The Porsche Endurance Challenge North America season finale at Circuit of the Americas saw Therese Lahlouh, Madeline Stewart, and Caroline Candas deliver strong performances with standout stints, though their respective races ended in misfortune with technical issues and a late-race collision.
Concluding the year with a flagship six-hour event at Circuit of the Americas, the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America season came to a close with a thrilling finale. In the GT3 Cup class, Therese Lahlouh and Nik Romano were joined by Madeline Stewart and the trio consistently raced inside the top-5 before suffering a technical failure just two laps from the checkered flag.
In the Cayman class, Caroline Candas suffered a late-race retirement via an incident not of her own making after teammates Ian Porter and Rafael Martinez had earlier led laps as they challenged for a podium finish.
Circuit of the Americas played host to the final round of the Porsche Endurance Challenge North America campaign. In its inaugural year, the multi-class series has attracted a wealth of talent from across the world in a four-race calendar. Three one-hour events gave the drivers a taste for endurance racing, beginning at Circuit of the Americas in May. Trips to Road America and Sonoma Raceway followed, before the flagship six-hour event saw the drivers return to Texas.
Therese Lahlouh has been a mainstay of the GT3 Cup class and alongside teammate Nik Romano, they narrowly missed out on an overall victory at Road America. The formidable duo were joined by Kiwi racer Madeline Stewart for the season finale, with Stewart having previously raced in the Cayman class of Porsche Endurance Challenge North America.
However, it is in GT3 Cup where Stewart has the most experience having raced in Porsche Carrera Cup North America throughout 2024, also with JDX Racing.
In the Cayman class, French racer Caroline Candas has enjoyed an excellent rookie campaign for RAFA Racing Team by JDX. Candas finished second in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America standings, securing two overall victories. For the six-hour Porsche Endurance Challenge North America event, Candas was joined by championship rival Ian Porter and team owner Rafael Martinez with the trio having competed against one another throughout the main campaign.
Both crews were aiming to end their respective seasons on a high with this being the longest circuit racing event which Candas had ever competed in. Due to the extended duration, some additional regulations were needed in comparison to the three prior Porsche Endurance Challenge North America events.
The minimum drive time for any one driver was set at 70 minutes, with the maximum being 180 minutes. Stint lengths were also regulated with GT3 Cup limited to 60 minutes, while Cayman class competitors were mandated to stop after 45 minutes of running. A ‘technical pit stop’ was also required to take place during the middle hour, where a front brake change was required with a minimum pit stop time of five minutes.
All six drivers in the two crews had already raced at Circuit of the Americas prior to the weekend, however they were eager to work on car setup in a pair of test sessions on Friday. In the GT3 Cup class, Lahlouh, Stewart and Romano finished tenth and seventh respectively in the two sessions. Lahlouh in particular benefited from extensive mileage with the trio completing 97 laps across the day.
In the Cayman class, Candas along with teammates Porter and Martinez also enjoyed a positive start to the event. They finished the first test session quickest in the Cayman class, before ending the day with the fifth fastest time in session two.
Both crews then participated in two free practice sessions on Saturday, before qualifying held in twilight. In the first session, Lahlouh, Stewart and Romano were eighth fastest before setting the tenth fastest time to end practice. The RAFA Racing Team by JDX trio were also competitive in the Cayman class, completing 30 laps in session one with Candas setting her quickest time of the event to date. Heading into qualifying, the trio set the fourth fastest time in second practice and were targeting a strong starting position.
GT3 Cup
Qualifying for the six-hour race was held late on Saturday afternoon and the regulations stated that either a bronze or unrated driver must take part. For JDX Racing, Therese Lahlouh got behind the wheel of car #242 and began the session on the front foot as she immediately jumped inside the top-6. An excellent improvement on the final lap of the session saw Lahlouh set the fifth fastest time, missing out on third by just one tenth of a second.
After her strong qualifying performance, Lahlouh took the start of the six-hour race from fifth position on the grid. Therese made an excellent getaway and immediately moved ahead of Luke French at turn one to claim fourth position. Holding fourth spot for the opening laps, Lahlouh then set the fastest first sector of the entire race as she defended stoutly from French.
On lap six, French made contact with Lahlouh when attempting an overtake and this resulted in the Competition Motorsports driver being assessed a drive-through penalty. This spin had dropped Lahlouh to ninth, however she quickly set a personal best time in pursuit of Mike Mim. After passing Mim on lap eight, her pace continued to improve following another personal best time and once again she set the best overall time in sector one.
On lap 12, Lahlouh passed French following his drive through penalty and she also overtook Todd Parriott to move into sixth. Prior to the conclusion of her opening stint, Therese also caught and passed Reinhold Krahn to regain a spot inside the top-5 while setting a strong pace in her recovery drive. At the end of the first hour of racing, Lahlouh brought her Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car to the attention of the JDX Racing crew while remaining behind the wheel.
Following the pitstop, Lahlouh rejoined in fourth position but the pitstop time was nine hundredths of a second under the minimum time. As a result, the JDX Racing team were required to serve an extra ninth tenths of a second in the pit box during the next stop. Lahlouh’s pace remained strong during her second stint and although she was overtaken by Porsche Carrera Cup North America race winner Zachary Vanier on lap 34, Therese remained inside the top-5.
The next lap saw Scott Blind take his Ruckus Racing machine off strategy following an additional pitstop and therefore Lahlouh was back into fourth position overall. Another consistent stint saw Lahlouh retain fourth position, before moving into third prior to the conclusion of her driving time. Therese pitted the JDX machine after an exceptional two-hours in the car, the longest competitive stint of her career.
Lahlouh handed over to Madeline Stewart with the Kiwi driver competing in her first Porsche Endurance Challenge North America event in the GT3 Cup class. Stewart ran in fifth position during the early portion of her opening stint, before moving into fourth while catching Mike Mim. Mim stopped earlier than the majority of his rivals and this elevated Madeline into a provisional podium position as the race approached halfway.
Stewart then brought the car to the attention of her JDX Racing crew and they performed the extended technical pitstop during this period. An issue during the stop saw Madeline lose just over one minute in comparison to her rivals and as a result, she rejoined the race in ninth position. Despite the setback, Stewart’s times were strong as she battled with the Competition Motorsport machine of Riley Giacomazzi as the duo fought for eighth position.
On lap 88, Stewart made an excellent move on Giacomazzi to initially move into eighth, before the subsequent pit cycle saw her move back inside the top-5. Four laps later, a personal best time followed and Madeline was now doing an excellent job to hold off Aaron Telitz, a driver with extensive experience in GT3 machinery. Although Telitz finally found a way through, Stewart remained in close proximity and showed stronger pace in her second stint.
As she was set to make her pitstop to hand over to Nik Romano, the race entered its first period of full course yellow after Alan Metni made contact with Caroline Candas and this sent the French racer into the barriers. At the time of the neutralisation, Stewart ran in fifth position and pitted under the full course yellow with Romano taking over for the final two hours.
Romano restarted from seventh position, one lap in arrears of the race leader, however he was soon into sixth following a pit stop for Tristan Vautier. Zachary Vanier ran directly behind but the MVII Racing by Regal Motorsport driver was soon assessed a stop +60 second penalty for stopping while the pits were closed. As a result, this relieved the pressure on Romano and he could focus forward on catching Blake McGovern.
Romano was able to pass McGovern on track, however the Kellymoss driver was also required to return to the pits for a stop & go penalty for a short pit stop. Now Romano could start reducing the gap to John Paul Southern and following a personal best time, he was less than three seconds behind.
On lap 122, Romano made a superb move at the final turn, however Southern fought back. The Ruckus Racing driver moved to the inside at turn one, however Romano successfully executed the cutback to reclaim the position. The duo then exchanged positions on multiple occasions the following lap, before Romano was able to pull clear.
Following an excellent stint, Romano pitted with just over one hour remaining. However, due to the timing of the previous pit stop under the full course yellow period, the JDX Racing crew had to extend the stop to ensure Romano did not exceed the maximum stint length. This lost the team one lap with Romano rejoining the race in eighth position. Following the conclusion of the pit cycle, Romano was up to seventh position and continued to fight for a strong finish.
Romano continued to impress in the closing stages as he consistently matched drivers with greater experience. This allowed him to hold a secure seventh position until the penultimate lap of the race. Misfortune then struck as Romano ground to a halt on the exit of the first turn with a technical issue preventing the JDX Racing crew taking the checkered flag.
Cayman
In the Cayman class, Ian Porter was the nominated qualifying driver with the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America champion looking to continue his strong run of form. Porter’s fastest time came on the first flying lap of the session and secured the RAFA Racing Team by JDX trio pole position in the Cayman class. Porter’s margin over second place driver Chris Walsh was over one second to underline his strength at Circuit of the Americas.
Continuing his momentum from qualifying, Ian Porter got behind the wheel for the start of the Porsche Endurance Challenge North America season finale. Starting from pole position, Ian made a confident start and held the lead on the initial launch.
By the end of lap one, Porter’s margin ahead of second place driver Chris Walsh was over two seconds with William Peluchiwski in third. By lap four, Porter’s advantage had grown to four seconds with a further six seconds back to the Kellymoss machine which occupied the final step on the podium.
Throughout Porter’s opening stint, his lap times were extremely fast and consistent and by lap 14, his lead exceeded ten seconds. Prior to his stop, the gap to third place driver Peluchiwski was approaching half a minute with Porter handing over to Rafael Martinez.
Following the first stop of the race, Martinez held the lead however the pitstop was short of the mandatory time. As a result of being 1.7 seconds under the requisite time, the RAFA Racing Team by JDX crew were handed a 17 second penalty to serve in the next stop. Martinez’s initial laps were good, however he lost the Cayman class lead on lap 28 as Chris Walsh moved ahead.
Two laps later, Porsche veteran Patrick Long claimed second position with the Wright Motorsport driver making contact with Martinez on the exit of turn one. Zachary Anderson then made his way through, before Martinez set his personal best lap of the race as he grew in confidence with each completed lap. Martinez then brought the car to the attention of the crew with Caroline Candas getting behind the wheel for the first time.
The start of Caroline’s stint was challenging as she was forced to come back down pit lane as the team were assessed with a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Now in sixth position within the Cayman class, Candas was focused on setting fast lap times and regaining lost positions. Candas battled traffic during her first 45-minute stint and drove cleanly before handing over to Porter in sixth position.
Porter’s second stint was again superb as he quickly moved ahead of Khalid Eidoo and regained a spot inside the top-5. In the remainder of his stint, Ian was regularly the fastest Cayman driver on track and this allowed him to make significant inroads on the drivers ahead. Porter handed over to Martinez in fifth position at the halfway mark, with the team also performing their five-minute technical pitstop during this time.
Martinez enjoyed another good stint and benefited from being in a portion of the circuit away from lapped traffic. This enabled him to maximise his lap times and after an issue for Rob Walker, the RAFA Racing Team by JDX machine was up to fourth position. On lap 91, Martinez completed his stint with Candas returning to the circuit for her second stint behind the wheel.
Candas was aiming to make further progress, however just three laps into her stint she received contact from Alan Metni as the GT3 Cup competitor was attempting to lap her. This sent Candas into the barriers and the car was subsequently retired from the race, with Metni later assessed a penalty for avoidable contact. This was an unfortunate end to the season for Candas and the RAFA Racing Team by JDX trio who were caught up in an incident not of their own making.
Porsche Endurance Challenge North America has offered drivers an opportunity to immerse themselves in endurance racing at three of the most demanding circuits stateside. Therese Lahlouh has shown significant improvements throughout the season and was unlucky not to claim an overall victory.
Caroline Candas battled for the Cayman class victory at Sonoma and has acquainted herself superbly to the step up in performance. Madeline Stewart has competed in both classes this season and is set to return to Porsche competition in 2025 as she continues her development.
All three drivers have displayed their talent in endurance events this season and have valued the extra track time offered by Porsche Endurance Challenge North America.