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Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
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E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com

 

 

Wright Motorsports' Schein Has a Clean Sweep
In PWC GTA Doubleheader at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio, Aug. 2 - The complexion of the two Pirelli World Challenge GT/GTA/GT Cup races held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last weekend was decidedly different, but the outcome was the same for Wright Motorsports' Michael Schein. The rookie from Glen Cove, N.Y. who competes in the GTA class won both poles, led every lap of both races, set the fastest lap in Saturday's race, and posted his fifth and sixth victories of the season.

Saturday afternoon's race had three full-course caution flags for nine of its 30 laps, but Schein had more than a 12.723-second lead over his nearest class rival at the checkered flag with his Porsche 911 GT3 R. He had a 1.237-second margin of victory in Sunday morning's race, which went nonstop and totaled 38 laps of the 13-turn, 2.258-mile road course.

Patrick Long, who drives the Porsche Consulting Porsche 911 GT3 R No. 58 for Wright Motorsports in the GT class, had a challenging weekend. The Manhattan Beach, Calif.-based driver ended up 12th in class on Saturday, but he finished ninth in Sunday's race.

Schein set a new track record for his class of 1:20.735 (100.685 miles per hour) during the qualifying session on Saturday afternoon. He set the fastest lap of his class during Saturday's race on lap 29 with a 1:21.790, which gave him the pole for Sunday's race too.

Avoiding accidents and having excellent restarts were keys to Schein's victory on Saturday, but he held the class lead throughout the race. The GTA point leader was side-by-side with Schein for a few turns on the first lap of Sunday's race before Schein took command in Turn 8, but again he led every lap.

Long was as high as seventh in Saturday's race, but a penalty for contact with another driver knocked him down in the standings. He never stopped trying, however, and he set his fastest lap of the race on the white-flag lap.

The races will be shown on the CBS Sports Network at 4 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, Aug. 7.

The next Pirelli World Challenge doubleheader is Aug. 12-14 at Utah Motorsports Campus in Tooele, Utah.

Wright Motorsports' multi-car IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama team will be in action this coming weekend, Aug. 5-7, at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis.

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

Post-event quotes follow:

Michael Schein: "It was a great weekend for me. It started off with a good qualifying run that put me on pole for Race 1. The start of the first race was tricky. There was a lot of contact that I had to avoid, and the track had minimal grip. Everyone was sliding a lot. Once we got finished with the cautions I was able to open up a gap and bring home the car in first. 

"I was on pole for Race 2 and it was certainly more of a challenge than the first run. We didn't have any breaks and I had to push as hard as possible the whole race, with [Martin] Fuentes close behind. Many thanks to Wright Motorsports and Porsche for giving me a great car. It didn't miss a beat."

Patrick Long: "Staying inside the top 10 proved to be a tall order in the weekend's two races. We will go back, analyze and work harder to fight back to where I know we belong. Congrats to my teammate Michael on another sweep!"

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.

For more information on Porsche Consulting, see http://www.porsche-consulting.com/us-en/home/.


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