Policaro Motorsport earns valuable points at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with Ethan Simoni collecting his first podium finish.
A strong effort by Policaro Motorsport and the Porsche Centre Oakville Liqui Moly Porsche GT3 Cup cars in Montreal.
Under sunny skies, the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama series joined the GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama series for rounds three and four at the iconic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve supporting the Canadian F1 Grand Prix in Montreal.
The field of almost 40 Porsche GT3 Cup Cars took to the track for races 3 and 4 of the 12-race series. The racing saw a compressed format for the teams as has been customary for the supporting series over the years. Each race lasted only 30 minutes as opposed to the usual 45-minute race. With only 30 minutes on the clock, qualifying strategy and pure sprint racing were on the minds of the teams.
For race one Ethan Simoni, in the number 40 Policaro Motorsport car and Jeff Kingsley in the number 16 car posted a 6th and 7th qualifying position respectively. “The result wasn’t exactly what we were hoping for,” said team manager Dirk Dünschede. “However, we kept the cars clean and out of trouble.”
Race one saw a fine start with all cars making it through the first few turns cleanly. Both Ethan and Jeff made gains on a track that is notoriously difficult to pass on. With only a few laps under their tires, several incidents brought out the yellow flag. It took the track crew a fair amount of time to clean up the debris. When the green flag dropped again, only a few laps of racing remained. Jeff crossed the finish line in fourth position and Ethan only a few seconds later, taking 6th.
The start of race two followed a similar pattern as race one with all competitors making it through the first few turns cleanly. Luckily for race fans, the race was just about green flag for the duration of the session. Just as in race 1, both Jeff and Ethan made significant gains. Ethan found himself in fourth position with Jeff a half a second behind looking for an opportunity to pass. With only a few laps remaining the race saw a red flag incident and unfortunately ended without a green flag.
While Ethan crossed the finish line fourth, the number three car of Parker Thompson was assessed a 29-second penalty which promoted Ethan to third place and a podium position, his first podium finish of the season. Jeff Kingsley found fourth for the second time.
The next race takes place July 5th to July 7th at the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville.
