This weekend, all eyes will be on incumbent GTD-class Champion Christina Nielsen as she begins her quest for a third straight IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. From January 27 to 28, Nielsen will have her first chance to gather series points when she races the No. 58 Porsche 911 GT3 R with Wright Motorsports co-drivers Patrick Long, Robert Renauer and Mathieu Jaminet at the 56th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Though this is her first season racing with Wright Motorsports, her outlook is positive. “I’m very much looking forward to kicking off the race season at Daytona,” she said. “The Roar [test session] was a great way for us as a team to bond and get more relaxed with each other. Wright is a team that’s gotten several podiums at Daytona before, so they have the record and know-how to do it again. But a 24-hour race is always a mystery until you get to the last lap, and even then, it can be exciting. We’re going in it with no expectations — just high hopes.”
Rather than looking at a race season as one event to be conquered, Nielsen ticks through each hour and minute of each race, one at a time. Her story as a driver demonstrates resolute consistency on the track, where calculating the risk versus reward of each move while maintaining a calm focus is of the greatest importance.
“Of course we’re hoping for a podium, and of course a victory,” she continued. “Especially after the results I experienced at last year’s race. We were leading at Daytona with two hours to go, then had a mechanical failure. But we’ll just go in and take it one hour at a time and see where we’re at once the daylight hits … then, it’s all about where you’re at when there’s just a couple of hours left in the race.”
Nielsen is part of a strong lineup of drivers who are also exceptionally skilled in a Porsche. Long is the only American factory driver for the marque; Jaminet was elected a Porsche Young Professional Driver and holds the 2016 Porsche Carrera Cup France title, and Renauer won the 2016 Porsche Cup, an award given to the most successful privateer driver overall. The foursome will contend against 20 other competitors in the GTD class when the green flag drops at the most important sportscar race in the United States.
