Porsche Team Follows Strong 2021 Finish with 2022 Rolex 24 Victory
By John Oreovicz
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Much has changed for Wright Motorsports entering the 2022 IMSA season. One constant, however, is the Ohio-based organization’s winning ways.
After Wright claimed nine championships across various racing platforms in 2021, including the Grand Sport (GS) class team and driver titles in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, the driver grouping of Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen, Zacharie Robichon and Richard Lietz opened the ’22 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign by taking GT Daytona (GTD) class honors in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
The Daytona winner was the same No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R that Wright campaigned with great success in 2021, earning the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup trophy in GTD. But the driver lineup has been shuffled, with Heylen sliding in alongside Hardwick as the entry’s full-time pilots this year. Heylen took over for Patrick Long, who has stepped away from active driving in favor of an ambassadorial role for Porsche and other pursuits.
For this year’s four Michelin Endurance Cup races (the Rolex 24, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts, Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and Motul Petit Le Mans), Heylen and Hardwick are joined by Robichon, who co-drove the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche that won the overall GTD title in 2021. Lietz, a Porsche factory driver who has tasted victory in all of the world’s classic endurance races, joined them at Daytona and earned his third Rolex 24 win in the process. For the other three drivers and the team owned by John Wright, the Rolex 24 triumph was a first.
The win was particularly satisfying for Hardwick, who missed a significant portion of the 2021 season after sustaining a concussion in a crash while practicing for the Michelin Pilot Challenge opener at Daytona. He returned to action in May, helping propel Heylen and the team to the GS crown with a pair of victories to close the season.
“It was a bit of redemption coming back to Daytona and not only competing at a high level, but ultimately winning,” said Hardwick, who first teamed with Heylen for Wright in 2019. “Last year, I was just down the road watching this race (the Rolex 24) from a hospital room after a big crash here. Head injuries are tough to pinpoint, and that made it really challenging. It’s tough to take three months off from racing at this level and come back and be on par with the competition.
“I can’t thank John Wright and (team manager) Bobby Viglione enough, for the leadership and guidance of our team,” he added. “They never lost their belief in me. I couldn’t be more blessed to be surrounded by such great people.”
Heylen, who moved to America to race IndyCars in 2006, has quietly put together an impressive record in sports cars. The 41-year-old Belgian won the 2021 Porsche Cup, a prestigious honor presented by the marque since 1970 to its top private driver.
Heylen credits his longtime friend Long for helping him establish what has turned into a very successful collaboration with Wright Motorsports.
“I’m super lucky to be a part of this team,” Heylen remarked. “Ryan is the guy who makes it all happen, and to do a full season of GTD with Ryan is something that, as a team, we have all worked on and looked forward to for quite a long time.
“To start this way, winning the Rolex 24, is unbelievable,” he continued. “I’ve been with the team so long – more than seven years now – and I know how hard we tried in the past and how close we’ve come. So, it means a lot for me, but especially for the team.”
Robichon, a 29-year-old Canadian, teamed with Porsche factory driver Laurens Vanthoor to win four races and the GTD championship for Pfaff in 2021. He credited Wright Motorsports for helping him make a seamless – and victorious – transition to a new group.
“I spent a few years competing against this team, so I knew how strong they were,” Robichon said. “But they welcomed me with open arms. Jan and Ryan have been with this team for a few years now, and they showed me the way. They showed me where the coffee and the good chocolate was!
“It kind of felt like a second home right away, to go from one organization that was very family oriented to another one.”
That atmosphere is fostered by founder/owner Wright, a factory-certified Porsche technician who was part of 10 championship-winning efforts as a crew chief. Wright called the 2022 Rolex 24 “an event I’ll never forget” and noted that he was especially pleased for Hardwick after the challenges the driver faced a year earlier that also included missing the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca weekend after he tested positive for Covid-19.
“The relationship between Wright Motorsports and Ryan Hardwick has been incredible, and to see our on-track results progress year after year really goes to show the drive he has and the quality of people he surrounds himself with,” Wright said.
“Porsche is a great manufacturer to be affiliated with. They pick only the best drivers to represent their brand, and Richard Lietz was a great addition to our team,” he added. “I can’t think of a better group of drivers and crew to have won with, and I can’t wait to see what this year has in store.”
Wright and his drivers are clearly looking ahead to Sebring with great anticipation. Heylen, Long and Trent Hindman – who replaced Hardwick in the No. 16 Porsche for most of the 2021 WeatherTech Championship season – finished second at the 12-hour race last year. Robichon comes back as the defending GTD winner with Pfaff.
WeatherTech Championship action at Sebring begins with practice on Thursday, March 17. Peacock has complete streaming race coverage starting at 10 a.m. ET Saturday, March 19, with TV coverage starting at 3:30 p.m. on USA and continuing through the race conclusion shortly after 10 p.m.