July 22, 2020 – Sebring, Florida – PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports secured their first win of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at the Cadillac GP of Sebring. The #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 driven by Patrick Kelly and Spencer Pigot started in Pole Position after Kelly qualified over half a second faster than the other LMP2 entrants.
After a 6-month hiatus just following a strong finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports approached Sebring International Raceway eager to secure the top spot on the podium. The new full-season driver, Patrick Kelly took the green flag behind the wheel of the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 for the first stint of the race creating a gap of over twenty seconds between the #52 and the rest of the LMP2 field.
Pigot took the wheel beginning a tight battle between the #52 and #81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA LMP2. At the conclusion of the race the #81 of DragonSpeed crossed the finish line 12 seconds in front of the #52. However, since Henrik Hedman missed the drive time requirement by just under two seconds, PR1/Mathiasen was declared the official winner.
PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports will be back fighting for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title at Road America on Sunday, August 2 live coverage begins at noon ET on NBC. For more information about the event at Road America, click here.
Bobby Oergel - Team Principal
“I couldn’t be more proud of the whole PR1/Mathiasen team considering the current environment, this race being our first race since late January and the physical conditions that Sebring brought. The crew had a perfect weekend in terms of car preparation and readiness. Patrick Kelly was a machine for us in terms of pace and form and Spencer Pigot with just a handful of practice laps came to terms and helped us secure a win. I’m also gutted for the Dragon Speed team and the hard work they put in to make a great performance of their own, but mistakes do happen and I’m sure they will have a strong rebound.”
Ray Mathiasen - Team Principal
“We’re proud of the entire PR1/Mathiasen team and how they performed in the hot, humid weather in Sebring while we watched from home. We were shocked when they announced the driver time penalty which moved us up to P1. Although it was a close competitive race with the #81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA LMP2 we didn’t cross the finish line first. A big thank you goes out to our entire team, Patrick Kelly and Spencer Pigot drove a great race. We just wish we could have been there.”
Spencer Pigot - Driver of the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2
“It was great to join PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports this past weekend at Sebring. The whole team was very impressive and hard working. From the get go we had a quick car and a good plan for the race. Patrick Kelly did a fantastic job in qualifying by getting pole position and then dominating the beginning of the race. I didn't get much practice time with the rain on Friday so I was still learning the car in the race. I started feeling really comfortable in the car after a few laps and was able to close in on the leader at times during the second and third stints. We crossed the line second but ended up winning the race due to a penalty which isn't always the best way to win but at the end of the day we obeyed the rules and were deserving winners. I can't thank Bobby, Pat and everyone at PR1 enough for letting me be a part of their team and I hope to do it again in the future."
Patrick Kelly - Driver of the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2
“It is so incredible to win at Sebring. Thank you so much to PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports for putting together a fantastic car and being very supportive. I am sorry about the misfortunes for the #81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA LMP2 because they drove incredibly this weekend hats off to them."