the No. 08 Wingho Racing / Porsche Prestige racecar taking the honors.

Harvey finished second in the Platinum Masters class on Saturday – his seventh race of the season –and will go for his first class win during Race 2.

Taking the Gold class victory in his first race of the season was Ilker Starck in the No. 48 Policaro Motorsport / SportsCarBoutique Porsche.

The Yokohama Hard Charger Award, given to the driver who gained the most positions during the race, was handed to Max Tullman in the No. 83 Porsche Centre North Toronto / Tullman Walker Racing Porsche.

Tullman is pulling double duty this weekend between Porsche GT3 Cup Canada and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

The final race of the 2018 Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama season is scheduled for Sunday at 9:45 a.m. ET and will be streamed live on IMSA.tv.

RESULTS: Race 1