Therese Lahlouh began her second full-season in Porsche Sprint Challenge NA with an encouraging weekend at Sebring, where the JDX Racing driver secured a fifth-place finish in Race 1 and recovered from early setbacks to gain 17 positions in Race 2.
Therese Lahlouh began her second full-season in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America with an encouraging weekend at Sebring. The JDX Racing driver showed improved pace throughout the event which led to a best result of fifth in the 992 Pro/Am class in race one.
After being spun early in race two, the incident relegated Therese to the rear of the field, she gained 17 on-track positions despite multiple safety car periods to recover to an excellent 15th overall, ninth in class.
Lahlouh returned to Porsche Sprint Challenge North America after an excellent 2024 campaign in the series. Displaying excellent improvement throughout the season, the JDX Racing driver stood on the podium at Watkins Glen on her way to fifth place in the 992 Pro/Am Championship standings. Consistency was key to Therese’s progress as she finished every race inside the top-10 in class, while only twice finishing outside the top-6.
After beginning last season with a sixth-place finish at Sebring International Raceway, Lahlouh arrived in Florida aiming to push towards the top-5 in the 992 Pro/Am class. The event began with a series of test sessions in preparation for the competitive action and Therese took advantage by banking extra track time. Lahlouh was immediately challenging for a top-5 position within class and this pace carried forward into the first official practice session.
At the end of free practice one, the JDX Racing driver improved further to set the fourth fastest time within 992 Pro/Am. The second practice session on Friday morning brought added encouragement for Therese as she ran inside the top-3 of the class for the majority of the session. Ending the final practice session in fourth within 992 Pro/Am, Lahlouh was showing potential to challenge for podium finishes.
Qualifying took place that later day and it was a disrupted session as both a red flag and multiple yellow flags made it challenging to set a fast time. As a result, Lahlouh’s fastest time placed her 16th overall, seventh in the 992 Pro/Am class. The JDX Racing driver was just one second from fourth place overall and therefore huge potential existed to move forward in the pair of races.
Lahlouh was promoted to 15th overall for the start of the first race and the JDX Racing driver made an excellent start. Immediately gaining five positions, Therese moved up to tenth overall before slipping behind Kayden Kelly at the end of lap one. Lahlouh quickly passed Kelly at turn one to regain her spot inside the top-10 on lap two, before the race entered a lengthy full course yellow period while the recovery of Francisco De Jesus’s car took place.
When the race resumed, Lahlouh was keen to move forward and briefly got her nose ahead of Shane Leathers as the pair battled for position. Although Leathers retained the position, Therese was showing the speed which saw her contend for top-5 positions within free practice. Before Lahlouh could shape for another move, the yellow flags were displayed for a second time after Tillman Schmid went off-track.
On the second restart, Lahlouh got another excellent jump and completed an brilliant move on Leathers into the first turn. The JDX Racing driver immediately closed on teammate Frank Vitiello but just ran out of time to pass her rival. Nonetheless, it was a superb recovery drive from Lahlouh who finished race one in ninth position overall, while securing fifth place in the 992 Pro/Am class.
After a hard-charging drive in race one, Lahlouh was looking to replicate this in race two at Sebring. Starting from 13th overall, sixth in the 992 Pro/Am class, Therese made an excellent start and was pushing towards the top-10 through the opening corners.
The close-quarters racing led to two incidents of contact with Lahlouh being spun around at turn seven with Mark Boden then making light contact with the stopped JDX Racing machine. Despite the damage, Therese was able to rejoin at the rear of the field with the race also entering a period of full course yellow after multiple incidents throughout the opening lap.
Behind the safety car, Lahlouh was classified in 32nd position overall, 14th in 992 Pro/Am, with the car not substantially damaged to require a trip to the pit lane. When the racing resumed, Therese was on a mission and passed ten cars on the restart lap to move into 23rd overall, 11th in class. Using her racecraft to avoid further incidents, Lahlouh capitalised to move through the midfield as the race quickly entered a second period of full course yellow.
After Daniel Ammann pitted under the safety car, Lahlouh restarted from 22nd overall and immediately passed Boden into turn one. By the end of lap six, the JDX Racing driver had also overtaken Laura Ely, Francisco De Jesus and class rival Chris Hutter who pitted to serve a drive-through penalty.
Eric Lapp was the next driver ahead and after overtaking her teammate, Lahlouh was up to 17th overall, ninth in 992 Pro/Am. The next group of cars were 992 Masters competitors and therefore passing these drivers would be vital in closing in on her class rivals. Despite a good defence from Frank Vitiello, Lahlouh overtook Vitiello and Grady Willingham on lap 10 to move inside the overall top-15.
There was now a three second gap to bridge to eighth place in class and a series of personal best sectors allowed Lahlouh to make quick headway. However, a third full course yellow period was required when Todd Parriott spun off the track and with the barriers dislodged, the race finished behind the safety car with Therese classified in 15th overall, ninth in the 992 Pro/Am class. It was an excellent recovery drive from Lahlouh who took full advantage of the limited green flag running offered.
Lahlouh showed both speed and determination at Sebring to recover from a challenging qualifying session. The JDX Racing driver was consistently among the top-5 fastest drivers in the 992 Pro/Am class and it is this speed she will be hoping to carry forward into the remainder of the season.
The next round of Porsche Sprint Challenge North America takes place at Sonoma Raceway on the weekend of 5th/6th April.
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