Heinrich: Unchanged Wright Lineup “Can Only Help Us”

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Laurin Heinrich believes Wright Motorsports’ unchanged driver lineup for this weekend’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS “can only help us” as the Porsche-contracted driver seeks redemption after narrowly missing out on the overall victory in 2024.

Heinrich has rejoined Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer in the team’s No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R for the joint Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge powered by AWS season finale.

It comes 12 months after Heinrich crossed the line in first overall but lost the outright victory due to a five-second post-race time penalty for a pit lane infringement.

While the trio still celebrated as GTWC America Pro class winners, with Adelson and Skeer claiming the Pro class drivers’ championship, Heinrich said it left the drivers and the Ohio-based team looking for redemption.

“It’s not only me personally who really wants to win this race now for real. It’s also Adam, Elliott and the whole Wright Motorsports team,” Heinrich told Sportscar365.

“I think it was also the motivation behind coming back.

“I really like this approach because, in the end, it shows that the team doesn’t give up.

“This small setback motivated us even more to come back. Never change a running system, I would say.”

With the IGTC Pro class having been eliminated for this weekend’s race, and IGTC competitors needing to have at least one Silver-rated driver in each lineup, Heinrich believes this will play a benefit to their unchanged efforts.

“I think we’re in pretty good shape,” he said. “Also this year the regulations changed a bit. There’s a Silver driver mandate.

“Last year we drove with a Silver driver and we were very close to finishing first overall against the full pro and Gold and Platinum driver lineups.

“The thing is we don’t have to change our lineup but others do have to do that. If anything, that can only help us.

“That’s also why I’m even more confident in us.”

Heinrich, who scored overall pole for the Indy 8 Hour in 2023 in a Huber Motorsport Porsche, said he feels experience on his side by also having recently taken part in last month’s Battle on the Bricks IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Indianapolis.

“It helps as well,” he said. “At Indy, I did my very first GT3 race in North America in 2023, so I have quite some laps around there in a GT3 car, which for sure helps.

“It’s not the most complicated or technical track but every time you go out there, you do find some small stuff, which can help you.

“The Indy 8 Hour is a pretty specific race because it’s the only night race on this track. It’s not too bring there in the night, so the more laps you have there, the more you can drive the track ‘blind’ I would say, it helps.”

Heinrich “Very Hungry” for IGTC Glory After Difficult Campaign

The 24-year-old German is hoping fourth time is the charm for his season in the globe-trotting GT3 series, which has been faced with misfortune and bad luck.

Heinrich, who qualified sixth in the Top Ten Shootout in a Pro-Am class Manthey EMA Porsche in his Bathurst 12 Hour debut, lost out on a class victory due to a strategy snafu in the race.

At the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, Heinrich miraculously escaped injury after a McLaren 720S GT3 Evo rammed the back of his No. 22 Schumacher CLRT Porsche, destroying both cars in a serious accident early race accident.

Last month’s Suzuka 1000km saw his best finish of the season, in fifth, in Origine Motorsport’s Porsche, although it was hampered after the car sustained floor damage.

“I’m very hungry because this year I’ve had some good races in IGTC but they were always hampered by some bad luck or misfortune,” said Heinrich.

“At Bathurst we struggled. We were one of the fastest cars on track but had bad strategy.

“In Spa, we crashed out and in Suzuka we suffered a technical issue.

“In all these three races we were really fast. I just hope this time, on the fourth attempt in IGTC [this year], we can finally bring it over the line.”

Jonathan Grace contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John