Erika Hoffmann secures top-5 results on Porsche Sprint Challenge North America debut

Having teamed up with Kellymoss for a full-season program in the Cayman Pro/Am class, Canadian racer Erika Hoffmann made an excellent start to her Porsche Sprint Challenge North America career by twice finishing inside the top-5 at Sebring, narrowly missing out on a debut podium.

Photo credits: Kyle Schwab / Porsche Motorsport NA

Canadian racer Erika Hoffmann made an excellent start to her Porsche Sprint Challenge North America career by twice finishing inside the top-5 at Sebring International Raceway.

Hoffmann teamed up with Kellymoss for a full-season program in the Cayman Pro/Am class and took significant strides forward in the season opener. Consistently challenging for podium finishes, Erika finished both races in fourth place within class, while securing an overall top-5 result in race two.

Hoffmann stepped up to Porsche Sprint Challenge North America after most recently competing in the World Racing League. Last season, the Canadian driver took class victory at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in an Audi R8 GT4 for AE Victory Racing, while competing in partnership with Shift Up Now.

Hoffmann has also previously competed in the United Kingdom where she won the Formula Woman competition, landing herself a drive in the multi-class GT Cup Championship. In 2022, Erika drove a McLaren 570S GT4 machine and regularly contended for top-10 finishes within Group GTH.

Now teaming up with experienced Porsche squad Kellymoss, Hoffmann returned to full-season competition as she set her sights on challenging for podium finishes in the Cayman Pro/Am class. The calendar sees the drivers tackle iconic circuits such as Circuit of the Americas and Watkins Glen, before the season ends at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

For the season opener, Hoffmann competed at Sebring International Raceway in Florida and was keen to begin her campaign on the front foot. Hoffmann improved significantly during Thursday’s running which consisted of two test sessions, followed by the first official free practice. The Kellymoss driver improved by over two seconds during the three sessions, ending the day in fourth place within Cayman Pro/Am, while lapping comfortably inside the overall top-10.

Friday’s running began with one final free practice session to fine tune the car ahead of the crucial qualifying session. Hoffmann once again made sizeable gains, setting a fastest time of a 2:10.985 to place her third in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Having now improved by almost four seconds from Thursday’s first session, it was clear that Erika’s confidence was growing.

Hoffmann was targeting further improvements in qualifying and built up her speed gradually during the first half of the session. As she built temperature in her tyres, Erika improved her times and set a fastest lap of a 2:11.033 which placed her fourth in Cayman Pro/Am, sixth overall. The Kellymoss driver was just over a tenth of a second away from third overall and with less than half a second covering positions three through nine, the races were set to be closely contested.

Photo credits: Kyle Schwab / Porsche Motorsport NA

For her first Porsche Sprint Challenge North America race, Hoffmann lined up from sixth overall, fourth in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Erika made a clean start and dropped one position as the Cayman Masters machine of Bill Fenech made his way through. The race entered a full course yellow period prior to the conclusion of lap one as the car of William Peluchiwski required recovery.

Hoffmann made a fast restart and was right on the tail of Fenech as she continued to apply pressure to her rival. On lap six, the Kellymoss driver moved back into sixth place overall following the retirement of Daniel Ammann. At the same time, Hoffmann had cut the gap to Fenech to just a quarter of a second as she looked to make her speed advantage count in the first sector.

As the two drivers battled for position, this brought the Cayman Masters machine of Tom Kopczynski into contention. In the middle portion of the race, Erika was also lapping faster than Anna Cecchi who held the final position on the Cayman Pro/Am podium and therefore passing Fenech would enable the Kellymoss driver to close in. However, Kopczynski took advantage of Hoffmann and Fenech’s battle to pass the Canadian racer on lap eight.

Despite this setback, Hoffmann continued to set a strong pace and began closing in on the two drivers ahead. On lap 13, Erika set a personal best time and was faster than Fenech and Kopczynski by almost a second. Hoffmann just ran out of time to make a final move, ending her first race in the series in seventh position overall, fourth within the Cayman Pro/Am class, before being promoted to sixth in the final classification following a penalty awarded to Fenech.

Photo credits: Kyle Schwab / Porsche Motorsport NA

For the second and final race of the weekend, Hoffmann lined up fifth on the overall grid, fourth within the Cayman Pro/Am class. It was a confident start from Erika as she held her position on the opening lap and had class rival Anna Cecchi directly ahead of her. Despite pressure from Bill Fenech behind, Hoffmann was shaping for a move on Cecchi in the early stages.

By lap four, the Kellymoss driver was less than two tenths of a second behind Cecchi as she looked to the inside of turn one. Although she was unable to complete the pass, Cecchi and Hoffmann began breaking clear of Fenech which enabled the Canadian driver to focus on securing a spot on the Cayman Pro/Am podium. As the duo continued to battle for position, this slowed them down and on lap nine, Fenech made it a three-car fight for fourth position overall.

Fenech was even able to get his nose ahead of Hoffmann through the first sector, however Erika held firm and reclaimed the position. As she began to close in on Cecchi once more, Hoffmann was matching the leaders in the middle portion of the race and had now created a comfortable gap to Fenech. Although Erika was unable to mount a late challenge on Cecchi, she claimed her second fourth place finish in the Cayman Pro/Am class, while achieving a best overall result of fifth in race two.

Despite narrowly missing out on a debut podium, it was a superb weekend for Hoffmann who adapted well to both a new car and different style of racing. By contending for podium results from the outset, Hoffmann laid the foundations for a strong season and will be looking to make consistent improvements throughout the campaign.

The next round of Porsche Sprint Challenge North America takes place at Sonoma Raceway on the weekend of 5th/6th April.