SEBRING, FL (March 13, 2018) – Following a long winter of testing and preparations, Wright Motorsports has set the stage with another full-season campaign in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA series. The Batavia Ohio-based group’s potent stable will include four Platinum class entries featuring Max Root, Anthony Imperato, Charlie Luck and Fred Poordad.
New to the Wright Motorsports team is formerly announced Hurley Haywood Scholarship recipient, Max Root. Though only 17-years old, Root has a deep bench of racing experience, including success in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. The California native saw the podium in all 16 of the 2017 Pirelli GT3 Cup Trophy USA races he competed in, ultimately allowing him to take second in the championship. Root will be one to watch as he takes on his IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA season debut.
Fred Poordad, who is no stranger to Wright Motorsports, will return to the group following a one-year hiatus to recover from an incident during the 2017 Bathurst 12-Hour. Despite his time away from the cock-pit it hasn’t taken long for Poordad to get right up to speed. The Texas-based Platinum Masters driver was right on pace with some of the quickest drivers during testing at Sebring International Raceway.
Rejoining the Ohio-based group for his second season will be Charlie Luck, who is set to move over to the Platinum Masters class with a new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Luck, who made his series debut in 2017 ended the year with his maiden IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA podium at Road Atlanta. He looks to build on that momentum as he heads to Sebring International Raceway.
Anthony Imperato will be entering his third season in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA. Coming off of a career best season in 2017, with two podium finishes, Imperato is prepared to take his Henry Repeating Arms Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to success as he takes on familiar testing territory at Sebring International Raceway.
The 2018 IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge USA season will kick off at Sebring International Raceway Thursday March 15, at 4:25PM EST for Race 1, followed by Race 2 at 11:20AM EST on Friday, March 16.
Driver Quotes:
Max Root // Driver, No. 7 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup - “I’m very excited to be joining the Wright Motorsports team this season in partnership with my sponsors and the Hurley Haywood Scholarship. After spending a lot of time testing with Wright Motorsports and and training with PitFit Training during the offseason, I feel that I’m very prepared to head into the first race of the season and go for some wins. I’m excited to get things started.”
Anthony Imperato // Driver, No. 71 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – “ I am really looking forward to starting another year of IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge with Wright Motorsports. We have been working hard in the off season testing and on the simulator as much as possible. I feel confident that we are going to have some good results this year. Sebring is always a fun track to start the season off. It’s a difficult track with good passing opportunities. We will have a lot of cars on the grid with the IMSA GT3 Cup Canada series joining us, so it should be some good racing. We will be pushing every session trying to improve and make sure we are as prepared as we can be for the races. Can’t wait to get started!”
Charlie Luck // Driver, No. 45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – “I’m very happy to be back with Wright Motorsports for a second season. From their great driver development program, to team chemistry and car preparation, I think they are the best program in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge garage. This year, I will be moving from the Gold to Platinum class, so I’m excited to compete in a much deeper field.
I really like Sebring. It doesn’t have some of the blind corners or elevation changes that other tracks have, but it’s very bumpy and hard on the car and the driver, so you have to tolerate the car jumping around a lot, so you can’t overreact.
I’m in a totally different place than I was 12-months ago, having been to all the tracks and knowing what to expect to a higher degree. It’s going to be more about fine tuning than making major chunks of progress. I’m excited to get to Sebring.”
Fred Poordad // Driver, No. 20 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup – “I’m thrilled to be back in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge and to be joining my friends at Wright Motorsports. It’s been a year since I last competed in the series, but have gotten in a lot of test time with the car during the winter. It feels great to be back in a Porsche. I’m very confident in the team heading into the season and can’t wait to get started in Sebring.”