NIELSEN, WRIGHT MOTORSPORTS INCREASE IMSA WEATHERTECH CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS AT SEBRING
Christina Nielsen’s second race with Wright Motorsports resulted in a sixth-place finish at the famously difficult Sebring International Raceway. Her co-drivers Patrick Long, Mathieu Jaminet and Robert Renauer powered through the Mobil 12 Hours of Sebring in the team’s No. 58 Porsche Consulting/Porsche Digital Porsche 911 GT3 R. Valuable points were added to the Wright Motorsports IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT-Daytona class purse after completing the grueling Floridian endurance race.
The race weekend started off on a high note with the drivers of the No. 58 reeling in the best pace during Thursday’s daytime and evening practice sessions. Nielsen was the qualifying driver for Saturday’s race, where she started from 11th. With consistency throughout her early stints in the difficult 12-hour event, she moved up the grid to fourth.
Any endurance race is full of surprises and challenges, a few of which were handed to Wright Motorsports. The team pushed forward with professionalism and fought through to the end. As the Florida sun set over Sebring, Nielsen, Jaminet, Long and Renauer were able to regain multiple positions after challenges were presented to them throughout the race. After 11 hours of racing, they were in second place before stopping for fuel and tires with less than an hour left to go. As their competitors pitted to do the same, the No. 58 left pit lane in 10th place, and the final 50 minutes were spent recovering ground to cross the finish line in a well-earned sixth place.
“It was a tough weekend for us, but that’s how racing goes,” said Nielsen. “Overall, finishing in sixth place is not such a bad result. It’s a little disappointing knowing that we were in the top three with an hour to go. It was out of our crew’s control, but we were off of the pit cycle during the final refueling and came out in 10th position. We had hope for a podium and are disappointed it turned out that way. Overall, it was a strong race.”
Nielsen has now completed two races with Wright Motorsports and Porsche, and her experience with the Ohio-based team and with the German marque has been positive.
“This was my second race with Wright Motorsports, and it was great to spend more time with them,” she continued. “I’m really impressed with the people behind the organization. They’re positive, supportive and really are a good group that I feel lucky to be with. Finally, it was nice to have Porsche Digital and Porsche Consulting there and to share the experience with them.”
Nielsen’s next race is at Mid-Ohio from May 4 to 6.
Source. Christina Nielsen/Photo. Halston Pitman/Ignite Media
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