Two sixth-place finishes for Therese Lahlouh at Road America

In the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America, Therese Lahlouh had an excellent weekend at Road America, securing two sixth-place finishes in the 992 Pro/Am class, significantly closing the gap to the leading drivers and consistently challenging for top-5 positions.

Photo credits: Colin McCarty

JDX Racing driver Therese Lahlouh enjoyed an excellent weekend of racing in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. Competing at the formidable Road America circuit, Lahlouh secured a pair of sixth-place finishes in the 992 Pro/Am class in an expanded field of drivers.

Therese significantly cut the gap to the leading group of racers throughout the weekend and will be encouraged by her pace over both one-lap and a full race distance.

Lahlouh enjoyed a breakthrough event last time out at Watkins Glen as the JDX Racing driver stood on the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America podium for the first time in her career. Finishing third in race two of the weekend, Therese took a sizeable step forward as she maintained a top-5 position within the championship standings. The fast and flowing nature of the Road America circuit would provide a different challenge and one which Lahlouh was relishing as on-track action got underway.

Road America also marked the second round of Porsche Endurance Challenge North America and therefore Lahlouh shared driving duties throughout practice with teammate Nik Romano. The pair were consistently challenging for top positions within class, while Therese closed out practice with lap times which saw her place comfortably inside the top-10 of the 992 Pro/Am class.

Qualifying was held on Saturday morning with Lahlouh looking to make further progress after a promising run of practice sessions. A red flag period early in the session disrupted the rhythm of the drivers, however the JDX Racing driver showed superb speed in the closing stages. Lahlouh’s pace in the first sector was especially competitive as she qualified eighth within the 992 Pro/Am class, tenth in the overall classification and just a quarter of a second away from seventh position.

Lahlouh started the first race of the weekend from inside the top-10, eighth in the 992 Pro/Am class and made an excellent start from the fifth row of the grid. Holding eighth through the opening turns, a number of smart moves on lap one saw her move up to ninth overall, seventh in class, as the drivers started lap two. Her progress was then halted by a full course yellow period after an incident involving Charlie Peter and Shane Leathers and this required both cars to be recovered from Canada Corner.

As the racing got back underway with 18 minutes remaining, the JDX Racing driver made a superb pass on David Musial under the Corvette Bridge to move into sixth in class, eighth overall. From there, Lahlouh immediately made gains on Conrad Geis and was able to close in further following a second full course yellow period.

With ten minutes remaining, Lahlouh and Geis traded sector times as they competed over a top-5 position, while newcomer Jens Hantson began to close in on the pair. Defending smartly from Hantson in the closing stages, Therese was able to improve her lap times and take the checkered flag in sixth position in the 992 Pro/Am class, eighth overall.

Photo credits: Colin McCarty

Following excellent consistency in qualifying, Lahlouh lined up seventh on the overall grid for the second race of the weekend, sixth in the 992 Pro/Am class. It was a busy run through the opening turns with Therese escaping a multi-car incident directly behind, while overtaking Scott Blind for sixth position overall. At the end of lap one, a full course yellow period neutralised the racing with only fellow 992 Pro/Am class drivers now ahead of the Lahlouh.

The race resumed with twenty-five minutes remaining and Lahlouh immediately had to defend from Blind as the Ruckus Racing driver pulled alongside into turn five. Excellent racecraft saw Therese hold position despite significant pressure being applied by the 992 Masters driver. Lahlouh’s strength in the first sector was vital to resisting any challenge into turn five, with a personal best time on lap nine stretching the gap to one second.

Lahlouh’s strong pace had also saw her cut the gap to fifth-place driver Conrad Geis to just over a second and she was sensing a chance to mount a late challenge. A series of consistent lap times in the closing stages of the contest saw the JDX Racing driver close in further, while forcing Geis into a mistake at the end of lap 13.

Lahlouh was able to draw alongside her rival into turn one, however she was unable to make the outside line work as Geis held his position well. Lahlouh was unable to make a final challenge for a top-5 position as a second full course yellow period was called for on the final lap with Therese taking the checkered flag in sixth within class.

It was an excellent weekend of racing from Lahlouh who completed superbly in an expanded field of 992 Pro/Am class drivers. The JDX Racing driver significantly bridged the gap to the leading pack of drivers, while enjoying a strong qualifying performance which allowed her to challenge for top-5 positions within class.

Lahlouh will be looking to finish the season on a high as the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America drivers return for one final round at Sonoma Raceway on the weekend of 28th/29th September.