An intense, sometimes frustrating, but often rewarding IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season will come to a close for Christina Nielsen, Patrick Long, and Robert Renauer this weekend. The Wright Motorsports trio are set to compete at the 21st Annual Motul Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on Saturday, October 13, wrapping up a nationwide, 10-month racing campaign that began at Daytona in January.
This 10-hour endurance race at the 2.54-mile track in the hills of Braselton will see multi-class competition between 37 sportscars racing from morning to night. Nielsen and the No. 58 Porsche Consulting/Porsche Digital Porsche 911 GT3 R head to the final IMSA WeatherTech race of the season ranked 6th in both the GTD-class Team and the Driver championships and in the top 10 of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup standings.
“I’m definitely looking forward to our next race at Road Atlanta,” said Nielsen. “We had a productive test there recently. This track is always interesting because it’s the race where everyone is going for it, one hundred percent, but certain teams also have the championship on the line. This year, we’re not in the championship hunt, but we’ll definitely give it our all to just go for a race win.”
Though Petit Le Mans will showcase Nielsen’s first race here with Wright Motorsports, she’ll strap into the driver’s seat with plenty of experience under her belt. She first raced at Road Atlanta in 2013 with a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in the GTC class of the American Le Mans series, and she most recently earned a podium result here in 2016 with a second-place finish.
“Petit Le Mans is probably my favorite race,” said Nielsen. “It’s a great event. Ten hours is a good length for a race which is long but is still completed in one day. Road Atlanta is where I fell in love with American racing: Petit Le Mans was the first event I drove at in America, the first race I attended, and the first track I ever raced at in the US. This weekend, we’ll have multi-class racing this at this track, which is fast and flowy, making it high risk and high reward — it’s a true American track which I love.
“I look forward to having Robert back in the car,” she continued. “I’ve really enjoyed this season with Wright Motorsports and with Patrick, so I truly believe we have the potential to be on the podium and that we can finish off with a strong result in the Porsche!”
