Heylen Completes Wright Porsche Lineup for Road Atlanta

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Jan Heylen will complete Wright Motorsports’ lineup for this weekend’s TireRack Grand Prix at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

The Silver-rated Belgian, who has been a regular with the Ohio-based team, will make his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship start of the season alongside Patrick Long and Ryan Hardwick in the No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Heylen replaces Anthony Imperato in the team’s Michelin Endurance Cup lineup following Imperato’s decision to pause his racing program this year amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s great to have Jan back with us in GTD,” said team owner John Wright. “We’ve had some great races with him in years past, including a podium finish at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“He’ll be a strong addition to our full-time drivers, and with six hours of racing, we’re looking to have a well-executed run at Road Atlanta. We’ve barely put a wheel wrong all season, and this weekend, that kind of perfection can pay off in a big way during an endurance race.”

Heylen’s last outing with the team came at the Michelin IMSA SportsCar Encore last year, teaming with Hardwick and Max Root.

“It was a really good experience working with Ryan, and hopefully we can pick up where we left off,” he said.

“After being best friends with Patrick Long for almost 25 years, this will be my first time sharing the car with him, which is really exciting. We go so far back, it would be really nice to have a good race with him and the team.

“I’ve been with Wright for maybe seven years now, and it’ll be nice to be racing with the family back in GTD.

“There will be a steep learning curve, as we don’t have a ton of time in the car before the race. But I’ve got all my notes from the team, and hopefully I can do my job, execute well, and come away with good points for the team to put Patrick and Ryan in place to run for the championship.”

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