Sloan Urry (middle) drove away from the field Friday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park to earn his first victory of the season in Round 9 of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama.
Urry, from Park City, Utah, beat championship leader Colin Thompson to the checkered flag by 12.966 seconds on the 10-turn, 2.459-mile circuit. It was the largest margin of victory this season in the series, one of 19 global Porsche one-make championships.
I'm just so happy right now," Urry said. "It's amazing to be at the top of the podium. We've been working so hard to get here. It's where you always want to be. Last year I had a couple of wins, so I knew I had it in me. It was just a matter of time for me and JDX to start clicking, and we're here now."
Christina Nielsen, from Aarhus, Denmark, finished third in the No. 25 NGT Motorsport Porsche. It was the second podium finish of her rookie season.
Michael Schein, from New York, placed a season-best fourth in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports entry. Kasey Kuhlman, from Cincinnati, rounded out the top five in the No. 15 Wright Motorsports entry and was the leading Platinum Masters (age 45 and older) finisher for the seventh time this season.
Urry started fourth and passed pole sitter Jesse Lazare for the lead between Turns 8 and 9 with 33 minutes remaining in the 45-minute race. He then gradually pulled away and cruised to the finish in the No. 20 JDX Racing Porsche, earning his third career victory in the series.
Thompson, from Doylestown, Pennsylvania, increased his championship lead to 12 points over second-place Angel Benitez Jr. with his sixth podium finish of the season in the No. 14 Kelly Moss/Porsche of Bucks County entry. He took over second place with 12 minutes remaining when Benitez served a drive-through penalty for earlier contact that shoved Lazare into the tire barrier in Turn 3.
Lazare, from Montreal, continued after the incident with Lazare and finished 25th in the No. 31 Door Doctor/Moorespeed Porsche. Benitez, from Valencia, Venezuela, ended up sixth in the No. 05 Formula Motorsport/Avid Motorsport car.
David Calvert-Jones was the second finisher in Platinum Masters in the No. 12 Competition Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian entry. Charlie Putman placed third in Platinum Masters in the No. 40 Dempsey Racing entry owned by actor and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship driver Patrick Dempsey.
Jeff Mosing, from Austin, Texas, won the Gold Cup class (2010-2013 models) in the No. 01 Topp Racing 911 GT3 Cup car and also was the top finisher in Gold Masters. Patrick-Otto Madsen placed second in the No. 99 ANSA Motorsports Porsche, followed by Kristin Treager in the No. 52 Wright Motorsports entry.
Oscar Arroyo was the second-finishing Gold Masters driver in the No. 89 JDX Racing Porsche, while Mark Llano earned his first career Gold Masters podium finish in the No. 24 NGT Motorsport entry.
Jay Patel won the Yokohama Hard Charger Award, finishing 14th after starting 21st in the No. 00 Dempsey Racing Porsche.
For more information about Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, visit www.gt3cupchallengeusa.com, follow hashtag #GT3USA @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.
Photo by IMSA
