Loni Unser capped off an impressive 2024 season in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by securing two podium finishes at Sonoma, bringing her tally to six and clinching third place in the Cayman Pro/Am standings after a strong late-season run of form.
Kellymoss driver Loni Unser maintained her excellent late-season form by twice standing on the podium at Sonoma. Unser entered the weekend on a run of three podium finishes in the last four races and after finishing both races in third in the Cayman Pro/Am class, she took her season podium tally to six.
Unser qualified third in class and although she fell behind rival Tillman Schmid at the beginning of race one, she was able to complete a superb overtake to finish in third. In race two, her defensive skills were tested as Schmid ran directly behind, however Loni held on to end the season with another third-place finish.
Unser’s improvements across the second half of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America season have seen her assume firm grip of third place in the Cayman Pro/Am standings. The Kellymoss driver enjoyed her best meeting of the season last time out at Road America as Loni finished both races on the podium for the first time this season. Unser has been getting increasingly closer to scoring her first victory in the series, while her podium count has grown to four heading into the season finale at Sonoma.
Targeting further trips to the rostrum to close out an extremely positive season, Unser was looking to get up to speed quickly in Thursday’s pair of opening test sessions. Challenging those in the top-3 of the class, Loni was showing good consistency in the initial free practice sessions.
In final practice on Friday afternoon, Unser was able to set the third fastest time in the Cayman Pro/Am class, fourth overall and just two tenths of a second away from Caroline Candas in second.
Unser was looking for further improvements in Saturday’s qualifying session to secure a good starting position. Loni’s fastest time came on her seventh lap in the session and this placed her fourth overall, third in the Cayman Pro/Am class and ahead of rival Tillman Schmid by less than a tenth of a second.
The opening race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Unser lining up from fourth overall, third in the Cayman Pro/Am class. A strong move from Tillman Schmid on the initial start moved the TPC Racing driver ahead of Loni, with Unser trying to fight back through the remainder of the opening lap.
After a technical issue forced Alain Scalzo to retire at the beginning of lap three, the leading quartet of Cayman Pro/Am class were now running in line behind the safety car with Unser up to fourth overall.
Although the Kellymoss driver remained behind Schmid at the restart, by lap seven the margin between the drivers had shrunk to three tenths of a second, with Unser’s pace in the final sector particularly encouraging. As Loni continued to apply the pressure in the middle portion of the race, this forced Schmid into a mistake and on lap 14, she was able to make an excellent pass on the exit of the final corner. As the Kellymoss driver completed the move, Schmid made contact and received a warning for his conduct.
Unser’s pace after passing her rival was impressive as she immediately set a personal best time and was able to pull out a small margin in the closing stages. Taking the checkered flag in third position, Loni continued her excellent late-season form by clinching another podium finish in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America.
Looking to end her campaign on a high in the season finale, Unser lined up fourth for race two of the weekend on Sunday. An excellent start saw her move ahead of rival Tillman Schmid on the first lap and claim third position in the Cayman Pro/Am class.
Schmid was quick to apply pressure and ensured the gap remained just half a second in the opening exchanges. Nonetheless, Unser was driving well and protecting her position to ensure she gave Schmid no opportunities to capitalise on a mistake.
By lap nine, she had opened out the gap to over a second, however the gap was continued to ebb and flow with a personal best time from Schmid on lap 11 reducing the margin once again. The gap between Unser and Schmid remained around one second as the race entered the closing stages, with a new fastest lap from Unser on lap 17 providing her with an increased margin.
Unser was able to hold off the TPC Racing driver to secure a pair of podium finishes at Sonoma, while clinching third place in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America Pro/Am standings.
The Shift Up Now athlete ended her season on a high by standing on the Cayman Pro/Am podium in each of the last four races. The Kellymoss driver has made exceptional progress during the course of the season and this has seen her become a consistent podium finisher, while even contending for race victories.
Following her first trip to the rostrum at Circuit of the Americas, Loni went from strength-to-strength and this result was a catalyst for strong late-season form. After a brilliant campaign in 2024, Unser will be looking to secure another full-time programme of racing in 2025 to continue her development as a driver.
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