BRASELTON, Ga., (October 2, 2022) – When Wright Motorsports secured their monumental victory at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January, the Porsche customer racing team immediately showed they would be a championship contender for the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Sunday at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, the battle for the GTD class title came down to the final laps, and with a fourth-place finish, the Wright Motorsports Porsche finished as runner-up in the championship standings.
“This is the second time in two years that we’ve come just a handful of points shy of the championship,” said Team Owner John Wright. “While it’s heartbreaking, it makes me so proud that each year, we’re right there in the fight to the very end. Ryan and Jan drove an incredible season, and really showed some true grit against such a competitive field. The crew consistently gained positions in pit lane, and the Porsche’s power and stability have no match in this series. We executed flawlessly and I’m proud of everyone.”
Petit Le Mans, the 10-hour season finale endurance racing event gifted competitors with perfectly sunny autumn days each day of the weekend. Drivers Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen, and endurance addition Zacharie Robichon made the most of each practice session, working with the team to develop the optimal race pace for Saturday’s final event.
Robichon started the 25th Annual Motul Petit Le Mans from ninth place, behind the No. 21 Ferrari of Simon Mann and the No. 57 Mercedes of Russell Ward. He gained a position on the start, intent on staying close to the No. 27 Aston Martin of Roman De Angelis. A majority of the field pitted within the first 65 minutes following the first full-course caution of the event. The No. 16 Porsche pitted from eighth, undergoing a full-service stop with fuel, tires, and a new driver. Hardwick took over the driving duties of the 1st Phorm Porsche, taking his first stint of the race. With over nine hours of racing remaining, Hardwick kept his pace fast and kept his moves risk-free, running near the top-ten under perfectly sunny conditions. The second full course caution came out with 90 minutes of racing complete.
The Atlanta, Georgia resident gained some ground to sit eighth at the next set of full course cautions, when a GTD battle sent two cars off course. The team pitted Hardwick for fuel only on lap 69, giving him a full tank for the restart. He took the green from eighth place, clocking in consistent lap times to maintain pace and position to save the car for the night racing. He slid to ninth, running about six seconds behind the No. 21 of Luis Perez Companc.
The field went back to green with three hours complete, and Hardwick had a trouble-free conclusion to his stint before passing the No. 16 1st Phorm Porsche over to Jan Heylen. As Road Atlanta encountered the warmest temperatures of the day, Heylen experienced a slight loss of overall grip during his stint. Despite the hindrance, he climbed from seventh place to fifth, closing in on Ward’s Mercedes. On the following pit stop, the team brought him into pit lane under caution for a scheduled pit stop from fourth place, where they made some quick adjustments on the car to help with performance.
Just before the halfway point, Heylen pitted from sixth place for a full-service stop, and the No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R took on new tires and a tank of fuel, and traded drivers from the Belgian to Canadian Robichon. Robichon had a quiet and drama-free stint as dusk settled on the track, maintaining seventh place behind the No. 21 of Luis Perez Companc. The overall balance of the Porsche continued to improve with the cooler temperatures and with each setup adjustment by the team. Aided by speedy work from the Wright Motorsports crew in pit lane, the Porsche had an advantage over the No. 42 NTE/SSR car.
The track fell under full darkness and with less than two hours to go, and Heylen passed Luis Perez Companc to break back into the top ten, with the No. 57 machine 53 seconds ahead. With 40 minutes to go, the eighth full course caution occurred, bringing the field back together. The tension was palpable, as every team surveyed positions and counted potential points. The field went back to green with 30 minutes to go. The 1st Phorm Porsche restarted from sixth position, behind the No. 1 BMW of Bryan Sellers.
Heylen made the pass on Sellers and continued to climb in the final hour. In the final ten minutes of the race, the No. 57 Mercedes went off course and into the tire wall, causing a shakeup in the potential points possibilities. Sadly, the incident brought out a final full-course caution ending the race under yellow. The Wright Motorsports effort finished in fourth place, just one position shy of clinching the 2022 championship.
With two wins and five top-five finishes across 12 races, the team remained solidly in the championship hunt throughout the season. The team will carry this momentum into the 2023 season, the details of which will be announced at a later date.
DRIVER QUOTES
Ryan Hardwick
In the end, we were one position short for the championship, but while it’s frustrating to come up short by such a small margin, it was an unbelievable experience to compete for this championship all year long. From the first race at Daytona all the way here to the final race at Petit Le Mans. I couldn’t be more proud of our entire team. We made no mistakes on pit lane, and no mistakes on track. Everybody did their part. We did the best we could today. Ultimately, it was one position short of where we needed to be. I’m excited to compete in this field, with these teams and these drivers, and I look forward to next year and the challenges that lie ahead. One year, this championship will be ours.
Jan Heylen
A big thank you goes to the whole team for a great season. Thanks to Ryan Hardwick and 1st Phorm for putting this program together and for all of the support from our partners. John Wright, Bobby Viglione, and all the guys here. We just came a little bit short today. It’s disappointing to be that close and not get it, but we just didn’t have the speed today. There were cars out there that were so much quicker on the front straight that we couldn’t put up a fight today because of the BOP. I’m happy with everything we’ve achieved this year, and I’m looking forward to Daytona. We have an incredible crew here and we’ll be ready for another run next year.
Zacherie Robichon
It was a very difficult race from the beginning. I don’t think I’ve ever done a race where we worked on the car and on the set up so much throughout the race. It was incredible the amount of work the guys were doing in pit lane. We were doing sway bar adjustments and diff adjustments. Ultimately, we got the car in a much better place where we could really keep up with the cars around us. They turned our car around. Ryan and Jan missed the championship by one position, but it wasn’t for lack of effort. We should be super proud of the fact that we came home fourth in this race, given the way it started. We’re disappointed right now, but we can’t be disappointed with the performance of the team today.
Porsche Carrera Cup North America Presented by the Cayman Islands
The season finale for the Porsche Carrera Cup North America Presented by the Cayman Islands also took place over the weekend for John Goetz, Hutton McKenna, and Varun Choksey. The trio of Wright Motorsports-prepared Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race cars participated in the final doubleheader of the season and after securing the win in race one, Goetz came runner-up in the 2022 Am driver championship. Varun Choksey celebrated a strong seventh-place finish in race one, closing the year out seventh in the Pro Driver championship.
1st Phorm
1st Phorm is a sports nutrition company based in St. Louis, MO. In 2009, CEO Andy Frisella and his business partner Chris Klein started the brand, and since then, it has become the fastest growing supplement company in the world. 1st Phorm has set the standards in the industry for quality and helping people reach their goals. This new racing partnership is not their first time in the exotic car scene either. 1st Phorm has been the title sponsor for the Gold Rush Rally for six years running. With over a million followers across social media, 1st Phorm has amassed a huge cult-like following known as, “The Legion of Boom.” They stand for a movement in the fitness world. To turn it back to what it was meant to be. Helping others improve their lives, to be a good human… and to drop the excuses and do the work. 1st Phorm is a winning brand and they don’t expect anything less when it comes to their race team. For additional info: www.1stphorm.com
Mountain Motorsports
Mountain Motorsports is a group of motorcycle and powersports dealerships with multiple locations in the southeastern United States. The company was founded by lifelong friends Ryan Hardwick and Justin Price when they opened their first location as a single-line Honda dealership in Sevierville, Tennessee in 1999. The company has since grown into one of the largest retailers of motorcycle and powersports vehicles in the nation, spanning nine dealership locations representing eleven of the industry’s most well-known brands. For additional info: www.mountainmotorsports.com
Una Vida Tequila
Una Vida translates to One Life. That is how this brand started. By people who want to live their “One Life” to the absolute fullest and to their highest potential. A group of guys from the Midwest who love great quality tequila, and want their One Life to have meaning and impact others.
One Life, One Tequila is our CORE BELIEF. We’re building the only tequila brand you will ever need to drink. Una Vida is bigger than just tequila we’re also building a culture of people who want to live their life to their utmost potential.
Our story begins and continues to grow bottle by bottle. It’s a life mission for us to create a community of people who all raise a glass knowing they’re living their ONE LIFE! For more information, visit unavidatequila.com
Wright Motorsports
Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series and 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, and went on to win the Pirelli World Challenge Overall, Sprint, Team, and Manufacturer’s titles in 2017. In 2020, the team captured the GT World Challenge America Am championship. In 2021, Wright Motorsports had a wildly successful season, capturing nine championships across their five racing efforts.
