Coming off a break after round two at the 12 Hours of Sebring, Pfaff Motorsports is looking ahead to round three and the first sprint race of the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Fielding the Porsche 911 GT3 R with Canadians Scott Hargrove and Zach Robichon, the Torontobased team has shown immense promise through the season’s first two – and longest – races of the season. At Mid-Ohio, the team is looking to translate that performance into a strong result.
“This is an exciting race for us and a different dynamic as our first sprint race of the year,” Robichon said. “Of course, sprint is a relative term as we’re racing for two hours and 40 minutes, so
strategies will be vastly different than the previous two rounds, and will play a very important role.”
The driving duo made a trip to the 2.258-mile (3.633 km) circuit two weeks ago to familiarize themselves with the 13-turn course, which Hargrove last raced in 2014; he says it is one of the
more technical challenges on the calendar.
“This is one of the shorter circuits, so having multiple classes will tighten it and make it a little trickier, but it’s a fun circuit, especially when you have confidence in your car,” he said. The team has shown impressive pace in the wet throughout the season, and with a forecast showing the potential for rain this weekend, Pfaff will be looking to take advantage of every opportunity in the “Plaid Porsche.”
“This is a super low-grip track in the rain, but the GT3 R has proven how good it can be in those conditions,” Hargrove said. “Zach showed just how good the car is in the opening stages at the 12 Hours of Sebring, so we’ll be ready for whatever this weekend throws at us.”
Following a late-race collision at Daytona and a technical issue at Sebring, Pfaff currently sits 18 points behind the leading full-season challenger. It will be looking to turn its fortunes this weekend when the green flag drops on Sunday May 5 at 1:40 pm EST.
“Our pace and performance of every member of the team has been great this season,” team manager Steve Bortolotti said. “If we execute our specific roles I’m positive the results will come
and we’ll see the [no. 9] rocket up the standings. It’s all about looking at the big picture, and I have all the faith in our team that a successful result is just around the corner.”
Viewers can catch the action live at 1:30 pm EST on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN), NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App in the USA, and on the Discovery Velocity channel in
Canada. TSN will air a tape-delayed version of the race on Sunday, May 12 from 12:30 to 1:30 pm EST on TSN5.
