Pfaff Motorsports has announced that it will race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD class for the first time in 2019, after spending 2018 racing in Pirelli World Challenge.
The team will race in the seven sprint rounds of the championship which feature the GTD class with a new 2019 Porsche 911 GT3 R and drivers Scott Hargrove and Zacharie Robichon. As for the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds, the team is working on securing funding to add the four ‘Blue Riband’ events to its programme.
“I couldn’t be more excited to enter the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Championship in 2019,” said Steve Bortolotti, Pfaff team manager. “We have long targeted this series as where we ultimately want to bring our program, and the new sprint format allows us to make that transition sooner than expected.
“We are working hard with our commercial partners to be on the grid for all the endurance events in the near future, and are thrilled to contest the sprint championship as well as Petit Le Mans in 2019. Our relationship with Porsche Motorsport North America has been incredible over the years, and we are excited to begin another new chapter of our company’s racing history with a marque we have passionately represented for over 50 years.”
Hargrove added: “The success of Pfaff Motorsports over the last two seasons really showcases how determined we are as a team.
“When I joned Pfaff in 2017, I never could have imagined where it would take us. Moving to the IMSA WeatherTech series with the new 911 GT3 R is a dream come true. Fresh off the 2018 GT Sprint Championship in Pirelli World Challenge, I’m confident we can transition and make an impact right away. There will be new challenges like dealing with other classes of cars, refueling, and significantly longer races.
“I’m excited to have Zach joining our all-Canadian team – we were teammates racing Formula 1600, both in Canada and Europe, and again in 2016 racing Porsche GT3 Cup. I know he will be very quick, and that will allow us to focus on the details necessary to become a winning team.”
As it stands, the team will make its GTD debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, OH on May 3-5, the first IMSA sprint round of the season which features the GTD class.
