Adelson “Supremely Confident” for First Full GTD Season

Photo: Porsche

Adam Adelson said he and co-driver Elliott Skeer feel “supremely confident” for their first full season IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship effort off the back of an encouraging dual series campaign that culminated with the GT World Challenge America Pro class title.

The Wright Motorsports duo will shift their entire focus to the WeatherTech Championship GTD class this year in their Porsche 911 GT3 R after an IMSA season that was highlighted by victory in the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Adelson and Skeer, who started the year with a Michelin Endurance Cup-only plus Long Beach commitment, ended up contesting nine of the ten GTD rounds.

“Last year ended up being a lot fuller of a season than we anticipated, just because the performance was way better than we anticipated,” Adelson told Sportscar365.

“It was both our rookie seasons in WeatherTech. We prepared really extensively for it but we didn’t realize how much that preparation was really going to pay off, so that’s why we started adding almost every additional race that it made sense for us to do.

“The confidence coming into this season is really high. We feel like we’ve learned so much. I can confidently say that same level of preparation that we did from last year is coming into this year as well.

“Now we have all of that experience to rely on.”

Adelson and Skeer are joined in the No. 120 Porsche for next weekend’s season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona by Australian rising star Tom Sargent and Porsche DTM ace Ayhancan Guven.

While all drivers are in their mid-to-late 20s, it will both mark Sargent and Guven’s Rolex 24 debuts.

“Even with this driver lineup, at least from our perspective, it seems like we have one of the youngest and least experienced driver lineups in the field,” said Adelson.

“It’s weird for both Elliott and I to be the experienced ones in this paddock and to have to impart some of that experience we’ve had last year onto our co-drivers.

“We’re feeling supremely confident and we have a really, really good, strong team and a great car. We just feel great about it.”

When asked if they are plotting a return to defend their GT World Challenge America title, Adelson said: “Not right now. [Our] full focus [is] on IMSA.”

Adelson, however, credited his time in SRO America for putting him in the position he’s in today.

“We’re extremely pleased,” he said. “I feel like I took a fast track to get to this level in relative terms compared to a lot of drivers that end up racing in WeatherTech.

“That’s only because every time we’ve taken the next step up to the next series, we’ve had immense levels of success.

“It felt right to continue moving forward. I think with the 30-plus percent podium rate last year and all the success we’ve had and the SRO Pro [class] championship, it’s even more validation that coming here for a full season is the right choice.”

Adelson Taking VP Challenge Season “Weekend by Weekend”

While being entered in this weekend’s pair of season-opening VP Racing SportsCar Challenge races in the new-for-2025 GTDX class, Adelson said he’s not yet committed to contesting the entire season.

“We’re going to see how it goes, just doing double duty,” he said. “This is the first time where I’m using separate chassis for the different series.

“For me, I’m really, really excited about that because I don’t have to be nearly as careful in protecting the car as much as I used to be and I can really push and see what I’m capable of.

“We’re going to take it weekend by weekend and see how it goes.”