BATAVIA, OH (August 19, 2019) - With over half of the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA season now in the books, championship battles are in full throttle as Wright Motorsports prepares for VIRginia International Raceway with their trio of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars for Max Root, Charlie Luck and Fred Poordad.
Seven overall podiums in ten rounds compliment what’s been a very successful season for Max Root. The 20-year old’s charge from tenth to third at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course showcased his race craft and his run to second in Montreal proved his ability to perform across an array of competition. That’s been enough to keep Root second in the championship run, 68-points behind his main championship protagonist, Roman DeAngelis.
Last year’s Race 2 at VIRginia International Raceway was a breaking point for the former Hurley Haywood scholar, after he passed Zach Robichon for the lead early on and claimed a season best second place finish. 2019 has seen Root best his rookie season results at every event thus far. He hopes to do the same with his sights set on his first victory at this weekend’s event.
It's been a challenging third season of competition for Charlie Luck, who started things off on a high with a pole position and second place podium during the Barber Motorsports Park weekend. Fortunately, the last round at Road America saw him shake a summer of hard luck with a statement drive from sixth to third among both North American and Canadian competition.
The Virginia native looks to continue that momentum in the final six races of the season. In 2018 he proved he could do just that with four wins and five podiums on what ended up being a second-place championship season. What better place to start than home turf at VIRginia International Raceway.
Fred Poordad entered the 2019 season in hot pursuit with a victory at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Since then, the Texan has done nothing but displayed his well-honed skills earning an additional six podiums—including at least one at each venue.
Sitting second in the Platinum Masters standings, a 27-point deflect to Alan Metni still leaves Poordad opportunity to get himself back into championship conversation. He hopes to capitalize on that as he returns to the site of his lone 2018 victory – VIRginia International Raceway.
Rounds 11 and 12 at VIRginia International Raceway will kick off GT3 Cup Challenge on Friday with a pair of practices and qualifying, which will take place Saturday morning at 8:00AM EDT.The green flag will drop for Race 1 Saturday at 11:20AM EDT, while Race 2 heads underway on Sunday at 9:45AM EDT. Both races can be streamed live on IMSA.tv.