Wright Motorsports’ Anthony Imperato has been very close to a podium finish many times in the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup USA series presented by Yokohama. Last Friday at Road America the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based driver achieved his goal and finished third with his Henry Repeating Arms No. 91 in the continuation of a race that was postponed June 30 in Watkins Glen, N.Y. due to a multi-car accident.
Imperato then went on to finish fifth in the two regularly scheduled 45-minute Porsche GT3 Cup races Saturday and Sunday at Road America to lead the way for the Batavia, Ohio-based team. He also earned the Yokohama Hard-Charger award for improving the most positions in Saturday’s race, as he started eighth.
Imperato has finished in the top five in seven of the 10 races held so far this year in the 16-race season. He is unofficially fifth in the point standings with three events remaining, just one point out of fourth place.
Wright Motorsports’ Andrew Longe is sixth in those unofficial point standings and he had three top-10 finishes at Road America with his Trianon Hotels No. 47. He was seventh in both Friday’s Watkins Glen makeup race and in Saturday’s race, while the driver from Naples, Fla. placed sixth on Sunday.
Young McKay Snow of Lehi, Utah, shined during qualifying. He was second with his UIS No. 63, just 0.317 off the polesitter’s time. He finished eighth, right behind Longe, on Friday. He ran in third place until there were just 17 minutes to go in Saturday’s race, but ended up ninth. He ran in third place until there were just 20 minutes to go on Sunday, but then had to pit due to an issue with his car’s brake lights, and he finished 11th in class.
Wright Motorsports’ representative in the Gold Cup division, rookie Charlie Luck of Richmond, Va., finished eighth on Friday, fourth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday. He had good battles with the class point leader on both Saturday and Sunday.
Friday’s race was held in rainy conditions, while it was dry for the other two races.
The next event is Aug. 25-27 at VIRginia International Raceway in Alton, Va.
The Sinclair Broadcast Group airs the series’ races on TV in numerous American markets; check local listings. The broadcasts are also available internationally on YouTube 24 hours after they air on TV.
For more information on Wright Motorsports, see WrightMotorsports.com and follow it on Facebook and Twitter. For more information on the series, see imsa.com.
Post-race quotes follow:
Andrew Longe, Naples, Fla.: “It was a learning weekend at Road America. We continue to make improvements to the car and further my development as a driver. I look forward to putting what we learned to good use at VIRginia International Raceway.”
Charlie Luck, Richmond, Va.: “The Road America weekend was a breakthrough weekend for me. It was the first race that I felt like I gained a whole new level of confidence in the dry. A lot of the things that Jan [Heylen, a driver coach and one of the team’s Pirelli World Challenge drivers] and Bobby [Viglione, the team’s technical director] have been coaching me on from the driver standpoint came together and I was able to execute and deliver in a way that was more consistent and at a higher performing level than I had in the past.
“It was also a really good weekend for me working traffic and learning a lot of race craft. Being in the group that was really competing from second to fifth place gave me a lot of confidence and experience.
“The rain continues to be a challenge for me. I have a lot of development that still needs to be done there. I had a spin in Turn 1 that was a result of getting the tires on the paint, which resulted in me essentially have to start at the back. I finished eighth.
“The real highlight was Race 2. I ran a lot with Victor Gomez and was able to hold him off for about three or four laps before he passed me. That was really fun to work on a bit of defensive driving while also trying to hit all my marks.
“I also had a mental error in Turn 14 on the last lap of the race when I missed a shift as a result of watching my mirrors too much and Kurt Fazekas got around me. But overall it was a big success.
“I had a great time. I love the track. I love the fast, sweeping corners. I loved the width and the different areas you can pass in. My driver development just continues to move forward.”
Source : imsa.com
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