PSCNA: Erika Hoffmann claims maiden podium finish at Sonoma

Erika Hoffmann has continued to take significant strides forward despite her limited experience and enjoyed a productive weekend at Sonoma Raceway where the Kellymoss driver stood on the podium for the first time in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America, banking her largest haul of championship points to date.

Photo credits: Kyle Schwab

Erika Hoffmann continued her good start to her rookie season in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by securing her first podium finish of the season at Sonoma Raceway. The Kellymoss driver improved considerably on her first visit to the circuit and was rewarded with a third-place result in the Cayman Pro/Am class during race one. Hoffmann concluded the weekend with a fourth place finish in class in race two to bank her largest haul of championship points to date.

Hoffmann’s debut in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America was an impressive one as the Canadian racer showed excellent speed at Sebring International Raceway. Despite adapting to a new car, while competing at one of the most formidable circuits in America, Hoffmann contended for overall podium finishes. Erika’s improvements throughout the event were significant and she was looking to replicate this at Sonoma Raceway.

Hoffmann arrived into the weekend with no prior experience at the California circuit. Therefore, working with her Kellymoss team to learn the characteristics of the track would be a top priority in the opening test sessions on Thursday.

Drivers were given three sessions on Thursday in which Hoffmann took full advantage of, completing 52 laps on her first day at Sonoma Raceway. By the first official free practice in the afternoon, Erika had improved on her fastest time from the morning session by almost four seconds. This saw the Kellymoss driver end Thursday’s running in sixth position overall, fifth in the Cayman Pro/Am class.

On Friday, Hoffmann took advantage of the second free practice to improve her times further. Her speed in the final part of the lap was especially competitive with Erika ending the session in ninth position overall, while finishing practice within the top-5 of the Cayman Pro/Am class.

Qualifying took place later in the afternoon and the rhythm of the session was disrupted following a red flag period. Nonetheless, Hoffmann set her quickest lap of the event to date as the Canadian racer lapped Sonoma Raceway in a time of 1:44.583. This resulted in a seventh-place overall position, crucially ahead of a number of the Cayman Masters drivers, while Hoffmann set the fifth fastest time in class.

Photo credits: Kyle Schwab

For her first race at Sonoma Raceway, Hoffmann lined up from seventh on the overall grid, fifth in the Cayman Pro/Am class. The Canadian driver held her position during the first lap, while fending off the challenge from Cayman Masters competitor Tom Kopczynski. In the initial stages, Hoffmann was once again showing good speed in the final sector and this was allowing her to keep her more experienced rivals behind.

The Kellymoss driver was also improving in other parts of the circuit and on lap four, she was the third fastest driver in sector two. A personal best time on lap six followed, with Erika now running some of her fastest laps of the entire weekend. As a result, the margin to Kopczynski grew to over two seconds and this allowed her to focus on catching the drivers ahead.

On lap eight, an incident between Anna Cecchi and Loni Unser resulted in both drivers retiring from the race with Hoffmann now up to fifth overall, third in the Cayman Pro/Am class. With Unser’s car requiring recovery, the race entered a full course yellow period and the restart came with a little over 10 minutes remaining.

Hoffmann was now running in her highest position to date and this was improved further on lap 13 following a spin for Alain Scalzo. Although this did not improve her position in the Cayman Pro/Am class, Hoffmann was now fourth overall and showing great confidence.

Two laps later, personal best times through sectors one and two allowed Erika to close the gap to Greg Cecchi ahead. Hoffmann completed the race with a series of fast times which saw her claim her maiden podium finish in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America with a third-place result in the Cayman Pro/Am class.

Photo credits: Kyle Schwab

Following her breakthrough result in race one, Hoffmann was looking to replicate this performance in race two. The Kellymoss driver started the second race from seventh overall, fifth in the Cayman Pro/Am class, however she was promoted one position after Loni Unser started from the rear of the field following her race one incident.

Hoffmann again negotiated the first lap maturely and ended lap one in sixth position overall, fourth in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Her progress was soon interrupted after the race entered a full course yellow period as debris was removed from the frontstretch. Just one lap was spent behind the safety car, before racing resumed on lap four.

Kopczynski was again running directly behind Hoffmann, however she resisted his early challenge for position. On lap five, Erika was the second fastest driver in the middle sector and this saw her cut the margin to Greg Cecchi ahead. Two laps later, Hoffmann was less than one second behind the Charlie Hayes Racing machine and she was now looking for a way through.

Overtaking was proving challenging at Sonoma Raceway and Hoffmann then began to lose time behind Cecchi. This allowed Bill Fenech to close in, however a personal best time on lap nine saw Hoffmann extend the margin to over a second. A mistake from the Cayman Masters driver then gave Hoffmann further breathing space as she could once again focus on catching Cecchi.

Despite the tyres continuing to wear in the closing stages of race two, Hoffmann set a personal best time on lap 16. This lap was close to usurping her qualifying benchmark to underline Erika’s progress throughout the event. Although she was unable to pass Cecchi in the finals laps, Hoffmann completed the weekend with another good result as she took the checkered flag in sixth position overall, fourth in the Cayman Pro/Am class.

Hoffmann enjoyed a productive weekend at Sonoma Raceway where she stood on the podium for the first time. Erika has continued to take significant strides forward despite her limited experience in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America to date.

“It feels amazing to stand on the podium in just my second Porsche Sprint Challenge weekend,” said Hoffmann. “I want to give a huge thank you to the entire Kellymoss team for giving me a great car and helping me improve every session. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made and excited to keep building from here.”

She will be looking to return to the podium in the next event which takes place at Circuit of the Americas on the weekend of May 17th/18th.