Series veteran Chris Green captured his first Platinum Cup championship Sunday at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Bowmanville, Ontario - Chris Green, Marco Cirone and Orey Fidani clinched Drivers' Championships in the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin with smooth, composed drives to the podium Sunday, Aug. 30 in the season finale at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Scott Hargrove, Cirone and Michael de Quesada won the season-ending Round 10 in the Platinum Cup, Platinum Masters and Gold Cup classes, respectively.

Green, from Montreal, earned his first Platinum Cup championship in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche in his third full season in the class. Green held off Daniel Morad by five points, 170-165.

"It's here," Green said. "It hasn't really hit yet. There was so much hard work by the Pfaff guys, Castrol backing us 100 percent all season. My entire team is all full-time employees of Pfaff, except for my engineer and chief mechanic, and everybody has given their 110 percent this year. So the least I could do was bring home the championship for them this year.

RaceCanada Video - Click the image above to see our interview with Chris Green and Scott Hargrove at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

"I'm so proud of them, so proud of everybody involved, from (Pfaff owner) Chris Pfaff all the way down to the people taking care of my tires. Everybody has such an important role in this series, for myself and for Orey. We're on cloud nine right now."

Said Alexander Pollich, president & CEO, Porsche Cars Canada, Ltd.: "After an intense season, Chris Green has proven that he had what it takes to win the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin championship for 2015. His victory caps an exciting racing weekend after our brand's first and second place in LMP1 and GTE Pro classes at the 6 Hours of Nurburgring. Congratulations to Chris and all the drivers."

Cirone, from Toronto, won the Platinum Masters championship for the third consecutive season in the No. 88 Mark Motors Racing Porsche. He beat Tim Sanderson to the crown, 196-180.

"I'm so happy," Cirone said. "This is our third in a row, and I can't thank my team, Mark Motors Racing, enough. They always give me a great car to drive."

Fidani, from Woodbridge, Ontario, won the Gold Cup title by just two points, 170-168, in the No. 13 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche over fellow series rookie Michael de Quesada.

"I'm just ecstatic, overly excited," Fidani said. "I didn't really expect this coming into the beginning of this year. But, hey, hard work and driving smart pays off. This series was everything I thought it would be and probably a little bit more."

RaceCanada Video - Click the image above to see our interview with Daniel Morad and Scott Hargrove at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park

Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports won the Platinum Cup Team Championship in the first year of its partnership, edging Pfaff Motorsports, 174-170. The results were reversed in the Gold Cup Team Championship, with Pfaff taking the title in its second season as an independent team, 172-168, over Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports.

Hargrove, from Surrey, British Columbia, surrendered his 2014 Platinum Cup title to Green on Sunday, but he finished a dominant season with his sixth consecutive victory and seventh win in eight starts this season in the No. 25 OpenRoad Racing Porsche. Hargrove missed the first two rounds of the season before rejoining the series in June starting at Round 3 in Toronto.

Pole sitter Hargrove held off Morad in the early laps and then pulled away from the field in the 45-minute race. He beat Morad to the checkered flag by 10.901 seconds.

"It was a great race," Hargrove said. "We made some adjustments again. We were quick yesterday, but we felt like we could be a little quicker today, too. So we made some adjustments to the OpenRoad Porsche, and it was fantastic.

"At the start, Daniel was pushing really hard. I think he wanted to get out in front, so he gave me good pressure for the first couple of laps. I definitely had to fend him off. But after that, it was smooth sailing and just kind of a Sunday drive, literally on a Sunday.

"I'm really, really enjoying driving these Porsches."

Morad, from Thornhill, Ontario, earned his ninth podium finish of the season in the No. 22 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry. He held off Green by .333 of a second at the finish.

"I'm a little disappointed it's the last race," Morad said. "It was so much fun all season, having the comeback season after four years out of the car. It feels really good to close that one out and also get the Team Championship for Porsche Centre Oakville and Alegra Motorsports in our first season as a partnership.

"Man, it was a tough race. Chris was quicker than me at the halfway point, and I saw him closing in more and more, lap by lap, and going down the Andretti Straight where I saw his roof at first, then the headlights, then the whole bumper. So he put me under a lot of pressure at the end, but I knew he would be intelligent about it. It was the last race, and he was going for a championship. I figured he wouldn't go for the pass because he didn't need to. All he needed to do was finish behind me. So well done to Chris. A well-deserved championship."

Green took a few peeks at Morad during the closing laps on the 10-turn, 3.957-km (2.459 miles) circuit. But Green never attempted a pass, instead choosing the safe, smart approach to clinch the season championship with his ninth podium finish of the season. Green needed to finish fourth or better in this race to seal the title.

"I had a taste for him," Green said of Morad. "I just wanted to see if there was an opportunity. But he drove a flawless race. He didn't make any mistakes, not big enough for me to have an opportunity.

"Hat's off to them (Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports) this year. They're really stepped up their game. When I was told to behave and just finish on the podium and don't worry about making moves or passes, we just really stuck to our game plan."

The entire field followed that sound, smart strategy in a caution-free race, a peaceful contrast to an incident-filled Round 9 on Saturday.

Cirone ended up fourth overall, and Sanderson rounded out the top five in the No. 07 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry.

Platinum Masters

Cirone only needed to start the race to clinch his third consecutive Platinum Masters championship, but he finished the year in style with his eighth class victory in 10 starts.

Sanderson, from Pickering, Ontario, ended up 25.816 seconds behind Cirone in second. While 2014 Gold Cup champion Sanderson didn't finish as close to Cirone as usual during the season, it was a victory for him just to be in the starting field.

The Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports team worked through Saturday night to repair Sanderson's car after it was forced into the tire barrier by contact from rookie Harry Steenbakkers late in Round 9 on Saturday.

"We had a good race today," Sanderson said. "It was good to get back into the car after yesterday's little incident. But the Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville guys put the car back together overnight, and everybody was working on it. We had a quiet run by ourselves, but I had fun out there. It was a great season."

2014 Silver Cup champion Chuck Harris, from Tampa, Florida, closed out his first season in Platinum Masters by finishing third in the No. 50 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry.

"It was a great car," Harris said of the Platinum Cup Porsche. "The car is really fun to drive. It takes awhile to get up to speed from the Silver cars. I'm still learning. But I love it."

Gold Cup

De Quesada did all he could to catch Fidani in the standings by winning his sixth consecutive race in the No. 24 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports entry but came up just short in the championship.

Still, de Quesada, 15, ended his first season as the youngest race winner in any class the five-year history of the series.

De Quesada, from Odessa, Florida, started from the class pole and beat his father, Carlos de Quesada, to the checkered flag by 4.211 seconds.

"I got an early lead and just made the point of not making any mistakes and keeping it smooth," Michael de Quesada said. "I saw my dad got second, which is good. I was just taking it easy. It's good to share a podium with my dad."

Like Sanderson in Platinum Masters, Carlos de Quesada rebounded from an accident in Round 9 Saturday to earn a second-place class finish. De Quesada, from Odessa, Florida, was eliminated from Round 9 after hitting Shaun McKaigue's No. 34 Fiorano Racing Porsche at the end of the first lap after McKaigue spun exiting Turn 10.

"I really, really have to hand it to my guys," Carlos de Quesada said. "When I was coming out of Turn 10 yesterday, Shaun spun, and I had nowhere to go. I turned left, right, trying to avoid the car and just collected him.

"At the end, the damage was done. It wasn't as bad as I thought. It was something that was easily fixable, and the guys worked all night and got it going. We're looking good. The car handled great."

Carlos de Quesada, from Odessa, Florida, passed Fidani for second with eight minutes left in the race. Fidani, fighting understeer in his car, knew he only needed to finish third to clinch the championship. So he stayed calm and kept his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car on track to the finish.

"I saw him closing in on me, and I couldn't hold him off," Fidani said. "I just figured let him by instead of making a mistake myself and have something go worse. I just took the third position. It was enough to hold the championship. I just played it smart."

This is the second consecutive year in which the Gold Cup Drivers' Championship was decided by two points. Sanderson won by that margin in 2014.

Carlos de Quesada was presented with the Spirit of Speed Award at the Championship Ceremony Sunday evening. The award is presented to an individual in the series who embodies the ideals of sportsmanship and is a passionate advocate for Porsche Motorsport.

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.

RaceCanada Audio - Click the image above to listen to the post race press conference with Chris Green, Marco Cirone and Orey Fidani. (6:35)

ROUND 10 POST-RACE QUOTES:

SCOTT HARGROVE (No. 25 OpenRoad Racing, winner): "It was a great race. We made some adjustments again. We were quick yesterday, but we felt like we could be a little quicker today, too. So we made some adjustments to the OpenRoad Porsche, and it was fantastic. At the start, Daniel (Morad) was pushing really hard. I think he wanted to get out in front, so he gave me good pressure for the first couple of laps. I definitely had to fend him off. But after that, it was smooth sailing and just kind of a Sunday drive, literally on a Sunday. With a couple laps to go, I started having a little fun, hitting the gas a little harder, burn what was left of the tires off and put in some really, really quick laps. Overall, I'm really happy with that. Congrats to Chris (Green) on his championship. It's really sad this is the last race I'm doing this year, but hopefully it's not the end for Porsche, and I can't wait to be back in that car soon." (You won more races this season than in your championship year. Do you feel like you drove better this year?): "I had a really good rookie season last year. We won six out of the 10 races. This year it's seven out of eight that I did. You're always learning. This year we were able to dot our I's and cross our T's a little more than last year. We had the setups from last year. The team knew what I liked, so everything was working better. So, for sure, the second year in the series I was driving better. I'm enjoying it. I'm really, really enjoying driving these Porsches."

DANIEL MORAD (No. 22 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports, second): "I'm a little disappointed it's the last race. It was so much fun all season, having the comeback season after four years out of the car. It feels really good to close that one out and also get the Team Championship for Porsche Centre Oakville and Alegra Motorsports in our first season as a partnership. Man, it was a tough race. Chris (Green) was quicker than me at the halfway point, and I saw him closing in more and more, lap by lap, and going down the Andretti Straight where I saw his roof at first, then the headlights, then the whole bumper. So he put me under a lot of pressure at the end, but I knew he would be intelligent about it. It was the last race, and he was going for a championship. I figured he wouldn't go for the pass because he didn't need to. All he needed to do was finish behind me. So well done to Chris. A well-deserved championship. This has been a long time coming for him. It has been 3 ½ seasons he has been at it, so to get it now is a good job on him. For me, I'm just looking forward to next season. I think I'll be back in the car, but nothing is confirmed yet. But it's looking good. But I can't wait to get back behind the wheel."

CHRIS GREEN (No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports, third, 2015 Platinum Cup champion): "It's here. It hasn't really hit yet. There was so much hard work by the Pfaff guys, Castrol backing us 100 percent all season. My entire team is all full-time employees of Pfaff, except for my engineer and chief mechanic, and everybody has given their 110 percent this year. So the least I could do was bring home the championship for them this year. I'm so proud of them, so proud of everybody involved, from Chris Pfaff all the way down to the people taking care of my tires. Everybody has such an important role in this series, for myself and for Orey (Fidani). We're on cloud nine right now." (You were close to Daniel Morad at the end. You didn't need to pass him to win the title. Did you force yourself to back off?): "Exactly. I had a taste for him. I just wanted to see if there was an opportunity. It was. But he drove a flawless race. He didn't make any mistakes, not big enough for me to have an opportunity. Hat's off to them (Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports) this year. They're really stepped up their game. When I was told to behave and just finish on the podium and don't worry about making moves or passes, we just really stuck to our game plan. It's been a script since the first race of the year. We could have written it in a book and presented you the book today, and it would have worked out exactly how it did today. I'm just so proud of everybody involved."

RaceCanada Audio - Click the image above to listen to our post race interview with Marco Cirone. (2:05)

MARCO CIRONE (No. 88 Mark Motors Racing, first Platinum Masters, 2015 Platinum Masters champion): "I'm so happy. This isour third in a row, and I can't thank my team, Mark Motors Racing, enough. They always give me a great car to drive. Thank you so much to my sponsor. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be here. They just contribute so much to the series and to our team. I'm just couldn't be happier."

TIM SANDERSON (No. 07 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports, second Platinum Masters): "We had a good race today. It was good to get back into the car after yesterday's little incident. But the Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville guys put the car back together overnight, and everybody was working on it. Lots of help from Porsche Centre Oakville, and it felt great to get back out there. We had a quiet run by ourselves, but I had fun out there. It was a great season."

CHUCK HARRIS (No. 50 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports, third Platinum Masters): "It was a great race today, a welcome relief after yesterday. It was really fun today. I had a good time out there. No real issues. The car was good; the tires were good. I had a great time out there, racing around." (About first year in Platinum Masters): "It was a great car. The car is really fun to drive. It takes awhile to get up to speed from the Silver cars. I'm still learning. But I love it."

MICHAEL DE QUESADA (No. 24 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports, winner Gold Cup): "It was good. I got an early lead and just made the point of not making any mistakes and keeping it smooth. I saw my dad (Carlos de Quesada) got second, which is good. I was just taking it easy. It's good to share a podium with my dad."

CARLOS DE QUESADA (No. 48 Alegra/Porsche Centre Oakville Motorsports, second Gold Cup): (About emotions of seeing your son winning last six rounds of season): "Orey Fidani did a phenomenal job. For a first-time driver to come out here and doing what he did, he did an amazing job. Michael has been karting for a long time. He's been behind the wheel for some time, so I expected his performance to be where it was at. It was just unfortunate after Toronto that he had that accident, falling behind in points for the championship. But it doesn't matter. The fact is he's won the last six races. He's met beyond my expectations. I never expected this. Let's see for next year. Let's see if we can get him to Platinum class and start testing him, getting him ready for that for next year." (About effort of team to fix car after accident Saturday): "I really, really have to hand it to my guys. When I was coming out of Turn 10 yesterday, Shaun (McKaigue) spun, and I had nowhere to go. I turned left, right, trying to avoid the car and just collected him. At the end, the damage was done. It wasn't as bad as I thought. It was something that was easily fixable, and the guys worked all night and got it going. We're looking good. The car handled great. I was very impressed with the handling. It's a good car. I'm very happy with it."

OREY FIDANI (No. 13 Pfaff Motorsports, third Gold Cup, 2015 Gold Cup champion): "I didn't expect it to happen. I don't know what's going through my head a whole lot. I'm just ecstatic, overly excited. I didn't really expect this coming into the beginning of this year. But, hey, hard work and driving smart pays off. This series was everything I thought it would be and probably a little bit more." (About your thoughts in closing laps, especially after being passed by Carlos de Quesada): "I knew my car wasn't too great out there. It was understeering. I saw him closing in on me, and I couldn't hold him off. I just figured let him by instead of making a mistake myself and have something go worse. I just took the third position. It was enough to hold the championship. I just played it smart."

Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin

The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin finished its fifth season in 2015 after producing 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.