Danville, Virginia - Angel Benitez Jr. and Jesse Lazare added to their growing win totals in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama on Sunday, Aug. 23 at VIRginia International Raceway, with respective victories in Rounds 12 and 4.

Benitez, from Miami, earned his third victory of the year by leading every lap of Round 12 Sunday morning in the No. 05 JDX Racing Porsche. Championship contender Lazare, from Montreal, continued his rebound from a tough, non-scoring result in Round 11 Saturday with a victory Sunday afternoon in the rescheduled Round 4, rained out earlier this year at NOLA Motorsports Park and Watkins Glen International.

Lazare earned his series-high fifth victory of the season in the No. 21 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche in Round 4.

Elliott Skeer was the big-picture winner after finishing second in both 45-minute races Sunday in the No. 14 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

Skeer, from Carlsbad, California, built a 19-point lead over Lazare with four rounds remaining this season in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned Single-Make Series. Skeer entered this triple-header weekend trailing Lazare by three points. The two title contenders have swapped the points lead after the last five event weekends this season.

"The points situation does change a little bit," Skeer said. "I can breathe a little bit more at night now, but we still have four rounds of mayhem, chaos, whatever can happen. So it's something that you want in a points race and you want to make it to the end, but at the same time, I'm a racer and I'm here to win."

Reigning Platinum Masters champion Kasey Kuhlman, from Cincinnati, was the top finisher in the class in both races today in the No. 15 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

Jeff Mosing, from Austin, Texas, won the Gold Cup class in Round 4 Sunday afternoon in the No. 01 TOPP Racing Porsche after losing the class lead to Sebastian Landy on the final lap of Round 12 Sunday morning. Mosing was the top finisher in the Gold Masters class in both races Sunday.

ROUND 4

Platinum Cup championship contenders Skeer and Lazare started on the front row and wasted little time pulling away from the pack and starting a taut duel in the opening minutes on the 17-turn, 3.27-mile circuit.

Lazare made repeated attempts to duck under Skeer in the early laps, even pulling side-by-side on the second lap. But Skeer held him off, building a lead of .745 of a second with 34 minutes left.

The two young stars continued to dodge and parry around the track before Lazare sized up Skeer and passed him for the lead with 19 minutes left.

"He had an amazing exit coming out of that last corner, and I knew I had set myself a little bit of a gap to get the perfect slipstream, the draft," Lazare said. "And I finally did it. I took a little bit of a risk. Stopped myself with the curb a little bit, and it worked."

Lazare drove away to a 1.415-second lead with two minutes remaining. But he encountered traffic over the last two laps, and Skeer pulled to within .206 of a second with one lap to go.

But Skeer never got close enough to make a last-gasp attempt at victory.

"Jesse drove great today," Skeer said. "His car setup was on rails. He was able to gain that little bit, but traffic went my way, qualifying went my way, so I was able to put up a fight."

Santiago Creel, from Mexico City, stayed consistent and avoided trouble to finish third and earn his first podium finish of the season in the No. 60 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

Will Hardeman, from Austin, Texas, finished fourth for the best result of his rookie season in the No. 19 Moorespeed Porsche. Benitez rounded out the top five after starting 17th.

Platinum Masters

Kuhlman earned his eighth Platinum Masters victory of the season. The win came after a sturdy battle for overall position late in the race with Hardeman, which included contact for the duo.

That contact distracted Kuhlman's focus, and he spun off track in Turn 17 late in the race. He never lost the class lead due to building a lead of 28 seconds before the incident.

"(Will) Hardeman and I were having a great race, and I got a huge run out of Oak Tree, and that was a run," Kuhlman said. "I popped him on the inside and I made the pass, and I was at the apex and he hammered me in the door. Now, I know him, and that was not an intentional hit. It was just one of those things.

"But it unsettled me all the way down the hill, and I looped it at the bottom. And I let all my hard work go down the drain. I gathered it back up and finished seventh, and I drove really well."

Jay Patel, from Crown Point, Indiana, finished second in the No. 00 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche. David Baker, from Colleyville, Texas, placed third in the No. 56 TOPP Racing Porsche.

Patel finished on the Platinum Cup podium in all three races this weekend and jumped to second in points behind Kuhlman.

Gold Cup/Gold Masters

Mosing cruised to victory in the Gold Cup and Gold Masters classes by 29.303 seconds, easing the sting of finishing second to Landy in heartbreaking fashion after suffering from brake bias problems in Round 12.

"The car was on point this time," Mosing said. "Being out there by myself, I was able to think about how bad we torture the tires over the curbing here at VIR. Your teeth are chattering and your eyes are blurry, but the tires just take it for the whole stint. They are just really, really consistent, even cross-pollinating with the TUDOR race tires beforehand.

"It was just good closure to the end of the day. Hat's off to (TOPP Racing owner) Todd Opperman really nailing the setup this time around."

Runaway Gold Cup and Gold Masters points leader Mosing earned his fifth Gold Cup and eighth Gold Masters victories of the season.

Joe Catania, from Cazenovia, New York, finished second in both classes in the No. 24 NGT Motorsport Porsche. The runner-up finish completed a rally from a crash earlier in the day in Round 12, as the NGT team worked feverishly to repair the damage.

Mark Llano, from Wellington, Florida, pushed Catania hard to the finish before placing third in both classes in the No. 22 NGT Motorsport Porsche.

Max Tullman, from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, earned the Yokohama Hard Charger Award after starting 20th and finishing 17th in the No. 96 Tullman Walker Racing Porsche.

ROUND 12

Benitez earned sweet redemption for a last-lap crash Saturday while running a close second to Skeer in Round 11, hampered by a steering problem.

He led Round 12 from pole to checkered flag, holding back Skeer by 1.857 seconds for his third victory of the season.

"It's good to be back on the top of the podium," Benitez said. "We're here not actually going for a championship but for having fun and to show the people that JDX and Hertz can put a good product together.

"I think we had a very, very fast car yesterday. It was disappointing to see all that potential go to waste because of the mechanical problem that was increasing through the middle of the race to the end."

Skeer earned his ninth podium finish of the season. Lucas Catania, from Cazenovia, New York, converted a superb start into a third-place finish, his third consecutive podium finish in the No. 26 NGT Motorsport Porsche.

Championship contender Lazare produced one of his most impressive drives of the season, finishing fourth after starting 20th. It was a vital points score for Lazare, who scored no points in Round 11 after being eliminated in a chain-reaction crash at the start of that race.

Andrew Longe, from Naples, Florida, rounded out the top five in the No. 47 Fall-Line Motorsports Porsche.

Kuhlman rebounded from a race-ending crash at the start of Round 11 to become the top Platinum Masters finisher in Round 12.

Landy, from Falls Church, Virginia, passed class leader and Round 11 winner Mosing on the last lap to win in Gold Cup in the No. 49 Champ 1 Motorsport Porsche.

Benitez was launched from a sling shot at the start and during the only restart, with 16 minutes left in the 45-minute race. Both times he pulled away from the field and never was threatened.

2012 Gold Cup champion Benitez never slowed after his rocket starts. He drove to a 5.103-second lead over Skeer before a spin and crash by Gold Masters driver Joe Catania triggered the only full-course caution of the race.

Benitez then eased away from Skeer over the final 16 minutes.

"It's the car, the way we have it set up," Benitez said. "We have a good car for starts and restarts. Normally in this kind of race on these kinds of tracks, yellow flags come. We use the car to make a gap and just keep away. It pretty much worked this morning. It should have worked yesterday, but it is what it is."

Catania climbed from fifth to second on the first lap. Skeer, who started third, started to stalk Catania with 32 minutes left in the race. He ducked and dodged behind fellow rookie Catania, looking for a place to pass on the challenging, 17-turn, 3.27-mile circuit.

Skeer drove past Catania in Turn 2 four minutes later and set sail for leader Benitez. But Catania's challenges weren't over.

Lazare made a breathtaking charge through the field after starting 20th. He climbed to 13th after just three laps and was up to seventh with 20 minutes left.

Montreal resident Lazare passed Longe for fourth place in Turn 15 with five minutes remaining. Then he zeroed in on Catania, pulling to within inches of his bumper on the final lap.

But Catania parried Lazare's final charge, holding him off by .127 of a second at the finish. Lazare turned the quickest lap of the race, a track-record trip 1 minute, 50.383 seconds, during his stirring run.

"I made a mistake in Turn 3 on the last lap, and I knew the 21 (Lazare) was coming fast," Catania said. "So I just tried to hang on, and it worked."

Platinum Masters

Reigning Platinum Masters champion Kuhlman was a victim of the chain-reaction collision at the start of Round 11 on Saturday, triggered with Lazare's transmission wouldn't upshift.

But Platinum Masters points leader Kuhlman left no doubt about his intentions during Round 12, winning by 13.793 seconds to earn his seventh class victory of the season despite admitting he struggled with his driving.

"Today was good," Kuhlman said. "I just think I struggled today as a driver. I just didn't feel like I had it, so I couldn't really press or challenge. It just became a matter of, 'All right, just focus and don't make any mistakes and bring it home.' Sometimes you have those days, and today was one of those for me."

Round 11 winner Bill Peluchiwski, from Chicago, finished second in the No. 74 Kelly-Moss Motorsports Porsche to continue a recent hot streak. He has finished on the class podium in five of the last six rounds.

Patel continued his intense duel with teammate and friend Peluchiwski for second in the class standings by finishing third.

Patel earned his place on the podium after placing intense pressure on Baker with about 30 minutes left in the race. Patel and Baker made contact during hard, clean racing with 27 minutes left, with Williams sliding off track momentarily, which allowed Patel to squeeze past for third place.

Gold Cup/Gold Masters

Landy earned his third victory in six starts this season after a dramatic late pass of Gold Cup and Gold Masters championship leader Mosing, who topped both classes Saturday in Round 11.

Mosing led in Gold Cup for the first 43 minutes but encountered a brake bias problem late in the race that caused him to overuse the rear tires. That was costly on the final lap as Mosing went wide in the Oak Tree turn, letting Landy slip underneath for the Gold Cup lead.

But Mosing didn't give up. He chased down Landy's 911 GT3 Cup car over the last half-lap but was unable to find a spot to challenge for the lead. Landy prevailed by .346 of a second, turning a class-record lap of 1:53.269 during the race. He earned the Yokohama Hard Charger Award after starting fourth in the class.

"I didn't think the first half of the race I had the pace to keep up (with Mosing)," Landy said. "But fortunately, I think the yellow helped cool things down a little bit and gave me a little more at the end. I was really hanging it out there. That was all I had left, and I was hoping he would make a mistake. Fortunately, he did."

Landy was quick to salute Mosing for more than clean driving during their last-lap duel. Landy's Porsche was damaged in an accident in Round 11 Saturday, and TOPP Racing - which fields Mosing's car - helped Champ 1 Motorsport fix Landy's car.

"Without those guys helping us out, we wouldn't be here for this race," Landy said. "That's the spirit of the Porsche GT3 Cup."

Mosing could take consolation with his seventh Gold Masters class victory of the season.

Llano finished third in Gold Cup and second in Gold Masters.

Steve Tullman, from Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, earned his first career Gold Masters podium finish in the No. 69 Tullman Walker Racing Porsche.

Tullman's Porsche suffered heavy damage in a crash Friday that forced an early end to qualifying, forcing him to miss Round 11 and threatening to end his first weekend in the series. But a number of teams in the paddock chipped in to help the Tullman Walker Racing team rebuild the car.

"It's amazing they put it back together," Tullman said. "I took such a hit into that tire wall. It gobbled me up and spit me back out, and the car, they spent almost 24 hours rebuilding it. It wasn't exactly the same as it was before, which is hard to do. Tranny, engine - they put it all back together, and it ran great."

Up Next

Rounds 13 and 14 are scheduled for Sept. 16-18 during the Lone Star Le Mans World Endurance Championship and TUDOR United SportsCar Championship event at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Round 13 starts at 12:30 p.m. (CT) Thursday, Sept. 17, with Round 14 at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18. Both races are 45 minutes.

Live streaming of both races will be available at www.imsa.com. For live timing, visit scoring.imsa.com or the new IMSA mobile app for iOS, Android or Windows.

For live updates on all the action, follow @IMSALive on Twitter.

For more information about Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, visit www.gt3cupchallengeusa.com, follow hashtag #GT3USA @IMSA on Twitter or IMSA on Facebook.

Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama

The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama enters its 11th season in 2015 as one of the largest of Porsche's 20 single-make Cup Challenge series in the world. The series produces 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.

Racing is divided into two classes - Platinum Cup, featuring the 2014 and 2015 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, which is based on the current 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 Platinum and Gold classes. 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.

Canadians In BOLD