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Skeer Joins Wright Motorsports
For 2015 IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge

BATAVIA, Ohio, March 12 - Wright Motorsports announced today that it will field a Porsche for 20-year-old Elliott Skeer of Carlsbad, Calif. to drive in the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama beginning with the season opener March 18-20 at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Fla.

Skeer's ride comes in part through a scholarship from the series' sanctioning body, the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), supported by Porsche and Yokohama. It is awarded to a driver without prior Porsche GT3 Cup experience. It is designed to attract and recognize new talent that desires to race in this highly competitive championship, one of 20 similar Porsche single-make series worldwide.

Skeer was selected as a wildcard entry in the third annual Porsche Young Driver Academy last October, where five young guns were put through their paces in a two-day test at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Ala. His performance at the academy as well as his previous success in the sport generated his opportunity to join Wright Motorsports, one of the most successful Porsche teams ever in North America.

Skeer drove a Mazda in the Street Tuner class in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca last May, finishing second after winning the class pole with a new track record. He was a Team USA scholarship contestant in 2013. He posted six victories and 14 podium finishes in 23 Mazda MX-5 Cup races in 2012 and 2013, finishing second in the championship in the latter year. He also ran multiple races with the Porsche Owners Club (POC) and Porsche Club America (PCA) in a GT4-class Porsche Boxster in 2013, earning podiums in every race. Prior to that he gained a great deal of experience in Spec Miata, winning the championship in the Teen Mazda Challenge. He won the Mazda MX-5 Cup Shootout in 2011, earning a factory MX-5 Cup ride in 2012. He got his start in the sport through karting, which he began at age 6.

Skeer is looking forward to learning as much as possible this season behind the wheel of the #14 Wright Motorsports-tuned Porsche. According to Sebring's preliminary schedule, the first Porsche GT3 Cup race at Sebring will begin at 3:50 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday, March 19, and the second race is slated for 11:10 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, March 20. Both are timed, 45-minute races that support the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida on Saturday, March 21.

"I want to have both a safe and competitive season," Skeer said. "We all shoot for the championship, but to win that you have to finish all the races that you can.

"I think we will be competitive fairly quickly," he added. "I want to be up front, challenging for podiums and wins. I want to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible.

"I am both humbled and grateful for the help that I have received," he continued. "Without the help of Jens [Walther] and everyone at Porsche Motorsport North America, IMSA and Yokohama Tire, this would not have been possible. I hope to not only be successful in 2015, but to continue to grow as a driver alongside Porsche and IMSA long after 2015."

“As we enter our fourth year hosting the Porsche Young Driver Academy, I couldn’t be more pleased with what we’ve accomplished,” said Walther, president and CEO of Porsche Motorsport North America. “Looking back at the caliber of young drivers that have joined us for our program, we have found gifted racers that are intelligent, well-spoken and passionate about developing their craft. Elliott came to us as a recommendation from our partner at IMSA and showed himself very well at last year's Porsche Young Driver Academy both on the track and off. With very little previous Porsche experience, we felt that the best place to develop the skills he needs for the next level is in the Porsche GT3 Cup USA by Yokohama. Furthermore, to be able to align him with a team like Wright Motorsports gives him the tools to succeed within the championship."

“The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama is an important part of Yokohama’s commitment to its motorsports program in North America,” said Duane Sampson, Yokohama Tire Corp. motorsports manager. “Elliott has shown plenty of talent to this point in a variety of machinery, and we’re eager to see his development continue at this competitive, exciting level of his career.”

"Elliott demonstrated terrific potential during the Porsche Young Driver Academy, and we're pleased with his decision to focus his racing effort in the IMSA paddock," added Randy Hembrey, senior series manager, IMSA development and single-make series.

Skeer has raced at five of the eight tracks that the series will visit in 2015.

"The three that will be new to me are NOLA [Motorsports Park in Avondale, La., which is a new venue for the series]; Watkins Glen [International in Watkins Glen, N.Y.] and COTA [Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas]" he said.

He has raced at Sebring in two doubleheaders in the past, posting two second-place finishes in Mazda MX-5 Cup competition there in 2012 and a victory and a third in the same series at Sebring in 2013.

"I really like Sebring, and I'm really looking forward to the Porsche GT3 Cup season opener," he said.  "I consider myself a student of the sport, so I like the history of the place. The concrete on the frontstretch is still the same concrete that so many great drivers have raced on through the years; Sebring is one of the richest tracks as far as history goes that we have.

"Just the whole atmosphere makes for a fun event," he added.  "It's racing's Woodstock."

In addition to Sebring, Skeer is also particularly looking forward to the last two races on the 2015 schedule.

"It will be my first time at COTA, and that's a World Endurance Championship weekend too so it will be great to see all those teams," he said, adding "it's my birthday that weekend too, so it would be nice to really do well that weekend."

He also singled out the season finale Sept. 25-27 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which will be during the Porsche Rennsport Reunion when more than 1,000 vintage and current Porsche race cars are assembled in one place. "That will be a different sort of event for the series," he noted. "It will be a very fun weekend, and Laguna is an amazing track anytime."

To prepare for the season, Skeer is visiting all the tracks on the schedule via sim racing and other video pursuits. "I was always on video games just having fun in the past, but now it's more of a tool to help me prepare for racing," he noted. "It's a good way to stay sharp if you can't actually test, so I try to take advantage of it as much as possible."

Being a Southern Californian, he also spends as much time outside as possible doing a wide range of athletic events. He also enjoys photography, especially automotive photography, and he'll have his camera in the paddock at the racetrack this year too.

In addition to pursuing his dream of becoming a professional sports car driver, Skeer is pursuing a business degree at California State University, San Marcos, where he is a sophomore. "Some of my classmates know about my racing, and of course all of my close friends do," he said. "But it's nice to keep it a little quiet as far as college goes."

For more information on Skeer, see ElliottSkeerRacing.com. For more information on Wright Motorsports, see WrightMotorsports.com. Information on the series can be found on imsa.com.

About Wright Motorsports: 

Wright Motorsports is the premier Porsche race engineering facility in Ohio and a multi-series, international racing team known for superb car preparation, expert race strategy and driver development. Located in Batavia, Ohio near Cincinnati, it is owned and directed by John Wright, a certified Porsche factory-trained technician. As a crew chief John Wright has played a key role in winning eight driver and seven team championships in World Challenge, IMSA (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Rolex Series. Wright Motorsports won the team championship in Porsche GT3 Cup USA in 2012 and 2013. In 2014 it had four podium finishes in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. For more information see WrightMotorsports.com and follow it on Facebook and Twitter.