Bleekemolen Joins Wright for Sprint Cup

Photo: Ford

Jeroen Bleekemolen is now set for a full-season of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in Porsche machinery, having been confirmed Friday as Anthony Imperato’s co-driver in Wright Motorsports’ WeatherTech Sprint Cup entry.

The Dutchman will contest the eight sprint rounds at the wheel of the team’s second Porsche 911 GT3 R, which has been in the works from the Ohio-based team for several months.

The No. 91 Porsche of Bleeekmolen and Imperato is set for its debut in March’s third round of the overall season at Long Beach alongside Wright’s No. 16 entry of Patrick Long and Ryan Hardwick, which is confirmed for the full season.

“It’s great to be able to join Wright Motorsports and Anthony for the IMSA GTD Sprint Cup,” said Bleekemolen. “I have raced against Wright a lot, so I know just how good the team is.

“Anthony has been showing great speed and development, it will be nice to work together.

“I really like the sprint race calendar with some classic track and events. The competition will be very hard but we should be able to fight at the front of the field. I’m really excited to get started at Long Beach.”

Both Imperato and Bleekemolen will now complete the full WeatherTech Championship season between two Porsche GTD entries.

Imperato is confirmed as Wright’s Endurance Cup driver for the No. 16 car, where he kicked off the season at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, while Bleeemolen will be at the wheel of Black Swan Racing’s Porsche for the four long distance races.

“It’s an awesome opportunity to be driving with Jeroen,” Imperato said. “He will be a great addition to the team, and I think we will have some success this year. I can’t wait to get started in Long Beach.”

Team owner John Wright added: “We’re excited to be getting our second Porsche on track to begin the WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship.

“Anthony has done a great job in the endurance side of our program, and after Sebring, he’ll now get to run the Sprint events in his own car.

“Jeroen will be a fantastic addition to the program as our Pro driver, and we expect to be strong contenders for the title.”

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