DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., (January 19, 2024) – After a brief but busy off-season, the drivers and crew at Wright Motorsports are descending on Daytona International Speedway to kick off the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This week, January 19 – 21, the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R and its drivers will take part in the Roar Before the 24, the first full-season test of the 2024 WeatherTech season before official sessions get underway in preparation for the Rolex 24 At Daytona, January 27-28. The team has put great preparation into the event, eager to repeat their 2022 GTD class win at the iconic event.
While the co-drover combination of Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer is nothing new, the pair are set to make their IMSA WeatherTech and Rolex 24 At Daytona debuts this weekend. The pair have previously celebrated success together in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America series, as well as the Michelin Pilot Challenge. In 2023, the duo were leading the season-opening Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Daytona International Speedway when a mechanical issue dashed all hope of victory. The racing craft and speed they demonstrated sets a strong done for the beginning of 2024.
Wright Motorsports veteran and Rolex 24 At Daytona winner Jan Heylen will join as the third driver in the lineup, and the trio will contest all five races in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, in addition to April’s Long Beach Grand Prix. A Florida native, Heylen has celebrated victory on the top step of the grueling endurance race once in 2022 with Wright Motorsports and finished in third place both in 2014 and 2015. Heylen has been a longtime member of the team, acting as a coach and driver for many seasons. His experience and leadership will be an important key to the weekend as they enter an exciting new season ahead.
Porsche factory driver Fred Makowiecki completes the team’s stout lineup, also in the hunt for his first Rolex 24 win. The 2022 24 Hours of Le Mans race winner has participated in the race six times, each time racing a Porsche 911. He holds three podium finishes at the event, with his most recent, 2020, resulting in a third place. This season marks his 10th anniversary as a Porsche Motorsport factory driver, bringing to the team extensive experience with the German manufacturer.
On-track test sessions for the Roar Before the 24 begin on Friday, January 19, and go through the afternoon of Sunday, January 21. That afternoon starting at 1:55 PM ET, all entrants will then qualify by class to set the grid for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. A free and live stream for the qualifying session will air globally on IMSA.TV. For fans in the USA, the entire Rolex 24 At Daytona event will stream live on Peacock, or cable subscribers can watch intermittent hours on NBC (1/27 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM, 1/28 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM E) and USA (1/27 2:30 PM – 8:00 PM ET, 10:00 PM – 11:59 PM, and 1/28 6:00 AM – 12:00 PM. IMSA Radio will continue their free and live audio coverage, available on imsaradio.com. for full event information, visit wrightmotorsports.com or imsa.com.
DRIVER QUOTES
Adam Adelson
Coming into 2024, I never thought I’d be participating in my first Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. I’m beyond excited to start this new chapter of my career, and to be able to do it with such incredible talent in Elliott, Jan, Fred, and the whole Wright Motorsports crew makes it all the more special. We’ve been putting in the work in the offseason to make sure we’re coming into this race in top form, and I’m excited to see how all of that hard work will pay off.
Elliott Skeer
It’s finally here, the 2024 season, and for me to call this year special would be an understatement. It is such an incredible feeling to not only make it into the big show and race in the events I’ve grown up watching every second of, but to do it alongside Adam and with the race team I call family. The Roar will be a great test for us to show how all the work over the offseason has paid off, but it is more about gelling with Jan and Fred, and being as prepared as possible for what lies ahead the week after.
Jan Heylen
I’m really excited to be going back to Daytona with Wright Motorsports, Porsche, and my new teammates Adam, Elliott, and Fred. We have a year under our belt with the new car and feel good about the work we’ve done as a team to develop the car. As always, the team is super well prepared, and I feel confident that we can come away with a good result. I’m excited for Adam and Elliott to be doing their first Daytona with us and I hope they will enjoy it as much as I have over the years. I’m also looking forward to be sharing the car with Fred and working with him over the next two weeks.
Fred Makowiecki
I’m very happy to join Wright Motorsports for this race. The Rolex 24 At Daytona is one of the big endurance races in the world and I never got the chance to get this race win, though I have finished several times on the podium. We have a very strong package and I’m looking forward to fighting on track, and to finally be there in the last hour to fight for the win.
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.
