Robichon Leads GT3 Cup Challenge Practice at CTMP

In the first of two Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama practice sessions on Friday morning at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, 17-year old Roman De Angelis stood atop the rest of the field in the No. 78 Mark Motors Porsche.

His time of 1:19.031 was 0.777 seconds quicker than teammate and championship points leader Zach Robichon in the No. 98 car.

Robichon, however, clapped back with a lap of his own in the afternoon practice session – and a quicker one at that. His lap of 1:19.008 was 0.023 seconds quicker than De Angelis’.

“We ran an old-tire run, the same situation as (teammates) Remo (Ruscitti) and Zach in the beginning of the session and we were about half a tenth clear of Zach,” said De Angelis.

“We decided to do a new-tire run and we ended up doing a 19 flat, which was I think, for us, pretty quick. It’s a tenth off what Scott Hargrove ran last year for pole.

“We’re definitely happy, but there’s more work to be done. We have to find some stuff over data and video, so we’re just pushing hard on this one to see if we can repeat and move on to the weekend.”

Ruscitti, driving the No. 96 OpenRoad Racing Porsche, was third quickest in both sessions with his best time coming during the morning session – a time of 1:19.997.
 
The GT3 Cup Challenge begins its day early on Saturday, with qualifying for Race 1 set for 8:50 a.m. ET. The green flag is set to wave on Race 1 at 3:05 p.m. and can be streamed live on IMSA.tv.

For fans onsite, a half-hour driver autograph session will be held Saturday at the Yokohama Tire Service Center, located in the paddock, at 11:15 a.m.

The starting lineup for Race 2 will be determined by using the best time between the driver’s quickest lap time in Race 1 or his second quickest lap time in Saturday morning’s qualifying session.

Race 2 goes green on Sunday at 11:20 a.m. ET and can also be streamed live on IMSA.tv.

RESULTS: Practice 1
RESULTS: Practice 2