Alexandra Hainer crowned McLaren Trophy America Pro-Am champion

Alexandra Hainer wrapped up the McLaren Trophy America Pro-Am championship title following an excellent performance in the final round of the season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where she stood twice on the class podium, driving smartly to seal the title following a superb debut campaign in the series.

Photo credits: Brian Cleary/SRO

Alexandra Hainer wrapped up the McLaren Trophy America Pro-Am championship title following an excellent performance in the final round of the season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Racing alongside Jesse Lazare for Motorsports In Action, Hainer twice stood on the Pro-Am class podium in the season finale. Despite overcoming challenges throughout the weekend, particular from their main championship rivals, Hainer and Lazare drove smartly to seal the title following a superb debut campaign in the series.

Hainer arrived at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with her eyes firmly set on securing the McLaren Trophy America Pro-Am championship title. Hainer and Motorsports In Action teammate Jesse Lazare held a 3.5-point advantage over John Dempsey and Andrew Davis and therefore it was set to be a winner-takes-all showcase at the Brickyard. Hainer and Lazare had scored three victories and four additional podium finishes prior to the season finale across a superb maiden campaign.

In preparation for the final two races of their McLaren Trophy America season, Hainer and Lazare teamed up for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month. Driving a McLaren Artura GT4, Hainer and Lazare made a sensational debut appearance in the series as they finished second overall. The experienced gained by the duo over the two-hour race was crucial as they adapted superbly to the competitive multi-class series.

On-track action at the Brickyard began on Wednesday with two free practice sessions for the drivers to dial in on a setup. It was a perfect start for the Motorsports In Action duo who topped the times in the first session with Lazare’s fastest lap of a 1:25.836 over three tenths of a second clear of second place driver Patrick Liddy.

In session two, Hainer took a significant step forward in performance in what was a superb day for the championship-contending team. Improving by over a second from her quickest time from the morning session, Hainer’s benchmark time of a 1:27.796 was crucially faster than John Dempsey. Lazare once again topped the times overall as the #43 machine was the early pacesetter. 

Thursday’s action began with the pair of qualifying sessions which were held back-to-back. In the first session, Hainer was behind the wheel of the Motorsports In Action machine and she was quickly inside the overall top-5, before a red flag halted proceedings. The session resumed for a little under five minutes with Hainer’s quickest time of a 1:27.222 coming on the final lap of the session. This placed Hainer in fifth position overall, second in the Pro-Am class, while she was less than half a second away from overall pole position.

The second session followed directly after with Hainer remaining behind the wheel of the McLaren Artura Trophy Evo. It was another positive session as Hainer found an extra tenth of a second to set a fastest lap of a 1:27.151. This time placed her in sixth position overall, while she was again the second fastest driver in the Pro-Am class. 

Photo credits: Brian Cleary/SRO

Race one of the weekend took place on Thursday afternoon with Hainer lining up from fifth on the overall grid, second in the Pro-Am class. Hainer got an excellent initial launch and held fifth position as the drivers approached turn one. After a late-braking manoeuvre, John Dempsey made a move to the inside and Hainer did a nice job to avoid contact, while Stephen Sorbaro followed Dempsey through.

Hainer looked to fight back through turns three and four and as she challenged Dempsey into turn five, contact was made between the drivers. Hainer was spun around and although there was light damage to the car, she was able to continue without a significant loss of time. At the conclusion of lap one, the Motorsports In Action driver was in tenth position overall, fourth within the Pro-Am class.

Hainer started her comeback on lap two as she overtook fellow Pro-Am competitor Brandon Kreutz for third position. A drive-through penalty was then assessed to Dempsey for the earlier contact and with the pit lane at Indianapolis Motor Speedway the longest on the calendar, the RWE Motorsport machine fellow almost one minute off the lead. 

After Dempsey served his penalty, Hainer was into second position in the Pro-Am class before she overtook Sorbaro for seventh overall. A nice move on Deniz Teoman followed as Hainer moved into sixth position. Overall race leader Cooper Broll was then issued a drive-through penalty of his own which elevated Hainer inside the top-5.

Now with a sizeable gap ahead of her, Hainer could focus on setting fast and consistent lap times in pursuit of class leader Tanner Harvey. On lap six, Hainer was faster than the race leader and this enabled her to pull clear of the group of drivers behind. After settling into an excellent pace of 1:28, Hainer was the quickest driver in the entire field on lap 11 as she lapped faster than the Pro class runners. 

As the pit window opened for the Pro and Am class teams, Hainer and her fellow Pro-Am class rivals remained on the circuit. This enabled her to move into third position overall, before assuming the runner-up spot after James Sofronas pitted from the Am class lead. On lap 19, Hainer brought her Motorsports In Action machine to the attention of the crew with Jesse Lazare getting behind the wheel.

Following the pit cycle Lazare ran in fifth position overall, second in the Pro-Am class, while the Canadian racer was among the fastest on the track. On lap 23, Lazare moved into fourth overall after Am class driver Colin Harrison ran wide at turn 12. Lazare’s pace remained strong as he chased down Sofronas for a spot on the overall podium. After Lazare set the quickest middle sector of the entire race on lap 29, he closed the margin further before completing the overtake two laps later. 

A strong run to the finish saw Hainer and Lazare finish in third position overall, second in the Pro-Am class. With the Pro-Am winners Tanner Harvey and Patrick Liddy a guest entry, this enabled the Motorsports In Action duo score maximum championship points and extend their advantage over the RWE Motorsport team. 

Photo credits: Brian Cleary/SRO

The season finale took place on Friday afternoon with Lazare behind the wheel of the Motorsports In Action machine from sixth position on the overall grid, second in the Pro-Am class. If the duo secured third-place points in the Pro-Am class, they would seal the title and therefore a clean race was crucial to achieve their season-long goal. As the lights went out, the Canadian racer got an excellent start as he made a confident move to the outside of turn one, passing three cars in the process. Overtaking class rival Patrick Liddy as part of this manoeuvre, Lazare also claimed the Pro-Am class lead at the end of lap one.

Lazare was keen to gain further ground and after a great run onto the main straight to start lap two, he looked to the inside of Jeff Cook before completing the move on the apex of the corner. Now in second position overall, Lazare set the overall fastest lap of the race on the second tour despite overtaking Cook in the process. Cook was determined to fight back and the Am class leader remained just half a second behind Lazare with the Motorsports In Action driver unable to escape from the Dark Horse Racing machine.

On lap four, Lazare set another new fastest lap of the race as the Canadian racer was showing particularly strong speed in the final sector. Following another quick time on lap five, he extended the margin to Cook behind to over a second. As Lazare’s stint progressed, the margins remained consistent as Jesse ran one second behind Pro class driver Tommy Pintos, while Cook held third position. 

On lap 11, Pintos made a mistake at turn one and this allowed Lazare to close to within a car length. This also brought Cook into contention before Pintos was able to settle into a rhythm and once again stretch his legs at the head of the field. Two laps later, the maximum drive time had elapsed for the Pro drivers within the Pro-Am teams and therefore Lazare brought the car to pit road to the attention of the Motorsports In Action crew. 

Another good stop from the team saw Hainer get behind the wheel while she initially emerged as the leader of the Pro-Am class. As Hainer exited the pits and got up to speed, Tanner Harvey was able to move his Forte Racing machine ahead. However, with this guest entry not scoring championship points, it was not a priority for Hainer to race Harvey for position. 

The Motorsports In Action team were then issued a 4.14 second post-race penalty for a short pit stop, however with Hainer requiring to score third-place points in the Pro-Am class to secure the title, this penalty was currently not significant enough to impact the championship battle. In the early stages of her stint, Hainer’s pace was strong as she was holding with Harvey while maintaining a good gap to title rival John Dempsey behind.

Photo credits: Brian Cleary/SRO

On lap 20, Hainer lost some momentum after the Pro class machine of Casey Dennis made his way through and this brought Dempsey into contention. Even if the RWE Motorsport machine passed Hainer, they would still be in position to secure the championship as things currently stood. After Dempsey closed the gap to within one second, a battle between Harvey and Dennis emerged ahead.

This resulted in all four cars fighting for position and after Dempsey made an opportunistic move at turn 10, Hainer was spun around. There was significant damage to both machines, however Hainer was able to continue while Dempsey pulled into the pits. The damage to the Motorsports In Action car was impacting Hainer’s performance by around three seconds per lap but by remaining on track, she would score the required championship points to claim the title.

After emerging from the pits, Dempsey was awarded a drive-through for incident responsibility and after serving this penalty, he retired the car. Therefore, the championship was now secure and Hainer settled into a consistent, yet reduced pace as she continued to manage the damage to the car. On lap 27, Colin Harrison moved ahead with Hainer now in sixth position overall, second in the Pro-Am class.

A clean run to the chequered flag saw Hainer and Lazare hold this position to the line in order to claim the McLaren Trophy America Pro-Am championship title. Despite some aggressive driving from title rival Dempsey across the weekend, Hainer and Lazare held firm to score maximum points across the weekend with the car of Liddy and Harvey ineligible for the championship.

It was an excellent season for Hainer and Lazare who enjoyed a successful first season together as they established themselves as the team to beat across their debut campaign.  

Photo credits: Brian Cleary/SRO