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Wright Motorsports' Skeer Earns Championship
And Wright Motorsports Takes Team Title
In Porsche GT3 Cup USA for 2015

SALINAS, Calif., Sept. 28 - Wright Motorsports has produced yet another champion and won yet another team title.

On Saturday afternoon, six months after the Batavia, Ohio-based team announced that it would field a Porsche for 21-year-old rookie Elliott Skeer of Carlsbad, Calif. in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama, Skeer earned the series' top driver championship with a flag-to-flag victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during Porsche Rennsport Reunion V. That clinched the drivers' championship in the top class, Platinum Cup, for Skeer, who was a wildcard entry in the Porsche Young Driver Academy last October.

With Kasey Kuhlman's fifth-place finish in the second half of the doubleheader on Sunday, Wright Motorsports earned yet another series team championship. It also won the team title in 2012 and 2013. A total of 16 teams participated in 2015.

Skeer, who was born in Huntington, N.Y., recorded 13 podium finishes during the season, including five victories in the 16 races. A total of 30 drivers earned points.

Kuhlman, who earlier this month clinched his second consecutive Masters class championship for drivers 45 and older, also duplicated his fifth-place finish in 2014 in the overall Platinum point standings in 2015. Kuhlman, of Cincinnati, ended the season with 300 points in the Masters' competition with his Kuhlsport #15, which was much more than the runner-up's 238.

Two more Wright Motorsports' drivers — Michael Schein of New York City and Santiago Creel of Mexico City, Mexico — accomplished their goals of bettering their positions in the championship this season. Schein finished eighth last year but he was seventh in 2015. Creel placed tenth last year and eighth in 2015 with his UNIFIN EXCORP-sponsored #60.

John Goetz of Weston, Conn., joined the team in 2015 and only ran a partial season, but he finished 15th in the Platinum point standings and sixth in the Platinum Masters championship.

Skeer had a whopping 4.992-second margin of victory in Saturday's 45-minute race with his #14, which is sponsored in part by an IMSA scholarship supported by Porsche and Yokohama; Pelican Replacement Windows, and Town Porsche of Englewood, N.J. There was one restart to tighten up the field following a full-course caution 13 minutes into the event, but Skeer fought off all his challengers and marched on to rebuild his lead in the remaining laps of the 29-lap race completed in the required 45-minute time span.

Kuhlman started eighth and finished seventh overall and second in the Masters category on Saturday. Creel took the green flag in 12th position and the checkered in 11th. Schein started seventh on Saturday and finished 13th. Goetz earned the Yokohama Hard-Charger Award after starting 18th and finishing 15th in his first event ever at this particular 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course.

Kuhlman started seventh on Sunday but finished fifth, posting his 11th Masters class victory in the process. Schein finished eighth and Creel placed 19th. Skeer ran in third place for most of the race but spun in oil going into Turn 6 working lap 24 and finished 22nd. Goetz spun in the oil too and ended up 21st in the 28-lap race, which ended under caution.

More info is available on imsa.com.

Post-race quotes follow:

Elliott Skeer: "This has been a very special weekend for me; not only is it my favorite festival in the world, but to compete in it and take home the GT3 Cup championship made it the greatest weekend of my life!

"The season has been the greatest of my career and I have Wright Motorsports to thank for that. I am honored to be a part of this family. I need to also thank Porsche Motorsport North America, IMSA, Yokohama, Town Porsche, and DirtFish; they are be ones who have made this all possible!"

Kasey Kuhlman: "Such a great experience to race at Rennsport in front of an all-Porsche crowd. Laguna is always challenging, with grip and debris changing on every lap.

"Race 1 difficulties were a function of poor qualifying and less than stellar driving.  My P7 finish was not satisfactory.

"Race 2 was a very strong drive after a great start.  No mistakes and good pace delivered a P5 overall finish and another Masters class win to finish the season."
John Goetz: "Laguna Seca is a beautiful location and fun track. The combination with Rennsport Reunion made this a very fun and fitting end to the season. In my first time at this track I found it a challenging experience.  Even more challenging was getting bumped around on the start in both races.

"In the first race, I was spun by the hit but worked my way back six spots by the end, so I enjoyed that.

"This season was a great learning experience for me. I benefited from the fine coaching and instruction from Jan Heylen and Bob Viglione.  And the experience (and speed!) of my teammates was a big help, as we shared data all season.  And the master of Masters, Kasey Kuhlman, was a helpful mentor of the series for me. 

"It was humbling at times, but understanding where shortfalls exist is the key to improvement. John Wright; my car "steward," Doug Beaulieu, and the whole Wright Motorsports team are worthy of praise."

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, 2013 and 2015. For more information see WrightMotorsports.com and follow it on Facebook and Twitter.