Daytona Beach, Florida - Racing on street circuits sometimes induces high-horsepower claustrophobia for some drivers.

Tight city streets, lined with unyielding concrete barriers just centimeters away from expensive race cars. Hardly any runoff area. No margin for error, a fine line between disaster and success.

It's enough to germinate the seeds of trepidation in the minds of some drivers. But not Martin Harvey.

Harvey is looking forward to Rounds 7 and 8 of the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin on July 31-Aug. 2 at Trois-Rivières, Quebec, as much or perhaps more than any driver in the field for the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Single-Make Series, for two reasons.

One, these are the only two rounds of the championship in Quebec. Harvey is a proud French-Canadian who lives in Berthierville, Quebec, just 65 kilometers (40 miles) from Trois-Rivières.

Two, Harvey loves the challenge of racing on street circuits in his No. 08 Wingho Motorsport Porsche that he races in the Gold Cup class. These two rounds during the popular Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières (GP3R) have been circled on his calendar since the 2015 schedule was released.

"I like Trois-Rivières," Harvey said. "Trois-Rivières is similar to Toronto. It's a city track, and the wall is very, very near the track. But it's very nice. It's inside the city. You have a lot of people. It's a very, very good track."

Harvey has very good reason to relish racing on the 10-turn, 2.433-km (1.5207 miles) temporary street circuit at GP3R. He swept Round 3 and 4 on the concrete-lined streets of Toronto in mid-June to assert himself as a contender for the Gold Cup championship this season.

Veteran Harvey is second in the Gold Cup standings with 96 points, just eight behind rookie Orey Fidani. Harvey is one of four drivers to win at least one round in Gold Cup, the most unpredictable of the three classes in the series.

Harvey's victories at Toronto were his first since 2011, the first year of the championship. It's an impressive renaissance for a driver who has competed in the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin since its very first event in May 2011 at Calabogie Motorsports Park.

The performance is even more impressive considering Harvey has been racing less than a decade.

Harvey completed a Porsche driving experience nine years ago and decided to start racing in provincial series in a 1985 Porsche 935 Turbo. He stayed in those series and also made occasional Porsche Club of America starts - Harvey is passionate about the German marque - before climbing to the IMSA-sanctioned Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin when it started in 2011.

"We started the series with Shaun (McKaigue), Perry Bortolotti and a couple of other guys (in 2011)," Harvey said. "You have some new young guys this year. It's good for the series, good competition.

"I love the series. Every car, the engine, the gearbox, everything is similar for everybody. This series, the mix (of cars and drivers) is perfect."

For more information about Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin, visit www.imsa.com, follow hashtag #GT3CAN @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.

Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin

The Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin enters its fifth season in 2015 ready to produce more intense, exciting competition for semi-professional and aspiring professional drivers in the world's most produced and iconic race car, the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned championship is one of 20 global Porsche single-make Cup Racing series and is the perfect platform for aspiring drivers to ascend to the highest levels of GT competition, such as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.

Racing is divided into two classes - Platinum Cup, featuring the 2014 and 2015 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, which is based on the seventh, and current, generation of the street car; and Gold Cup, which is comprised of the previous iteration (model years 2010-2013) of the race car. A Masters Championship also is conducted in the Platinum class. Each class is awarded with its own podium at the end of every race and individual champion at the end of every season. Points are awarded by finish in class.

ABOUT IMSA

The International Motor Sports Association, LLC (IMSA) was originally founded in 1969 with a long and rich history in sports car racing. Today, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, the premier sports car racing series in North America. IMSA also sanctions the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge and the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Powered by Mazda, as well as four single-make series: Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama; Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin; Ferrari Challenge North America; and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. IMSA - a company within the NASCAR Holdings group - is the exclusive strategic partner in North America with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which operates the 24 Hours of Le Mans as a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The partnership enables selected TUDOR Championship competitors to earn automatic entries into the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.