Wright Set to Withdraw from Monterey Over BoP Concerns

Wright Motorsports is set to withdraw its Porsche 911 GT America from this weekend’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda, which would reduce the GT Daytona class entry for the race.

Jan Heylen and Madison Snow were slated to drive the No. 58 Porsche for the race. Heylen posted on Twitter Tuesday night, “Anyone need a driver for Laguna, my team won’t be there unfortunately.”

Heylen told Sportscar365 the team has concerns following IMSA’s most recent Balance of Performance adjustments in GTD.

Team principal John Wright expanded on the decision Wednesday afternoon.

“Basically the series is trying hard to balance out the GTD program and GTD class,” Wright told Sportscar365.

“Really, we were looking for an adjustment or just some news about what is going to happen with an adjustment a little sooner than when it came.

“I think the timing of when the news came out was a little bit too late, really, to satisfy Martin Snow, the car owner.

“There’s a number of things that have gone into this decision; it’s not one specific thing. We’re going to sit back and watch this one unfold, and prepare to go onto the next event.”

The Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3, Audi R8 LMS, BMW Z4 GT3 and Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 all received weight breaks, and the Dodge Viper GT3-R received a weight increase.

The Porsche, meanwhile, was hit with a 10.5 mm air restrictor reduction, which may affect the Porsche teams planning to compete in the GT Daytona class.

“What can be said is we’re not there because of the AoP, that’s the reason we aren’t in Laguna,” Heylen told Sportscar365.

“It was a team decision – they’re like my family. We’re all in this together. And I support everything we are doing.”

Heylen and Snow are currently third in the GTD points standings and only one point behind net class leaders Leh Keen and Cooper MacNeil in second. Class leaders Al Carter and Cameron Lawrence aren’t entered at Monterey.

“It’s too bad that it’s come to this point. We’re third in the championship. We have one of the best packages on the grid,” Heylen said.

“At the end of the day it affects my job, and that’s why it is really frustrating for me.”

Wright still wants IMSA to be healthy as an organization; most of his business stems from the championship and he has a multiple-car entry in IMSA’s Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama.

“I want IMSA to be healthy. This is nothing to be detrimental to them; it’s part of my business,” Wright said. “It’s just that all the stars have aligned for this event.”