Wright Motorsports Battles Hard to Fourth Place Finish in Laguna Seca Sprint

Round 4 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca saw Wright Motorsports complete a strong and determined drive in the first regular-length sprint endeavor of the season, recovering from adversity on the opening lap to secure a fourth-place finish in the StubHub Monterey SportsCar Championship. 

Adam Adelson started eighth on the grid in the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R following a solid qualifying effort. However, the beginning of the 2-hour and 40-minute race took a challenging turn when Adelson was caught up in contact on the opening lap in Turn 4, sustaining front-end damage that initially dropped him back a couple of positions.

Despite this, Adelson was able to continue and quickly began working back through the field. He kept the Porsche in contention and regained another position before handing the car over to his teammate. From there, Callum Ilott continued the charge and advanced to seventh while capitalizing on penalties and issues for fellow class competitors. 

Another strategic opportunity arose as a full-course yellow emerged with approximately 90 minutes remaining. The team opted to complete a pit stop under caution, and then returned to the pit box again one lap later in an effort to extend fuel mileage.

When the race returned to green with just over an hour remaining, Ilott further gained momentum and continued climbing through the field as the last hour approached. The team’s pit stop strategy saw the Brit move into the lead with 40 minutes remaining, but a final pit stop was needed in the closing laps to top up on fuel to the end of the race. 

Ilott returned on track in fourth and engaged in a tight and spirited battle for a podium result, but ultimately went on to take the checkered flag in fourth position. 

“This is a really good outcome, all things considered,” said Adelson. “It was really disappointing to have had contact on lap one. I don't know what happened, but the cars just ahead checked up really suddenly in front of me on the exit of Turn 4, and I think the repercussions of that lasted all the way throughout the race. Otherwise, I'm happy with how I drove. Callum drove excellently, and the team called a really great strategy to maximize what could have been a better day for us. But P4 gives us valuable points, and now we turn our focus onto Watkins Glen.”

“I think we did a really good job with the strategy to go long and undercut in order to save on the pit stop time with the fuel," Callum Ilott. "Unfortunately, both times in my pit stops I just didn't quite nail it, and that was an execution thing on my side, not the team. They did a great job, but those little errors cost us in terms of track position. I think overall we were close to maximizing the result today from where we started, and the damage we had on the front of the car. Proud of the team, they guided me to the best possible finish we could achieve today.”

Wright Motorsports now looks ahead to Round 5 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen taking place from June 26th to 28th, 2026.