INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., (October 9, 2022) – The 2022 season for the Fanatc GT World Challenge America powered by AWS came to a close this weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The three-wide battle for the championship title in the Pro/Am class concluded with Wright Motorsports finishing the endeavor in second place, narrowly missing the top honors by one position.
“The competition in this year’s battle was as strong as ever, and it was an honor to be amongst such a tight field,” said Team Owner John Wright. “This crew and these drivers performed flawlessly again and again, and it really shows. For Charlie Luck to be fighting in the championship in the final race, in his rookie season in the Pro/Am class is really something to be proud of.”
The Porsche customer racing team entered the season finale with the points lead, fully prepared for a tight battle in Saturday’s Indianapolis 8 Hour. The No. 45 Porsche, piloted by Charlie Luck, Jan Heylen, and Elia Erhart showed strong pace all weekend long, but a rare mechanical issue sent the team back to the garage for lengthy repairs just two hours into the race. Though the crew brought the No. 45 back out and into the race in impressive time, valuable ground was lost.
While the team reentered and ran several laps down, the No. 45 Porsche remained ahead of the No. 04 Crowdstrike with Riley Motorsports program as needed, and within just one position of the eventual winner, Racers Edge Motorsports. The team’s perseverance paid off, as other cars would suffer from mechanical issues and retire or also run several laps down from the competition. Of the cars racing for points in the GT World Challenge America championship, the Wright Motorsports entry finished in sixth place in the Pro/Am class.
Father and son-in-law Charlie Luck and Jan Heylen concluded their 2022 race season with seven podiums, four wins, and 10 top-five finishes. The pair started the season off with back-to-back wins and remained championship contenders all the way to the season finale in Indianapolis.
The team will make announcements for future racing plans in the coming months.
Charlie Luck // No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R
I’m incredibly proud and feel mighty blessed that we are in second in the championship. This is such a complicated, challenging, extremely difficult journey that we’re on for seven weekends and countless test days and there’s so much incredible talent here at Wright Motorsports. We have nothing to be but grateful and thankful and really, proud.
Jan Heylen // No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R
It has been an awesome season, but I’m disappointed with how the day went. Out of all races, today is where we have a mechanical. The car was really good all season long and everybody did a good job, we just came short. I am thankful for the really good job by the team all year and to Charlie for putting this program together. I’m so happy to be part of this. Hope we can go back next year and try for one better.
Elia Erhart // No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 R
The race was okay. We had a small issue at the start but then we had a good speed all race and were able to push hard. It’s a shame to lose the championship, because of one point. The team did an amazing job. The car was very, good and very fast. It was a pleasure for me to drive for Wright Motorsports, and I’d like to thank everyone who made that possible. Maybe we’ll try it again.
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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.
