Spencer Pigot pulls out round 8 win in Porsche GT3 Cup

 Spencer Pigot stayed clean from green to checkered to win Round 8 of the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin on Sunday during the Grand Prix of Trois-Rivières (GP3R). 

Pigot, from Orlando, Florida, beat championship leader Scott Hargrove to the finish by 8.499 seconds in the No. 21 Alegra Motorsports Porsche for his second victory of the season. The smooth, composed drive despite close battles with Hargrove and fellow title contender Chris Green earlier in the race was a successful contrast from Round 7 on Saturday, in which Pigot was penalized for bumping Hargrove into a spin early in the race. 

"It was a great race," Pigot said. "We've been working hard all weekend, so I have to thank the Alegra guys for continuing to improve the car. Today was really good. 

"I knew I had the pace. I just had to take advantage when I could but not take too many risks and end up in the wall, which is easy to do here. Just worked my way past Chris and Scott. It was good battling with them, as always. Really hard racing, but it was all clean today. Happy to get the win."

Round 7 winner Green, from Montreal, finished third Sunday in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. He ended up .778 of a second behind Hargrove after stalking Hargrove's No. 69 OpenRoad Porsche for the second half of the 45-minute race.

Hargrove pads points lead

Hargrove, from Surrey, British Columbia, extended his Platinum Cup (2014 car models) championship lead to 16 points, 152-136, over Green with just two rounds remaining Aug. 30-31 at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario. Forty points will be on the line at the finale, as the winning driver in each round earns 20 points. 

Etienne Borgeat, from Montreal, finished fourth Sunday on the street circuit at Trois-Rivières in the No. 2 entry fielded by Quebec-based GT Racing. 

Carlos de Quesada, from Odessa, Florida, rounded out the top five in the No. 22 Alegra Motorsports Porsche after snaking through the 11-turn, 1.53-mile (2.46 km) Circuit Trois-Rivières in lockstep with Borgeat and fellow Platinum Masters competitors Marco Cirone and Perry Bortolotti for position over the last 25 minutes of the race.

IMSA