Wright Swaps Chassis After Night Session Accident

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Wright Motorsports has swapped Porsche 911 GT3 R chassis ahead of this afternoon’s Motul Pole Award 100 at Daytona following an accident by Ryan Hardwick in Saturday evening’s test session.

The Ohio-based team has reacquired the chassis it gave to Black Swan Racing at last year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona when the Tim Pappas-owned squad hit trouble in opening practice.

Black Swan withdrew from the Roar and next weekend’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opener due to Pappas contracting COVID-19.

“We would like to thank Tim for taking our call and helping us out,” said team owner John Wright.

“We’re so grateful that the car was on site and we were able to get the deal done, get a hold of the car, and get to work quickly. We hope he’s doing well, and we wish him the best.”

The team received the car on Sunday morning and has been working “quickly and methodically” to prep the chassis for the 100-minute race, which will set the grid for the Rolex 24.

Hardwick had put the No. 16 Porsche on pole for the qualifying race but will start from the rear of the 19-car GT Daytona class due to the change of chassis.

Ironically, the primary No. 16 car had been a brand-new chassis with its 2020 Porsche having been retired following its class victory in November’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

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