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Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
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Two Wright Motorsports Drivers
Finish in the Top Five in GT3 Cup USA Action

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y., July 5 — Wright Motorsports' Anthony Imperato and Andrew Longe finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the USA Platinum division when the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA and Canada series combined forces for a 45-minute race Saturday morning at historic Watkins Glen International. 

McKay Snow of Lehi, Utah finished 11th in the same division, while Charlie Luck placed tenth in Gold Cup for the Batavia, Ohio-based team. 

Imperato, of Brooklyn, N.Y., started third in the USA Platinum division, while Snow and Longe started sixth and seventh and Luck started sixth in Gold Cup. 

Imperato's Henry Repeating Arms #91 held third place throughout the race until the last lap. He had a close call on lap 11, but he still was able to record his fourth top-five finish of the year. He was only 0.931 of a second off a podium finish at the checkered. The fourth-place finish duplicated his best result of the season to date. 

Longe's Trianon Hotels #47 ran in fifth place in class for most of the race, although Longe was fourth briefly. It was the third top-five finish of the season for Longe, who is based in Naples, Fla. 

Luck, of Richmond, Va., also had an up-and-down race, but he was as high as fourth in class and he still posted a top-10 finish in class. He hasn't been out of the top 10 in the Gold Cup class yet this season despite it being his rookie year in this series.

Saturday's race started under a full-course caution due to rain, and the conditions were slippery. Unfortunately Snow was one of several drivers who didn't finish, as he had an accident on lap two coming out of the Inner Loop. He was not hurt.

Imperato qualified second, Snow fifth, and Longe seventh in the USA Platinum division while Luck qualified seventh in USA Gold for a similar race on Friday. That race was abandoned after nine of the 39 starters crashed at the top of the esses working lap two, bringing out an extended red flag. Luckily none of the Wright Motorsports drivers were involved. IMSA later announced that four of the drivers were transported to area hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, and that efforts will be made to reschedule the race. 

The USA series' next event is Aug. 3-6 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. 

The Sinclair Broadcast Group airs the series' races on TV in numerous American markets; check local listings. The broadcasts are also available internationally on YouTube 24 hours after they air on TV.

For more information on Wright Motorsports, see WrightMotorsports.com and follow it on Facebook and Twitter. For more information on the series, see imsa.com. 

Post-race quotes follow:

Anthony Imperato, Brooklyn, N.Y.: "First off I'd like to wish all involved in the first-race incident a speedy recovery. That was a hard one to watch. I hope to see them back at the track soon. Today [Saturday] was a tough one. I ran in third most of the race and was passed with a few laps to go. Fergus and I had a good, clean battle. I'm still looking for my first podium. As always a big thank you to Wright Motorsports and Henry Repeating Arms. I'm looking forward to Road America."

Andrew Longe, Naples, Fla.: "It wasn't the weekend we had hoped for at Watkins Glen, but we've identified what we need to work on and we'll be challenging for the top step at Road America."

Charlie Luck, Richmond, Va.: "Forty-two years ago this past weekend I was 15 years old and I attended my first sports car race in Watkins Glen. Back in the day you could walk up to drivers with no passes, walk down pit road, or even right into victory circle. Coming to Watkins Glen was a bit surreal and even emotional for me, as this was the place where my interest in sports car racing began. All these years later, to have now had the opportunity through John Wright and his team to realize a dream I had decades ago. 

"[On Friday] I qualified seventh out of 10 in my class and moved up a couple of places before receiving the caution at the end of the first lap. Unfortunately for everybody involved, the wreck on lap two for the Platinum class resulted in airlifted drivers and a closed course and a canceled race.

"Saturday morning a wet track became more of my friend versus the torrential downpour we had at Barber, where driving felt like it was on ice. During this Saturday race, I felt like I grew tremendously. Starting sixth in class and working my way up to fourth and fifth for most of the race was extremely rewarding. For the first time this season I found mental focus and consistency, until lap 17 of 19 when I spun coming out of the Bus Stop, which resulted in me finishing last in my class. Although this could have been considered an unproductive race, I found it the opposite. I was extremely pleased and happy with everything except for the mistake on lap 17. Definitely a race that left me much more confidant racing in the rain and racing on a track that was so important to my past history was equally rewarding."

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 nine 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. 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.