After taking his second win of the season last week, JDX Racing’s Zachary Vanier wasted no time getting his third today at Circuit of The Americas with stunning speed in the opening lap today in Porsche Carrera Cup North America.

Starting third on the grid, Vanier pounced in the first corner and actually grabbed the lead heading into turn two on the opening lap.

Despite multiple restarts, Vanier held off the back for his third win of the year and his second in a week. He won round 13 of the championship last week at Road Atlanta with similar opening lap pace.

“This is a track I’ve had a lot of success at in the past and of course, to carry it on is really nice,” said Vanier.

”For the season, it’s been a really strong year of development for me personally, inside and outside the car. There’s a lot of expectation when you move up and being in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship, the competition is very fierce and it’s very high pace.

“For me, I’m very happy with it. This is the third win of the season and it feels the best.

“I want to give a huge thanks to JDX Racing and all my partners for making it happen. Tonight, we’ll go back to analyze and try again tomorrow.”

Hartog went on to finish runner-up, while Topp Racing’s Ryan Yardley’s third-place puts him in a battle for second in the championship with one race remaining.

Kellymoss driver Efrin Castro surpassed his teammate and Pro-Am class polesitter Alan Metni before the first caution en route to his fourth win of the season. The pair will face a championship showdown on Sunday after Metni finished fourth.

James Sofronas (GMG Racing) and Marco Cirone (ACI Motorsports) rounded out the Pro-Am class podium.

“First, I want to thank the man above for giving me this opportunity and everybody who contributes to the race – Porsche, the team, Riley Dickinson, everybody who is part of it,” said Castro.

“It was a switch that turned on in me and I was in full attack mode. Turn one opened up and there was a big gap. I was able to go right through and sit right behind Alan.

“From there, it was just a switch that was on, and I just kept driving and hitting my marks and putting the pressure on.”

In the Carrera Cup Masters class, the battle will also come down to the last laps of Sunday’s race. Championship leader Matt Halcombe was involved in the Lap 1 incident on Saturday, while his rival Chris Bellomo held off the rest of the field and narrowed his gap in the title.

“I have a fantastic team behind me with Kellymoss and a very excellent coach and a super supportive family,” Bellomo credited. “All of that makes for a very enjoyable experience here and it’s a lot of fun.

“We did a lot of visualization and a lot of data work. I’ve got a performance coach and I’ve got everything I can possibly think of to help me succeed. It doesn’t always work out, but it worked out today.”

Finishing second and third, respectively, were GMG Racing’s Kyle Washington and Ruckus Racing’s Scott Blind.