MONTEREY, CA (September 22, 2019) – Wright Motorsports leaves WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca victorious once again after Rounds 9 and 10 of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge. The double-header weekend saw a win and second place finish for both Max Root and Fred Poordad in each of their respective classes.
The tone was set for Root’s weekend after an impressive qualifying run landed him his first IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge pole position. At the start of Race 1, Root surrendered the top slot to DeAngelis, only lighting a fire under himself. From there, the Californian continued to put the pressure on his main championship protagonist until a brilliant move into Turn 11 allowed him to retake the lead, earning his third consecutive victory in IMSA competition.
Come time for Race 2, a great start by Root allowed him to stick the lead and build a firm gap over DeAngelis. He continued to maintain his position until the final five laps, when he ran into lapped traffic. This put him on the wrong side of the track, allowing DeAngelis room to advance out front, solidifying the second place slot for Root.
“I was really happy with our performance this week,” said Root. “We had a tough start yesterday, but we were able to reel back in first place and get the win, which gave us great momentum for Race 2. We led all of today’s race, but unfortunately lost the position just before a yellow was thrown, which is a shame because we had the pace.”
“I see this last few races as hard work paying off. It’s a team effort, it’s not just me. It’s 40 other guys behind the scenes and I’m just as happy for them to be here. I’m looking forward to the season finale, we’re going to give it everything we have.”
After qualifying second for both rounds, a smooth start allowed Poordad to maintain position with no shortage of pressure from behind. From there he held off a charging Bellomo until the final five laps when an incident with the leader allowed Poordad to take the top slot, earning his fourth victory of the season.
“I haven’t been here for several years and some guys have never been here,” said Poordad. “It’s always dirty and tough to get around, but the race kind of opened up for me. Unfortunately, the No. 99 made a mistake and I was right there to capitalize on it. I had my hands full with the No. 63. He was pressuring me the whole day. It was some good, clean racing, I really enjoyed it. I’m looking to put some pressure on the points leader for the next few rounds.”
Race 2 saw a similar story for the Texan, who held onto his second place starting position. Poordad’s lap times dropped more and more as the race led on, until he ultimately knocked out the quickest Platinum Masters in the final laps. Though he wasn’t able to challenge for the lead, his second place podium earned him valuable points as he is now only 14-points behind Metni in the Platinum Masters championship chase.
The Wright Motorsports team will retake the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge stage one final time at Road Atlanta, October 11-13.
About Wright Motorsports
Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series, international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012, 2013 and 2015. After a most successful 2017 season, the team holds the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team and Manufacturer’s titles. For the 2019 season, the group is campaigning two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs in SRO America – a PRO entry for Patrick Long and Scott Hargrove and a PRO/AM entry for Anthony Imperato, Dennis Olsen and Matt Campbell