Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen are the 2021 Team and Driver Champions after winning the Michelin Pilot Challenge on Friday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
This was Wright Motorsports’ third championship this season in Friday’s Fox Factory 120 for their third consecutive victory in the No. 16 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport thanks to a strong team and great cars that got them the championship after a bad start to the season.
“This has been an incredible season for Wright Motorsport in the Michelin Pilot Challenge,” said Team Owner John Wright. “No matter what was thrown at us this year, we just stayed focused on consistency and execution.”
The No. 16 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport team missed the opening race at Daytona International Speedway due to an on-track incident during practice. The team finished in second place the following week at Sebring International Raceway, and drivers Hardwick and Heylen captured three additional podiums. This got the team back into contention for the championship amongst the leaders.
“This is the end result of that commitment by every member of Wright Motorsports, Ryan, Jan, Max, and everyone at Porsche.” said Team Owner John Wright.
“It’s truly like a storybook, childhood dream, right?” Hardwick said.
The No. 95 Turner teammates Auberlen and co-driver Dillon Machavern were the team to watch heading into the race in their BMW M4 GT4. They had a 30-point lead and were the team to bet on to win the championship, but the team finished 31st and 190 out of the championship.
Bill Auberlen and Eric Foss collided while racing for the lead into Turns 10A and 10B with 26 minutes remaining in the Fox Factory 120. The Wright Porsche assumed the lead and kept it to the finish of the race by 0.162 seconds over Scott Andrews. Wright Motorsports won the team championship and Porsche won the manufacturer championship.
“It is hard to put into words what I am feeling right now. To even have an opportunity to race for a championship is something that most people never have. To ultimately win it, at my hometown track, is hard to describe. It came down to our team yet again; Wright Motorsports.” said Hardwick.
“It has been an unbelievable season with this team in all series. Big thank you to Ryan Hardwick, to Porsche, to Wright Motorsports for putting this program together at the beginning of the season. It has been a super fun season, a few ups and downs but just really good hard racing and that is what we love doing. Definitely could not have done it without the team.” said Heylen.
Andrews and co-driver Anton Dias Perera finished second in the No. 21 Riley Motorsports Toyota Supra GT4.
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Top-10 finishers
| POS | ST POS | CAR NO | CLASS POS | DRIVERS | TEAM/CAR/SPONSOR |
| 1 | 3 | 16 | 1 | Jan Heylen, Ryan Hardwick | Wright MotorsportsPorsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport |
| 2 | 16 | 21 | 2 | Scott Andrews, AntonDias Perera | Riley MotorsportsToyota Supra GT4 |
| 3 | 4 | 46 | 3 | Matt Plumb, Hugh Plumb | TeamTGMChevrolet Camaro GT4.R |
| 4 | 17 | 13 | 4 | Kuno Wittmer, Orey Fidani | AWAMcLaren 570S GT4 |
| 5 | 8 | 8 | 5 | Andrew Davis, Michael McCann | McCann RacingAudi R8 GT4 |
| 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | Trent Hindman, Alan Brynjolfsson | VOLT Racing with ArchangelAston Martin Vantage GT4 |
| 7 | 18 | 18 | 7 | Trenton Estep, Mark Kvamme | Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 |
| 8 | 5 | 23 | 8 | Stevan McAleer, Patrick Gallagher | RS1Aston Martin Vantage GT4 |
| 9 | 12 | 6 | 9 | Tom Long, Luke Rumburg | Toyota Supra GT4 |
| 10 | 14 | 65 | 10 | Tim Probert, Brent Mosing | Murillo RacingMercedes-AMG GT GT4 |
