Wright Motorsports will take part in next weekend’s California 8 Hours with an all-factory driven Porsche 911 GT3 R, with Romain Dumas and Joerg Begmeister confirmed alongside newly crowned Pirelli World Challenge GT champion Patrick Long.
The Wright entry, competing in the GT3 Pro class, is one of at least 22 cars on the provisional entry list for the Intercontinental GT Challenge round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Long, Bergmeister and Dumas will join forces in a Porsche Motorsport North America-backed effort.
“We are pleased to welcome the Intercontinental GT Challenge to North America, and are encouraged by the interest our customer teams have shown for the event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,” said Porsche Motorsport North America President/CEO Dr. Daniel Armbruster.
“It seems the challenge of competing in a true eight-hour endurance race was too good to pass up for many Pirelli World Challenge teams, even after a full season of intense competition.”
For Long, it marks an opportunity to go for an outright victory in the longest-ever race to be held at Laguna Seca.
“I look forward to the endurance element and the unique format will make for a great show,” Long said. “It adds a lot of planning for the Wright Motorsports team.
“They have been working hard to prep the equipment. I have been endurance racing with them before and they know how to get the job done. Strategy will be key.”
Bergmeister added: “Patrick and I had a lot of success together in SprintX and adding Romain will only make our line up stronger. I had a good result competing at Laguna Seca a few weeks ago, so I think the Porsche will be very competitive.”
Fellow Porsche factory driver Dumas, meanwhile, will be making his first trip back to Laguna Seca since 2008, where he clinched the ALMS LMP2 championship in Penske’s Porsche RS Spyder.
“I know that the Wright Motorsports team has been very successful so I know to expect a good package,” he said.
“Like any long race, this is going to be about making no mistakes, but also having an easy car to drive because Laguna Seca is known to be very unforgiving. I’m fully confident that the team will be able to provide that and think we will have a great shot.”
Wright’s entry is one of four GT3-spec Porsches confirmed for the Oct. 13-15 event, alongside two GMG Racing entries and Black Swan Racing’s Pro-Am class entry.
A complete entry list is expected to be released later this week.