Daytona Beach, Florida - Chris Green broke through with his first Platinum Cup championship in the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin in 2015 by following a new strategy.

Patience, consistency and control paid off this summer after two seasons of frustration in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA)-sanctioned Single-Make Series.

Green, from Montreal, won the first two rounds of the season on Victoria Day Weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and then finished on the podium in seven of the next eight races in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. That was enough to edge series rookie Daniel Morad, 170-165, for the title.

The championship came after Green, 31, finished second in the Platinum Cup championship in 2013 and 2014. He lost to David Ostella by six points in 2013 and by 22 points to Scott Hargrove in 2014.

Green talked about various aspects of his championship season with Pfaff Motorsports:

Was there a moment when you stepped back and realized your accomplishment this season?

Chris Green: The short answer is yes. It's been a long, windy road, just to see where my career has grown and come in the last three years since I've been with Pfaff. It's a pretty emotional feeling, for sure. Just to celebrate and to share the feeling with friends and family and all the congratulations. People from coast to coast coming up to me and saying, 'You're Chris Green; you're the Porsche champion this year.' It's definitely a very, very, very special and emotional feeling.

Was there a major difference this season in the way the team operated or how you drove? Or was this just an evolution of the last three years?

Chris Green: If we were to sit down and script our season, the way it was going to pan out, it would have been almost word for word, page for page, how this season worked out. We really knew what it takes and what's required to win a championship, and that's ultimately consistency. You can't be off the podium. You have to be up at the top of the points, and you have to make sure that you're not making the mistakes that will cost you one race or cost you two races like I've done in the past. I've lost championships in the past as opposed to chasing or coming down to a final draw. I think the championships in the previous years, especially back in 2013, was because I lost it. I made a lot of mistakes that year. I was fresh back into the series. To be able to do over again, this year I think has been my most mature season. It's been a very difficult season for me, in terms of not going out and having to do the ultimate best lap, not going out and having to fight for the win every single time and actually just sitting back and saying, 'You know what? We're going to accept third today; we're going to accept second today and let the other guys kind of do their thing.' And if in any way they were a threat or a danger of taking me out, then it was just a question of moving over and saying, 'You go by. I'm going to come home and bring this home on the podium.'

How did you rewire your mind to accept that strategy? You've always wanted to be the fastest in every session in the past. You used measured speed this year.

Chris Green: I don't really know (laughing). A lot of it (credit) goes to the team. They're the ones in my ear; they're the ones talking to me when we're doing our team briefing and team strategy for the weekend and the race itself. They're basically saying: 'Chris, you know what you have to do. This is yours to lose once again. We've given you all the tools you need to bring the car home. We can promise you the car is as good as it needs to be to bring you home on the podium. If you just keep doing what you're doing, we will be champions. See the light at the end of the tunnel and focus on the big picture. Nobody remembers who wins every race in the season. Everybody remembers who is the ultimate champion at the end of the year, and that's what goes up on walls and trophies.' My team was more focused and more mentally prepared for that than I was, but I listened to them and I trusted them, and ultimately it was a team effort. We did it together. I wouldn't have been able to do it myself. I wouldn't have been able to flick a switch and go into conservation mode. In my mind, it was, 'Go, go, go.' But they kept on saying: 'Relax. Don't panic. You've got five more minutes. You've got X amount of time left. Do exactly what you're doing. Be aggressive, let him by.' Whatever the case was. They were always in my ear, saying the right things at the right times.

How much did having a teammate this year help you? Did preaching the message of consistency to your rookie teammate and eventual Gold Cup champion, Orey Fidani, also help to reinforce that strategy in your mind?

Chris Green: Yeah, absolutely. That's exactly what it came down to. You have to lead by example. I've had the opportunity to drive with some very experienced drivers before getting to the Porsche series. They led by example. They showed me what it is I can do. Orey was in a very similar situation to myself. He just stayed on track. He hit his marks lap after lap after lap. He just grew so much as a driver. I'm not going to take a lot of credit for that. He definitely did it by himself, but we did it together, as well. He was able to listen and see, 'OK, Chris is able to do it. Chris has learned from the mistakes. Let me make sure that I'm not making the same mistakes that he's done in the past.'

You're a three-year veteran of the Platinum Cup in Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Michelin. What is your favorite part of this series, and why is it a good fit for you?

Chris Green: In the last three years, I've made so many friends. The paddock, in many cases, is a lot like a family. Of course, when racing comes down to it, we're no longer friends when that green flag drops. But away from the actual on-track action, we're one big family. We're close-knit. We're together five weekends, three, four days per weekend, so we're together 20 days per year. It's a lot of time to spend with these people. What it's done for a company like ourselves at Pfaff, it just creates a general spirit within the company, within the employees, that they have somebody to cheer for. They have a team to root for. Just to be part of that and to be the face of that image and that branding that we've created over the past years, it's an honor. To be able to establish relationships with everyone, it's a really cool environment. People look up to and recognize the Porsche GT3 Cup series as the elite talent and the only multi-provincial single-make series in the country.

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 finished its fifth season in 2015 after producing 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 WeatherTech 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 WeatherTech 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. For more information, visit www.IMSA.com, www.twitter.com/IMSA or www.facebook.com/IMSA.