COTA Brings Heat for Joint Porsche Sprint Challenge Event

For the first time this season, the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and USA West series combined for a joint event at Circuit of The Americas with a field of nearly 70 entries across five classes and five races.

Racing in stifling heat, competitors across the country battled against both familiar and new faces on the 3.4 mile-circuit for their respective championships, which now finds only one round remaining for the North American series and two for USA West.

Porsche 992 GT3 Cup

Zachary Vanier once again continued his dominance in the No. 206 Porsche, sweeping the overall 992 GT3 Cup races with MDK Motorsports. The podium results were mirrored on both Saturday and Sunday with Aidan Kenny and Kayden Kelly finishing second and third, respectively, amongst Pro/Am competitors, with Kelly taking the top honors in the USA West division.

“This one probably feels like one of the best of the season because of how much prep we put in for it,” said Vanier. “We were just trying to prepare for the heat and how the track evolution would change over 35 minutes plus one lap. I’m super happy, the race was great.

“We developed a very strong platform with testing on Thursday and Friday that was super promising. To see all of our hard work be rewarded is absolutely amazing.”

Madeline Stewart finished third twice in the PSCNA category this weekend, while New Zealander Will Wattanawongkiri and Kenton King – both making tremendous charges through the field – completed the PSCUW podiums on Saturday and Sunday alongside Blake McDonald.

Amongst the 992 GT3 Cup Am class, Peter Ludwig took home both victories in the No. 211 Porsche for Competition Motorsports, representing the PSCUW division and finishing fifth and sixth on the overall charts.

Steve Dunn and Mark Kvamme swapped wins in the PSCNA Am class behind Ludwig.

RESULTS: Race 1/Race 2

Porsche 991 GT3 Cup:

In the 991 GT3 Cup class, Ashley Freiberg captured both overall victories, but not without a challenge from PSCUW competitor Casey Dennis. In both instances, Freiberg started second and pressured Dennis in the closing minutes, forcing him to go wide off track as she snuck by to win in the No. 122 Porsche.

With her two victories, and two runner-up finishes by teammate Dan Hanley, MDK Motorsports tallied four trophies this weekend in the 991 GT3 Cup class.

Casey Dennis maintained the PSCUW win in both races in his No. 174 RWE Porsche.

Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport:

Chloe Chambers and Nicholas Maloy traded wins in the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport class, which ran two races in addition to a make-up round this weekend at COTA.

While Maloy took charge in the opening laps to dominate Race 1 on Saturday, he valiantly fought door-to-door with Chambers for the Race 2 victory on Sunday, but finished second by just two tenths.

Chambers went on to win Race 3 as well after expertly making a pass on pole-sitter Paul Bocuse soon after the green flag. Both Bocuse and Maloy challenged her lead, going three-wide at one point, but Chambers held on for the win in the No. 70 TPC Racing Porsche. Maloy finished second, while third went to Bocuse who also podiumed on Saturday.

Michael Clark and Florian Eyme also collected podium finishes this weekend in the PSCNA Pro/Am class.

Jason Golan scored both Cayman GT4 Am class victories at COTA in the No. 80 Kellymoss Porsche, even finishing third amongst all Caymans on Sunday.

RESULTS: Race 1/Race 2/Race 3

Two races remain on the Porsche Sprint Challenge schedule, with USA West next having a standalone event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sept. 8-10 during the highly anticipated NTT IndyCar Series finale.

A joint finale with both the North American and USA West series concludes the season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Oct. 4-6.

All Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama races stream live on FloSports, in addition to the series’ YouTube channel. More information can also be found at www.porschesprint.com and on social media via Facebook, Instagram and X.