MONTEREY, Calif. – With a fourth-place finish in the GT Daytona class at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Zacharie Robichon has been crowned the inaugural champion of the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
The championship consisted of the seven IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona races this year that were two hours, 40 minutes or shorter, with the last being Sunday’s Monterey SportsCar Championship Powered by McLaren.
Robichon, who drives full-time in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, entered the race at WeatherTech Raceway with a narrow one-point margin over No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 co-drivers Trent Hindman and Mario Farnbacher. In the end, Robichon’s lead expanded to six, 203-197, following the No. 86’s eighth-place finish.
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“We almost got that podium, but at the same time we did what we needed to do to secure the championship,” said Robichon. “It’s not the way you want to do it. It looks like the Acura guys had a hard day, but we’ll take it. I’m very happy with what the Pfaff team has done this year.”
While Pfaff Motorsports did not compete in the second round of the Sprint Cup – the Detroit Grand Prix – the Canadian was picked as a substitute driver at that event for Park Place Motorsports’ No. 73 Porsche, allowing him to remain eligible for the championship. Back-to-back wins at Lime Rock Park and Road America vaulted him up the standings into contention for the title.
“I mean, this year I’ve had the opportunity to share the car with a lot of quick guys and we’ve been able to learn from them,” Robichon explained. “Scott (Hargrove), Dennis (Olsen), Matt (Campbell), Lars (Kern, endurance driver), Pat Long as well. They have a lot more experience and I think that is what helped me get to this position. The beauty about endurance racing is you have your teammate and you work together.”
It was announced on Friday that the 2020 WeatherTech Sprint Cup will see the addition of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April, the first time GTD will return to the street circuit since 2017.
“I think for me, it’s really cool,” said Robichon. “It’s one of the ones I remember watching as a kid, but obviously it’s like Laguna Seca here. It’s one of those tracks that’s very iconic, like all the California tracks. I saw the announcement the other day and the first thing I did was text our team manager, ‘Did you see this?’ Obviously no plans for next year, but I’m excited if we get to race there.”