BOWMANVILLE ON (May 20, 2019) – After starting a troubling weekend off with the pole position in both categories, Wright Motorsports holds their heads high with a third place podium for the No. 91 Henry Repeating Arms Porsche 911 GT3 R and a fourth place for the No. 58 Porsche Consulting/Pfaff Porsche Porsche 911 GT3 R.
All signs appeared to be in the John Wright-led team’s favor after two promising practice sessions. Qualifying only put a stamp on that after a Long locked in the first pole position of the season for the No. 58 car in Race 1 and both Imperato and Olsen took the Pro/Am category pole for each of the two Races.
A brilliant start for both Porsches allowed Long and Imperato to maintain the lead in both classes. Unfortunately, It was only 30-minutes into the race when the both cars were forced into the pits to access an issue outside of the team's control. Once at the wheel, Hargrove and Olsen worked to fight back, but ultimately couldn't make up the time and finished sixth in their respective categories.
Come time for Race 2, the Batavia Ohio-based team knew exactly what was at stake. After starting from an untraditional seventh place, Hargrove did what he could to maintain position before pitting at 45-minutes. Once in the car, Long cycled up to fourth, where he ultimately finished the race. A smooth start from Olsen allowed him to stick third overall and first in class before handing the controls off to Imperato. Unfortunately, the remainder of the race wrote itself when another unscheduled stop hindered their chances at the win. Despite the circumstances, Imperato was still able to salvage a third place, taking the checkered flag only 10-seconds after the overall leader.
While it wasn't meant to be this time around, Wright Motorsports leaves Canadian Tire Motorsport Park with their heads held high and every intention of returning stronger at Sonoma Raceway, June 8-9.
Driver Quotes:
PATRICK LONG | No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
Pfaff Porsche // Porsche Consulting
"We had a great start to the weekend with the pole position and a dominating opening stint in race one, but unfortunately that all came unraveled. Race two was a mission to survive so we can be proud of a fourth-place. We executed a perfect race, but just didn’t have the pace to run with the front-runners. This is a tight championship, so every position counts at the end of the year. With that, we just have to put our heads down and keep executing.”
SCOTT HARGROVE | No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
Pfaff Porsche // Porsche Consulting
"We came into the weekend with a good spot in the points and all signs looked like CTMP was going to be good for us. We were strong in practice and obviously Patrick did a great job in qualifying with the pole position. The race was looking great as well, but in the end, luck wasn’t on our side and we had some tire issues that took us out of contention. On Sunday, we had to think about the big picture and slow the cars down to keep the tires under us. It’s a frustrating way to race, but Wright Motorsports and all of the drivers did the best we could with it. I think we can all hold our heads up high, but we’re definitely hungry for more.”
ANTHONY IMPERATO | No. 91 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
Henry Repeating Arms
“The weekend started off well with a pole position, but unfortunately the rest of the weekend was disappointing with issues in both races. We salvaged a third-place, but will move on and hope for better luck at Sonoma.”
DENNIS OLSEN | No. 91 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R
Henry Repeating Arms
“We had a strong weekend and showed great speed, but just didn’t have the luck we needed. We didn’t get the results we wanted, but at the end of the day the whole team at Wright Motorsports and all of the drivers worked hard to diagnose the issues we had. We finished the weekend with a third-place finish, but hope to shake the bad luck off for the next event.”