Daytona Beach, Florida - A spirited rivalry renewed. A series leader seeking vindication. Many series standout teams and drivers racing at home.

Mix those elements, and the likely outcome will be combustion for the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin on June 12-14 during Rounds 3 and 4 at Honda Indy Toronto. Expect nothing less than close-quarters, intense action on the 11-turn, 1.75-mile circuit at Exhibition Place in Toronto, near the shore of Lake Ontario.

Round 3 of the season will start at 11:40 a.m. (ET) Saturday, June 13. Round 4 will start at 1:10 p.m. Sunday, June 14. Both races are 45 minutes.

Two practice sessions take place Friday, June 12, with qualifying at 8 a.m. Saturday during the popular Verizon IndyCar Series event weekend.

The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin is its fifth season in 2015, producing intense, exciting competition for semi-professional and aspiring professional drivers in the world's most produced and iconic race car, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned championship is one of 20 global Porsche single-make Cup Racing series and is the perfect platform for aspiring drivers to ascend to the highest levels of GT competition, such as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship .

Racing is divided into two classes - Platinum Cup, featuring the 2014 and 2015 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, which is based on the seventh, and current, generation of the street car; and Gold Cup, which is comprised of the previous iteration (model years 2010-2013) of the race car. A Masters Championship also is conducted in the Platinum class. Each class is awarded with its own podium at the end of every race and individual champion at the end of every season. Points are awarded by finish in class.

The major story line entering Toronto is the return of 2014 Platinum Cup champion Scott Hargrove. He missed Rounds 1 and 2 on May 16-17 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) but will make his season debut this weekend in the No. 25 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car fielded by OpenRoad Racing and prepared by Mark Motors Racing, the same combination that propelled Hargrove to the title last year.

Hargrove, 20, from Surrey, British Columbia, won six of 10 rounds last season as a rookie. One of those wins came in Round 5 at Toronto.

But Round 6 in Toronto was memorable for Hargrove and his closest 2014 title rival Chris Green. The drivers made contact early in the race on the tight, challenging circuit lined by merciless concrete barriers. Green spun and backed into the wall, with his car suffering damage. Race Control ordered Hargrove to serve a drive-through penalty.

Green dropped to 11th after the contact and spin, and Hargrove fell to seventh after serving his penalty. The final 30 minutes of race then showcased two of the most stirring drives of the season, as Hargrove and Green bobbed and weaved through traffic to salvage second- and third-place finishes, respectively.

The rivalry between Hargrove and Green should heat up again this weekend in Toronto. Green, from Montreal, won Rounds 1 and 2 on Victoria Day Weekend at CTMP in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche and leads the standings with a perfect 40 points.

Hargrove and Green aren't the only drivers with a strong chance at the top step of the podium.

Marco Cirone, from Toronto, comes to his hometown race after a superb opening weekend at CTMP. Cirone finished second overall and won the Platinum Masters class in Rounds 1 and 2 in the No. 88 Mark Motors Racing entry.

Another Toronto-area driver, Daniel Morad, also is a contender for podium finishes in Platinum Cup this weekend. Morad, from Thornhill, Ontario, finished third in Rounds 1 and 2 in the No. 22 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry in the first sports car races of his career. Morad, 25, was a North American junior open-wheel and world karting champion from 2007-10 who is reigniting his career this year in sports cars.

Harry Steenbakkers, from Ottawa, is another rookie who enjoyed a solid start to the season last month at CTMP. Steenbakkers, 17, finished fifth and fourth, respectively, in the first two rounds in the No. 78 Mark Motors Racing Porsche and is tied with Tim Sanderson for fourth in the standings with 26 points.

2014 Gold Cup champion Sanderson, from Pickering, Ontario, made a successful leap to the Platinum Cup class at CTMP by finishing fourth and fifth, respectively, in the first two rounds of the season in the No. 07 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry.

While Toronto-area residents Cirone and Morad will race for spots on the Platinum Cup podium, two Southern Ontario drivers are contenders for victory in Gold Cup competition this weekend.

Gold Cup points leader Orey Fidani, from Woodbridge, Ontario, won Round 1 and finished second in Round 2 at CTMP in his first weekend in the series in the No. 13 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche.

Brazilian native and Toronto resident Bruno Chapinotti won Round 2 at CTMP after not competing in Round 1 due to damage suffered in a practice crash in his No. 12 C&C Motorsports Porsche.

Chapinotti, 34, returned to racing in F1600 open-wheel competition last season in Canada after a long hiatus. During his childhood, he was a Brazilian karting champion who raced against and defeated future open-wheel stars such as Felipe Massa, Bruno Senna, Nelson Piquet Jr., Cristiano da Matta, Antonio Pizzonia and Raphael Matos.

Series rookie Michael de Quesada enters the Toronto race weekend second in the Gold Cup standings with 34 points after a steady, consistent weekend at CTMP. De Quesada, 15, from Odessa, Florida, finished second and third, respectively, in the No. 24 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry.

Two past series champions will make their season debuts at Toronto.

2011 Gold Cup champion Shaun McKaigue, from Gilford, Ontario, is back in that class in the No. 34 Fiorano Racing Porsche. 2014 Silver Cup champion Chuck Harris, from Tampa, Florida, will make his Platinum Masters debut in the No. 50 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry.

Schedule
Practice 1: 12:30-1 p.m. (ET), Friday, June 12
Practice 2: 6:15-6:45 p.m. Friday, June 12
Qualifying: 8-8:30 a.m. Saturday, June 13
Round 1 (45 minutes): 11:40 a.m.-12:25 p.m. Saturday, June 13
Round 2 (45 minutes): 1:10-1:55 p.m. Sunday, June 14
Autograph Session (Support Paddock, Direct Energy Centre): 1:45-2:15 p.m., Saturday, June 13
Race Coverage
Live timing: All on-track sessions at scoring.imsa.com
Twitter: Live text commentary from all sessions at @IMSALive
For more information about Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin, visit www.imsa.com, follow hashtag #GT3CAN @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.

Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin

The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin enters its fifth season in 2015 ready to produce more intense, exciting competition for semi-professional and aspiring professional drivers in the world's most produced and iconic race car, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned championship is one of 20 global Porsche single-make Cup Racing series and is the perfect platform for aspiring drivers to ascend to the highest levels of GT competition, such as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Racing is divided into two classes - Platinum Cup, featuring the 2014 and 2015 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, which is based on the seventh, and current, generation of the street car; and Gold Cup, which is comprised of the previous iteration (model years 2010-2013) of the race car. A Masters Championship also is conducted in the Platinum class. Each class is awarded with its own podium at the end of every race and individual champion at the end of every season. Points are awarded by finish in class.

ABOUT IMSA

The International Motor Sports Association, LLC (IMSA) was originally founded in 1969 with a long and rich history in sports car racing. Today, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the premier sports car racing series in North America. IMSA also sanctions the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, as well as four single-make series: Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama; Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin; Ferrari Challenge North America; and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. IMSA - a company within the NASCAR Holdings group - is the exclusive strategic partner in North America with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which operates the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The partnership enables selected TUDOR Championship competitors to earn automatic entries into the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.