LONG BEACH, Cali., (April 16, 2024) – After a promising third-place finish in March’s Twelve Hours of Sebring, the Wright Motorsports No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R team is running full speed into this weekend’s Grand Prix of Long Beach. The downtown streets of the southern California city will come alive with Saturday’s 100-minute sprint race, the third race of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Though in their rookie season in the IMSA WeatherTech series, Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer have had a strong debut in the green and yellow Wright Motorsports Porsche. They finished seventh at Daytona International Speedway co-driving with Jan Heylen and Fred Makowiecki, then celebrated a podium finish, again with Heylen, at the grueling Twelve Hours of Sebring. Their clean racing and the team’s consistent execution from the pit box puts the program in third place in the championship point standings heading into Long Beach.
The downtown streets of the waterfront playground will be transformed into the temporary street circuit with 11 turns in 1.968 miles. Just the GTP and GTD classes will be racing this weekend, though the battle for real estate on the tight surface is expected to be as rigorous as always. The tight concrete walls make for close racing quarters where every corner of every lap counts.
The two practice sessions and 15-minute qualifying session will be squeezed into Friday, before the field of 27 competitors takes the green flag on Saturday, April 20 at 1:35 PM PT. Fans can stream the 100-minute race live in its entirety on Peacock. Fans residing outside the USA can watch on isma.tv.
DRIVER QUOTES
Adam Adelson
I’m beyond excited to participate in the Long Beach race this year! This being my home race makes it super special and exciting for me. I’ll have all the comforts of home while getting to go racing, which is something that seldom happens. I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going this season. I also love to drive street circuits, and the whole team has been firing on all cylinders. I’m optimistic about our ability to bring home a good result this weekend. As always, it’s important to keep our heads down and stay focused as we have been, as that’s how you get the best results.
Elliott Skeer
The Monaco of America! This is certainly a special event for both Adam and me! For me, I attended Long Beach for the first time as a fan in 2008 and have dreamed of racing around the fountain every single year since! To go street fighting only an hour from my hometown which means having family and familiar faces everywhere is going to make it even more special. At the same time, this is a points event and the whole crew at Wright Motorsports is feeling energized and motivated to make this the strongest result we possibly can. In a feeling no different to Sebring, I am checking off a bucket list event. I am working to make it as memorable as possible, which means bringing home the strongest result.
Event Schedule | All Times Pacific
Thursday, April 18
6:00 PM – 10:30 PM Thunder Thursday at the Pike Outlets
Friday, April 19
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM WeatherTech Practice 1
12:50 PM – 2:20 PM WeatherTech Practice 2
5:00 PM – 5:15 PM WeatherTech GTD Qualifying
Saturday, April 20
10:30 AM – 11:00 AM WeatherTech Autograph Session
1:35 PM 3:15 PM IMSA Grand Prix of Long Beach
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.
