Laura Ely wrapped up her 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West season with a third and fourth-place finish at Sonoma Raceway, securing second place in the 992 Masters class championship.
With a podium finish in the first race at Sonoma Raceway and a solid top-five in the second, Laura Ely wrapped up her Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West by Yokohama season in style, securing second place in the overall series standings.
Traveling to the Californias racetrack, Ely and her Black Sheep Racing team aimed to finish their 2024 campaign in the Porsche one-make series on a high note: competing in the 992 Masters class, Ely entered the weekend second in the championship points standings, just nine points ahead of her closest rival.
The final weekend of the 2024 season was especially significant for Ely and Black Sheep Racing, who ran to a single entry for the season's finale in their home race.
“It is a home-state race for us and the final event of the 2024 season,” explained Ely before the event. “We will aim to finish the season like we started it, with a win, and see where we land in the championship points chase.”
Ely scored a pair of third-place finishes at Road America last time out, bringing her podium tally up to seven and moving up to second in the championship standings.
“We have had a good season, and as it is in racing, a lot of ups and downs", Ely continued. "We want nothing more than to finish the season on the podium's top step for myself, the team, and all of our partners.”
Ely and her team took to the track for the test sessions on Wednesday and Thursday, fine-tuning the setup of her #209 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car. The early pace in testing looked promising, but when it came time for qualifying, Ely struggled to find a clear lap amid traffic and yellow flags.
A red flag caused by a crash for Reinhold Krahn further interrupted the session, leaving her with a best time of 1:41.006 and starting from 15th overall and sixth in class for the first race.
Despite the disappointing qualifying result, Ely fought her way up the field, bouncing back with a strong drive in the first race of the weekend, making up several positions from her starting spot.
“It was a good race and a confidence boost after a not-so-strong qualifying session,” Ely said. “It was a session that saw me stuck in traffic, and when I tried to find a gap, I would either run up on someone or a yellow flag would be present. It was frustrating but gave me some motivation for race one knowing that the speed was there.”
Her determination paid off and by the end of the race, Laura had worked her way up to third in the 992 Masters class, earning her a well-deserved podium finish. The third-place result bolstered her position in the championship ahead of the final race of the season.
On Sunday, Ely returned to the track for Race 2: starting once again from the sixth spot in her class, she quickly gained ground, moving up one position on the opening lap.
When Jim Walsh, who was running second in class, went off track with 22 minutes remaining, Ely was promoted to fourth. Despite battling hard with Vladimir Novikov for the final podium position, she was unable to make the pass and settled for a solid fourth in class.
“I would have loved to close the season with a win or a podium result, but the weekend started off on the wrong foot with qualifying", Ely reflected at the end of Sunday's race. "In the end, it was another good season, and one that we can be proud of as a team.”
With a podium and a top-five at the Sonoma season finale, Laura Ely secured second place in the 992 Masters class championship, a fantastic achievement after a season full of strong results: the Black Sheep Racing driver/owner in fact secured one win and eighth class podiums over the course of the 2024 campaign, establishing herself as a consistent front-runner in the series.
While she couldn't quite reach the top step of the podium again at Sonoma, her consistent performances throughout the season resulted in Black Sheep Racing finishing the 2024 Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West on a high, setting the stage for an even stronger 2025.
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