| July 11, 2019 Staff Report IMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Fresh off a doubleheader at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park just a few days ago, the season continues for Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama this weekend in Toronto. For the sixth consecutive year, the IMSA-sanctioned series holds Rounds 7 and 8 of its 12-round schedule at Honda Indy Toronto alongside the likes of IndyCar, NASCAR Pinty’s Series, Stadium Super Trucks and more. To kick off the second half of the GT3 Cup Challenge Canada season, the Toronto street circuit is notorious for its unforgiving course, which includes little to no runoff areas and no testing time leading up to the weekend. As Jeff Kingsley describes, coming back to this street circuit is like hitting a reset button, no matter how many times you’ve raced there. “Toronto is a pinnacle track on the calendar,” said Kingsley of Ajax, Ontario, and driver of the No. 16 Policaro Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. “It’s obviously pretty demanding, but you also have to be calm at the same time. Adjusting to that is a bit different. You don’t really have much else on the schedule that you can go to that prepares you for Toronto, so it’s kind of just being thrown in the deep end. “With such little track time in the previous year, you just have to go for it and learn it all over again because even though you’ve been there before, it’s a bit unfamiliar to you. I’m looking forward to being back, especially with the Policaro Motorsports/Liqui Moly guys, and can’t wait to be there for a local race.” For several drivers in the field, it’ll be their first time experiencing the Streets of Toronto. It may also be their first encounter with a street circuit, as is the case for Alan Metni in the No. 99 Kelly-Moss/AM Motorsports Porsche. “I’m very much looking forward to it,” said Metni. “I think it’s going to be a blast. I’ve never done a true street circuit before and I’ve only seen this one before on a simulator, so I’m looking forward to doing it in the real world.” Metni is currently in the hunt for the Platinum Masters championship, sitting in third place, 20 points out of the lead but just three points out of second. And although he’ll be a rookie on the Toronto circuit, he’s also looking forward to the challenges these streets present to a driver. “That actually heightens the excitement and the energy level,” added Metni. “Real consequences on a race like that make it that much more fun to do well, so I hope to do well.” GT3 Cup Challenge Canada action gets underway in Toronto starting Friday, July 12. The two practice sessions will take place at 9:25 a.m. ET and 4:15 p.m. Qualifying for Race 1 will take place on Saturday at 12:15 p.m., with the first 45-minute race going green at 4:15 p.m. Race 2, which will be streamed live on the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama Facebook page, is set for Sunday at 1 p.m. Timing and scoring will be available throughout the weekend at scoring.imsa.com. Fans at the event are also invited to attend the Driver Autograph Session on Saturday at 10:30 a.m, which will be held in the Enercare Centre. For updates throughout the weekend and for the remainder of the season, please visit IMSA.com,Porsche.com/Canada or on social media using the hashtags #GT3Canada and #IMSA. IMSA TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK Follow on Twitter @imsa, use the hashtag #IMSA, follow on Instagram @imsa_racing and ‘like’ IMSA on Facebook –www.facebook.com/imsa. For further information logon to www.imsa.com. |
