SEBRING, FL (March 14, 2018) – Following a short break in the action, Wright Motorsports is jumping right back into the thick of things for this weekend’s 66th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Rejoining full-season teammates Patrick Long (Manhattan Beach, CA) and Christina Nielsen ( Hørsholm, Denmark) in the No. 58 Porsche 911 GT3 R will be Mathieu Jaminet (Hayange, France) and Robert Renauer (Dachau, Germany).
With their unfortunate Rolex 24 luck well behind them, the Wright Motorsports team has their sights set high for this weekend’s famed 12-hour event. Between working out of the Batavia Ohio-based shop and participating in the IMSA sanctioned February test, the John Wright-led team has worked tirelessly preparing for the grueling bumps of Sebring International Raceway.
Nielsen heads into the weekend looking to continue her streak of success at the 3.7-mile Floridian circuit. In her last three consecutive attempts at the 12-hour classic, the Porsche selected driver has sprayed champagne three times, one being for a victory in 2016.
Someone who's also very familiar with success in Sebring is Long, who has seen four podiums and two victories at the famously unforgiving road-course. The Porsche factory driver knows what it takes to put a Porsche in a position for triumph at Sebring and that’s exactly where he looks to be come time for the final hours of the event.
New to Sebring International Raceway, but no strangers to Wright Motorsports are Porsche Young Professional, Jaminet and former Porsche Cup winner Renauer, who will return to the No. 58 Porsche 911 GT3 R this weekend. Both of the endurance racing aces have already brought themselves up to speed and gotten accustomed to Sebring’s bumpy, high-speed corners having taken part in the February test days.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship field will take the stage for the 66th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Saturday, March 17 at 10:30AM Eastern. Live coverage of the event can be found on FS1. For full schedule information, visit imsa.com.
Driver Quotes:
Patrick Long // Driver, No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R – “A lot of people talk about the bumps, the hot weather and the length of the race at Sebring. That definitely takes a toll on the team and the car, but for me an interesting challenge is the temperature changes as the race progresses and what it does to the balance of the race car. Another interesting variable is that having all the different surfaces on a lap really means you have to pick your battles in regards to feedback and what you chose to chase in balancing the car. I’m happy with how the test went. All of the objectives were reached, which should give us a good start heading into this weekend. We’re putting a rough start to the season behind us and have the same focus that we did at Daytona; to hit our marks and be there to fight in the end.”
Christina Nielsen // Driver, No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R –“Sebring has been a good track for me the last three years. It’s definitely one of my favorites, but the track is so bumpy that drivers really have to take care of the car. It exhausts both the car and the driver. The car needs to be balanced enough to race during the day, and still stay competitive after the temperature drops at night and we push through those final two hours of racing. We’re still going into this race with the mentality that we’re starting from scratch. We’ll just take things as they are from the first practice, then see how everything feels. It’s a super intense 12-hour race where everyone is pushing all the time, but it is still an endurance race. We’ll need to take it just one hour at a time and see where we are during the final two hours.”
Mathieu Jaminet // Driver, No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R – “I’m really happy to be back with Wright Motorsports for Sebring. I’m sure it’s going to be an exciting race. This is a new track for me, so it’s going to be a very new experience, like Daytona. I had a chance to drive it at the test and everything felt really great with the team. Sebring is a really fun track. It’s very different from any of the European tracks because it has many different surfaces and a lot of bumps. This makes it a bit difficult to setup the car, but I think we’re looking good and can be confident going into this race. I can’t wait to get on track.”
Robert Renauer // Driver, No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R - “I´m really looking forward to joining Wright Motorsports again for Sebring with the same driver line up. The team did an excellent job at the test two weeks ago, so I’m sure we will have great pace for the second round in this championship. My first laps at Sebring were extremely exciting, especially going through Turns 1 and 17 with all of the bumps. It´s not a track where you go out and drive 100%. This is a ‘real old school race track’, so you need some laps to get a rhythm in order to be fast.”