The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup returned to action on the streets of St Petersburg with Heather Hadley and Sally Mott claiming honours as the highest finishing female drivers - both securing top-10 finishes, with the latter gaining over 35 positions during the two races.
The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup returned to action on the streets of St Petersburg with Heather Hadley and Sally Mott claiming honours as the highest finishing female drivers. Both Hadley and Mott secured top-10 finishes with Mott gaining over 35 positions during the two races after she recovered from a challenging qualifying session.
There was also a season’s best result for Maite Caceres who finished race one in 11th, while her RAFA Racing Team by MMR stablemate Caroline Candas qualified as the highest placed female driver in both races.
Ashlyn Speed was unfortunate to get caught up in a late incident in race two, however she made significant steps forward on her first street circuit weekend. Sally McNulty also got a taste of the streets of St Petersburg, however her weekend ended prematurely following an unfortunate practice incident.
Following a thrilling opening round of the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup at Daytona International Speedway, the six female drivers headed to the streets of St Petersburg for round two. With the added incentive of a $2000 prize for the highest finishing female driver, the racing was intense at the curtain-raiser.
In race one, Heather Hadley came away with the prize following an 18th place overall result, while debutant Ashlyn Speed claimed the honours in race two after a photo-finish with Caroline Candas.
An opening lap incident in race two prevented Maite Caceres from showing her potential as the former F1 Academy racer made her debut in the series. Sally Mott also collected damage from this incident, however the JTR Motorsports Engineering racer displayed good potential throughout the weekend.
Despite a challenging debut, Sally McNulty ended her event with a top-20 finish and banked valuable experience as she switched to rear-wheel-drive machinery following a stint in the TCR class of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
After supporting the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship at Daytona, the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup racers would now race alongside the NTT IndyCar Series, therefore leading to significant exposure for the one-make series.
Racing on a street circuit posed a new challenge to almost all drivers, with only Heather Hadley having raced at St Petersburg during the 2023 season. Hadley finished inside the top-10 in race two, while being the highest placed rookie driver. Therefore, the Hendricks Motorsport driver was aiming to use her experience to fight towards the top-10.
For the other five female drivers, street circuit racing was set to be a new experience and therefore maximising track time was vital. On-track action began with two free practice sessions on Friday for the drivers to learn the track. Session one ended early following a red flag, with Candas the highest placed female driver on her street circuit debut.
Candas ended the session in 16th fastest with Hadley also inside the top-20 as she set the 19th fastest time. Both Rafa Racing Team by MMR machines were showing improved performance with Caceres in 24th position just ahead of Mott in 27th. Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup rookies Ashlyn Speed and Sally McNulty continued to improve during the session as they set the 30th and 34th fastest times respectively.
The second free practice session ran predominantly smoothly, before being ended less than five minutes early due to a late red flag after an incident for McNulty. The majority of the drivers improved their times with Caceres ending the session as the highest placed female driver in 17th as the RAFA Racing Team by MMR driver set a best lap of a 1:25.105.
Also inside the top-20 were Mott who set the 19th quickest lap and Candas who was 20th with a time just one and a half seconds away from pacesetter Westin Workman. Hadley ended the session in 27th, while Speed was 30th and McNulty ended practice in 32nd after finding significant time improvements from the first session.
Saturday morning’s action began with a final short free practice session directly ahead of qualifying. It was a disrupted session and not all drivers set a lap time, however Candas continued her good form by setting the 11th fastest lap. Speed made her first appearance inside the top-15 all weekend with an excellent lap, while Caceres was 17th quickest.
Due to the interruptions in the third practice session, Hadley and Mott were not able to set a representative time. McNulty unfortunately withdrew from the weekend following her earlier incident with the car unable to be repaired for the remaining sessions.
Qualifying followed directly after with the drivers given 20-minutes in order to set the grid for both races at St Petersburg. Candas was both fast and consistent to once again finish as the leading female driver with her qualifying time of a 1:24.498 placing her in 17th. Her RAFA Racing Team by MMR stablemate Caceres was next up in 21st, closely followed by Hadley in 22nd.
Improving on her best time from the earlier practice session by a quarter of a second, Speed set the 31st fastest time for Hendricks Motorsport. It was a challenging session for Mott who spun during the qualifying session and was collected by another car. This caused damage to her car, however great work from the team saw this repaired in time for the first race of the weekend.
Race one of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon directly following IndyCar qualifying and therefore the drivers had to be aware of changes to the track with additional rubber laid down. As the drivers entered turn one, Candas made contact with a competitor and received steering damage as she fell to 22nd at the end of lap one. Hadley, meanwhile, had moved inside the top-20 with a good start and she was now in position as the leading female driver.
As Candas continued to fall back in the early stages, Mott was on the move and after starting in 32nd position, she was up to 28th by lap five. Caceres had made a solid start and was continued to run inside the top-25, while Speed was running comfortably within the top-30 while continuing to make good lap time improvements.
Although Hadley had slipped back to 24th by lap eight, she was still running as the highest placed female driver with Caceres and Mott in close pursuit. On lap nine, oil was put down by a competitor which led to a multi-car incident with five cars eliminated from the race. All five female drivers did an excellent job to avoid the incident and move up through the order as the race entered a lengthy full course yellow period.
Under the safety car, Hadley was up to 13th with Caceres in 15th and Mott also inside the top-20 as the JTR Motorsport Engineering driver ran in 20th. Speed was into 23rd position, while Candas pitted to repair the damage under the neutralisation period. Good work from the RAFA Racing Team by MMR crew meant that she was able to rejoin the race with improved performance, however she was now one lap down.
The race resumed with 12 minutes remaining and the racing was intense throughout the field. Both Hadley and Caceres lost two positions on the restart, while Mott continued her impressive charge through the field to move up to 19th.
On lap 21, a second, shorter full course yellow period was required following a spin for Vaughn Mishko with his car stopped in a precarious position. The full grid of Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup drivers did a brilliant job to avoid the Advanced Autosports machine as a second significant incident of the race was narrowly avoided.
Two laps remained as the green flag was displayed and Caceres was ready to mount a late challenge on Hadley. The drivers ran nose-to-tail with Hadley doing an excellent job to resist the pressure from the Uruguayan racer. Mott was also closing in as she set personal best sector times in attempt to complete a remarkable comeback.
A strong end to the race saw Hadley hold off Caceres and claim the $2000 prize by a margin of just three tenths of a second. The Hendricks Motorsport driver secured her best result of the season with a 13th place finish, while Caceres also secured a personal best in 14th with the RAFA Racing Team by MMR driver ending race one inside the top-5 of the rookie classification.
Mott was the biggest mover in the entire race as she took the checkered flag in 17th position and Speed also finished inside the top-20 with a 19th place result. Candas banked valuable points in 24th, despite crossing the line a lap down and therefore she was keen to bounce back in race two after showing excellent pace throughout the event.
However, the positions of the leading female drivers were improved post-race following penalties assessed to their rivals. This meant that Hadley finished in tenth, her first top-10 since Laguna Seca last season.
Caceres finished an excellent 11th, while Mott’s promotion to 14th meant that she improved by almost 20 positions and won the Penske Shocking Performance Award. Speed also benefited from the penalties as she ended race one in 18th position.
The grid for race two of the weekend was set by the second fastest times set in qualifying. Therefore, Candas lined up from 15th, Caceres from 19th, Hadley from 21st, Mott from 30th and Speed from 31st on the grid. It was a clean start for all the drivers with Candas driving smartly as a competitor dived to the inside of turn one. The young French driver maintained her position as the leading female driver after the first lap as she ran in 18th position with Caceres close behind in 20th.
The race settled into an early rhythm and all five female drivers were able to improve on their lap times while managing the powerful slipstream effect. Candas was tasked with defending from Bailey Cruse and this brought Caceres into the fight, while Hadley and Mott were battling for positions just outside the top-20.
By lap eight, both Caceres and Mott had just ran their fastest laps of the race and were looking to make progress. However, a spin for Caceres out of the final corner on lap nine relegated her to the rear of the field. Mott did a fantastic job to avoid the spinning RAFA Racing Team by MMR machine and although she lost several positions, both cars were undamaged.
Hadley was now inside the top-20 and slowly closing the gap to Candas after she lost time in a number of close midfield battles. Speed was also fighting hard and by lap 13, she had cleared a group of cars and was now into the top-25 for the first time.
By lap 17, Candas was now contending for 15th position with Hadley just two places behind. Caceres’ recovery was going well as she overtook three cars to move back into 26th and was now closing in on Speed who herself was running in 22nd position.
On lap 22, the race entered a period of full course yellow after contact between Caceres and Farhan Siddiqi led to the race being neutralised. Just prior to the safety car being deployed, Hadley had passed Candas to be the highest placed female in 15th with Candas in 16th. Mott was now inside the top-20, one place ahead of Speed in 21st and Caceres held 22nd position with only light damage to her car.
When the racing got back underway, Candas immediately looked to pass Hadley into turn one and contact was made between the cars which sent Hadley into a spin. Candas was now into 15th and Mott was her closest challenger in 17th. Further action in the midfield then saw Candas move into 14th, with Mott’s charge through the field continuing as she entered the top-15. Now into 18th, Caceres was showing good determination to recover from earlier setbacks as she overtook Speed who held down a top-20 position.
With just a few minutes remaining, an incident at the front of the field for Westin Workman led to cars scattering across the track. The narrow confines of the street circuit made avoiding the incident challenging and Speed was unfortunately caught up in the crash.
Candas had been awarded a drive through penalty for incident responsibility with Hadley and therefore she avoided the incident due to being further back in the order.
It was Mott who took full advantage as she gained five further positions to move into tenth and secure the prize for the highest placed female driver as the checkered flag was displayed.
Caceres followed her through into an impressive 13th, while Candas was classified in 18th position. Speed finished in 20th position, while Hadley ended race two in 21st after her unfortunate spin.
All six female drivers banked valuable experience at St Petersburg with Hadley and Mott claiming the bonus prizes for being the highest placed female drivers in each race.
The steps taken forward by all the racers on a challenging circuit will give them encouragement heading into the remainder of the year.
The next round of the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup also supports the NTT IndyCar series and takes place at Barber Motorsports Park on the weekend of 3rd/4th May.
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