Alexandra Hainer returns to McLaren Trophy North America with ProAm victory at Road America
- RACERS
- 3 hours ago
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Reigning McLaren Trophy North America ProAm champion Alexandra Hainer made a successful return to the series at Road America, joining Jesse Lazare for the penultimate round of the 2026 season, securing pole position in class and producing a great final stint to take the ProAm victory and finish second overall.
Reigning McLaren Trophy North America ProAm champion Alexandra Hainer made a successful return to the series at Road America, joining Jesse Lazare for the penultimate round of the 2026 season and immediately returning to the front of the field.
The duo, who won the inaugural ProAm championship together in 2025, secured pole position in class and a fourth-place finish in the opening race before going one better on Sunday, with Hainer producing a great final stint to take the ProAm victory and finish second overall.
The Road America weekend marked Hainer and Lazare’s latest appearance in the championship. After their title-winning 2025 season, the pair had already made a one-off return at the Miami International Autodrome earlier in 2026, stepping up to the Pro class for the support race at the Miami Formula 1 Grand Prix and immediately securing a class podium.
At Road America, they returned to their ProAm combination in the #43 McLaren Artura, with Hainer also bringing a distinctive new look to the car through her partnership with Starface. The bright pink livery made the McLaren impossible to miss around the Wisconsin circuit, continuing a partnership that began at Miami. Hainer, a longtime Starface wearer and the first woman to win the McLaren Trophy America championship, once again brought the brand's playful identity onto the racetrack with the special livery and matching custom gear.
The sporting weekend began with encouraging pace from the reigning champions. Hainer and Lazare placed third in ProAm during the opening practice session with a 2:10.749, while also running near the top of the overall timing order. They remained competitive in the second session, posting a 2:10.893 to finish fourth in ProAm.
Hainer took the wheel of the #43 McLaren for the first qualifying session and immediately emerged as one of the leading ProAm runners. Her opening lap of 2:11.8 put her inside the top three during the early stages, before she improved to a 2:11.3 and remained inside the overall top four as the session progressed.
The times continued to fall, and Hainer delivered when it mattered most. Her final benchmark of 2:10.638 placed her seventh overall but, more importantly, secured pole position in ProAm. It was a particularly strong performance given the competitiveness of the field and provided the team with the ideal starting point for the opening race.
Lazare then took over driving duties for the second qualifying session and produced another impressive lap. His 2:08.105 put the #43 fourth overall and second in ProAm, giving the duo front-running starting positions for both races.
Saturday afternoon's opening race presented an additional challenge, with earlier rain leaving the track wet. Hainer was tasked with the opening stint, lining up sixth overall and from pole position in ProAm in the distinctive Starface pink McLaren. She made a clean start and immediately retained sixth overall and the ProAm lead. With the circuit still wet, Hainer avoided taking unnecessary risks and initially concentrated on keeping the car clean while maintaining her position.
She eventually lost one place to the Pro-class car of Stockard, but remained comfortably in front of her ProAm rivals, with Alex Pollard the closest challenger two cars behind. Hainer also came under pressure from Jon Miller's Pro-class McLaren, but once again did not risk an unnecessary fight against a car outside her class, instead focusing on maintaining a consistent rhythm.
The pressure from within ProAm soon intensified, however, as Pollard closed in. Hainer was forced into a much more defensive approach, particularly after the back straight, where Pollard moved alongside. Hainer attempted to switch back but eventually dropped to second in ProAm.
The battle then produced another dramatic moment. Fabio Grecco attempted to take advantage of the gap created by the fight and made contact with Hainer. The Starface McLaren was able to continue, but Hainer had to go deep and lost another position to Ryan James, temporarily dropping to third in ProAm.
Pollard subsequently encountered problems of his own and fell back, allowing Hainer to recover the ProAm lead. She responded with a remarkable increase in pace as the track continued to dry.
Hainer set a 2:28.539, the fastest lap in ProAm at that stage, before dropping below the 2:28 mark. She continued to produce the fastest ProAm laps and subsequently recorded another benchmark of 2:27.649, extending her advantage over Ryan James to around five seconds.
With the pit window approaching, Hainer brought the #43 into the pits from the ProAm lead on lap eight, handing the car over to Lazare. The team opted for slick tyres as the track continued to dry, but a congested moment in pit lane cost the McLaren two positions to Casey Dennis and Oliver Webb in ProAm.
The timing of the stops was then complicated further when Kenneth Gregg's #6 car went into the gravel, triggering a Full Course Yellow during the pit window. When the race returned to green with 17 minutes remaining, Lazare found himself in a group of cars that had effectively lost almost a lap during the caution and pit sequence.
The timing of the neutralization however meant Lazare was unable to fully reconnect with the leading group. He nevertheless maintained a strong pace, initially running in the 2:15.3 range before improving into the 2:13s as the stint progressed.
The McLaren was unable to fully close the approximately ten-second gap to the ProAm cars ahead, however, and the unusual sequence of pit stops and caution periods had fundamentally altered the order. Spencer Schmidt emerged with a substantial advantage from the timing of the stops, effectively leaving the lead battle out of reach.
Hainer and Lazare nevertheless recovered to finish fourth in ProAm and 12th overall, a result that did not fully reflect the pace Hainer had demonstrated during the opening stint but nevertheless left the duo well positioned for another opportunity on Sunday.
The second race provided a fresh opportunity, with Lazare taking the start of the #43 McLaren from second in ProAm and fourth overall. He made an excellent launch and immediately used the outside line through Turn 1 to complete a decisive pass on Bell, moving into third overall and beginning his pursuit of Liddy.
Bell attempted to fight back on the following lap, but Lazare held his position and remained second in ProAm. Oliver Webb soon joined the group, increasing the pressure at the front of the class as the three cars became increasingly involved in the battle.
Webb's aggressive attack on Bell ultimately worked in Lazare's favor, allowing him to maintain a stable gap while the two cars ahead and behind concentrated on their own fight. Lazare remained consistently quick as the first stint developed.
The race suffered no early caution interruptions, and when Race 1 winner James Li encountered a technical problem on lap seven and was forced to limp back toward the pits, the race remained green.
Lazare continued to hold off Bell and Webb as the pit window approached, completing a strong opening stint that kept the #43 in overall podium contention. He eventually pitted on lap 12, handing the car over to Hainer from third overall and second in ProAm.
The stop was executed cleanly by the team, allowing Hainer to rejoin in third in class with a useful advantage over the cars behind. Bell was around eight seconds back, while Highland, the ProAm leader, was only two seconds ahead. With 15 minutes remaining, Hainer had a clear opportunity to fight for the class victory.
She immediately showed that she had the pace to take advantage of it: the gap to Highland disappeared over the course of a single lap, and on lap 15 Hainer made her move into Turn 1, completing the pass to take the ProAm lead.
From there, the reigning champion produced a remarkable stint. She immediately began extending her advantage over the cars behind, putting together consistently fast laps while keeping the McLaren clean and under control. The objective was now straightforward: maintain the pace and avoid giving the chasing field any opportunity to respond.
Hainer succeeded at her task and the Starface McLaren continued to pull away as the final minutes ticked down, putting her in an increasingly commanding position at the front of ProAm.
With five minutes remaining, however, another incident threatened to alter the outcome. Grecco became involved in a three-way battle and went off, eventually making contact with the barriers and bringing out a caution.
The race therefore ended under Full Course Yellow conditions, preventing any final challenge to Hainer. She crossed the finish line second overall and, most importantly, secured the ProAm victory following a superb closing stint.
With a class pole position, double front-running race performances and decisive final stint in Race 2, Alexandra Hainer produced another memorable appearance in the series.
The McLaren Trophy North America season now heads toward its conclusion at Indianapolis, with the final round scheduled for October 8–11.
