BATAVIA, OH (May 14, 2019) – This week Wright Motorsports heads north of the border for Rounds 5 and 6 of the Blancpain GT World Challenge America championship at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. The team will come barring the No. 58 Pro-class Pfaff Porsche/Porsche Consulting Porsche 911 GT3 R of Patrick Long and Scott Hargrove and the No. 91 Pro/Am-class Henry Repeating Arms entry of Anthony Imperato and Dennis Olsen.
Wright Motorsports Partners with Pfaff Porsche
This Victoria Day weekend event will see Wright Motorsports welcome Pfaff Porsche on board as a partner of Patrick Long and Scott Hargrove’s No. 58 Porsche 911 GT3 R.
"We're very pleased to welcome Pfaff Porsche on board for the Toronto event", said Wright Motorsports Principal John Wright. “It will be great to have an extra boost of morale, with their personnel and clients on the ground. What Pfaff Porsche has done with their car sales speaks for itself and partnerships like these capitalize on the shared values between Porsche entities.”
As one of the largest growing Porsche dealerships in North America, Pfaff Porsche has a passion not only for Porsche cars, but for the people who drive and own them. Since founded in 1964, the Toronto-based outfit has built a community of people who love to own, drive, race and be inspired by great cars.
"We’re really excited to be partnering with Wright Motorsports, a long standing and extremely successful team in the upcoming SRO America race", said Pfaff Porsche General Manager, Matt Killkenny. "This partnership along with our commitment with Pfaff Motorsports in the WeatherTech Championship further solidifies our commitment to the passion and enthusiasm we have for Porsche’s heritage in motorsports."
Bringing You Up to Speed
The Ohio-based team saw their share of highs and lows at VIRginia International Raceway. After an early end to Race 1 for both Porsches, the group bounced back with a second place result for the No. 58 Porsche of Long and Hargrove and a third place for Imperato and Campbell in the No. 91 Porsche.
That combined with their podium sweep at COTA has the No. 58 Porsche sitting fourth in the championship standings with a fourteen point deflect to the leaders. Meanwhile, Imperato stands on his own running third in the Pro/Am category.
Experience: Wright Drivers at CTMP
The No. 58 pairing boasts a long history of success at the 2.459-mile circuit. Of Long’s four CTMP victories, two were earned during his first series event with Wright Motorsports in 2016. Though it’s still a trip across the country for Hargrove, it’s all familiar territory as the Vancouver native holds nine victories driving Porsche cars at the Canadian road course.
The event will see Imperato return to CMTP for the first time since 2015 while Olsen makes his first trip to Bowmanville. The duo have already proven to be a strong force, earning two podiums together Circuit of the Americas and hope to capitalize on that during this week’s double-header.
Technical Analysis: Bob Viglione, Wright Motorsports Technical Director
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is a track of high commitment and high reward. There are a lot of high speed corners and a lot of risk, so it's going to be all about aero dynamic efficiency, top speed, direction change and the overall balance of the car. There aren't many heavy braking zones at CTMP- Turn 1 has a slight one and Turn 5 is uphill, which works in our favor. Passing zones are also very limited, so qualifying will be key here. We also expect weather and tire temperatures to play a large factor as usually in the spring there's a lot of rain and it's very cool.
How to Watch
On-track action begins Thursday with practice at 5pm ET. Round 5 is set to go green at 2:10PM ET on Saturday, while Sunday’s round is scheduled for 9:55AM ET. Both races and qualifying will be streamed live on gt-world-challenge-america.com, with Sunday’s race airing on a same-day CBS Sports Network telecast at 2PM ET.
Driver Quotes:
Patrick Long | Driver, No. 58 Wright Motorsports Pfaff Porsche/Porsche Consulting Porsche 911 GT3 R – "CTMP is a track that stands on its own entirely compared to other North American tracks. It's very quick, treacherous and challenging to get the car dialed in. When you have success there it gives you an extra kick of confidence because it's that tough. We haven't been the strongest car on the straights and CTMP has a lot of high speed sections. We’ll have our work cut out for us, but if you look our previous results with Wright Motorsports, we’ve always come out strong so we go in with confidence.”
"Having Pfaff Porsche on the car for a Toronto home race is a special thing. I've worked with Pfaff in the past when I lived in Toronto. It's a great group that's hugely successful on a global level with their car sales. I'm sure they will bring an extra home court advantage to cheer us on and we look forward to that.”
Scott Hargrove | Driver, No. 58 Wright Motorsports Pfaff Porsche/Porsche Consulting Porsche 911 GT3 R – "Canadian Tire Motorsport Park feels like a home track to me, even at over 4000km away from my home. I’ve always really enjoyed tackling the high-speed elevation changes and I’m confident that we’ll carry over the positive momentum that we built at VIR. It’s also great to have Pfaff Porsche join us for the event as they are a leader in developing the Canadian motorsports community."
Anthony Imperato | Driver, No. 91 Wright Motorsports Henry Rifles Porsche 911 GT3 R – “I have not been to CTMP in a long time and I’m looking forward to going back. Really enjoy all the high-speed corners. The team has been successful here in the past which definitely gives us some extra confidence going into the weekend. I can’t wait to get started.”
Dennis Olsen | Driver, No. 91 Wright Motorsports Henry Rifles Porsche 911 GT3 R - "I'm looking forward to joining Anthony again in the SRO America championship. Unlike COTA, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park is a new track for me. I'm sure we will be up to speed very quickly and as always, I feel very confident racing with Wright Motorsports. Hopefully we will be able to collect a lot of valuable points for the championship and continue the great momentum that we’ve built over the last two rounds.”