Robichon “Couldn’t Have Dreamed” of Winning Sprint Title

Zach Robichon says Pfaff Motorsports “couldn’t have dreamed” of winning the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup title at the end of its debut year in the GT Daytona category.

Robichon was confirmed as the inaugural Sprint Cup champion when he and Scott Hargrove finished fourth in Sunday’s Monterey Sports Car Championship powered by McLaren contest at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The Pfaff-entered Porsche 911 GT3 R crucially finished ahead of the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo of Trent Hindman and Mario Farnbacher, who arrived in California with a single point advantage over Robichon.

“It’s fantastic. At the beginning of the year, we couldn’t have dreamed of being in this position,” Robichon told Sportscar365.

“We’ve had some hardships along the way, so it’s a true testament to Pfaff for everything they’ve done this year, and a thank you to Park Place because we also did one race with them.

“It’s been a great year and hopefully this momentum continues on at Road Atlanta.”

Robichon admitted that he wasn’t concentrating on his position in the Sprint Cup points chase until the last couple of rounds.

Having been fifth in the standings after the third points-paying race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, he moved into the sub-championship lead with a pair of class victories at Lime Rock Park, with Dennis Olsen, and at Road America with Matt Campbell.

“When we got to the podium at Road America, I had no idea that we were even anywhere near it,” said Robichon.

“They told me that I was leading, so once I found that out it became a bit more of a priority. At the beginning of the year, we were just hoping to have a solid year.

“It’s a new team and everything is new to us. I wouldn’t say there was one thing that we were specifically trying to work on, but once we saw there was an opportunity there, we were hoping to grab it.”

Robichon secured the title with a reliable run to fourth place at Laguna Seca, while Hindman and Farnbacher faded to eighth after running in second early on.

At the start, Robichon was two places behind the No. 86 Acura but moved ahead when that car dropped to the back of the 11-car field after the opening round of pit stops.

Hargrove took over the wheel in third place and stayed there until midway through the final stint when Andy Lally overtook him in the Magnus Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo.

“At the beginning, we put ourselves in a good spot. We had an opportunity for the podium, but it looks like at the end we were just missing a little bit,” said Robichon.

“The tire degradation was quite significant on the car all weekend. We were chasing our tail since we got here.

“We took a big gamble and it looks like it didn’t quite work out for the end of the race, but I think everything considered, where we started the weekend, fourth place was great.”

Despite winning the Sprint Cup, Robichon is unlikely to double up with the overall WeatherTech Championship GTD drivers’ title because of Hindman and Farbacher’s 32-point lead heading into the Motul Petit Le Mans season finale.

“They just need to start the next race, so I don’t think it’s within reach, but definitely that second position is still up for grabs,” he said.

John Dagys contributed to this report