Alexandra Hainer scores two runner-up finishes at Virginia International Raceway
- LIAM REDFORD
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
Following an extremely successful trio of races at Circuit of the Americas, Alexandra Hainer retained her championship lead in the McLaren Trophy America Pro-Am class after twice finishing on the podium at Virginia International Raceway, where she finished both races in second position.
Alexandra Hainer retained her championship lead in the McLaren Trophy America Pro-Am class after twice finishing on the podium at Virginia International Raceway. Alongside teammate Jesse Lazare, the Motorsports In Action duo finished both races in second position with Hainer leading a number of laps in race two.
Following an extremely successful trio of races at Circuit of the Americas, Hainer and Lazare arrived at Virginia International Raceway leading the Pro-Am class standings. Two class victories and a further podium finish in Texas established the Motorsports In Action duo as the early-season pacesetters with Hainer’s performances in challenging conditions a particular highlight.
Hainer and Lazare were now aiming to continue this momentum at a challenging circuit, while up against a competitive grid of drivers. On-track action got underway with two free practice sessions for the drivers to work on car setup ahead of a pair of races to take place across the course of the weekend.
On Friday, the duo participated in two free practice sessions ahead of the first qualifying session on Saturday morning. In the first practice session, Hainer and Lazare set the seventh fastest time overall, fourth in class, with a quickest time of a 1:49.930. The second session was disrupted by a series of red flags and brought to an early conclusion following a sizeable collision between two competitors and therefore representative lap times were limited.
The first qualifying session of the weekend took place on Saturday morning with Hainer behind the wheel. It was a session of improvement for the Motorsports In Action driver who did a nice job to fight for positions at the front of the Pro-Am field. At the end of qualifying, Hainer had set the sixth fastest time overall, while her best lap of a 1:52.430 placed her second in class.
The opening race of the weekend took place later on Saturday with Hainer lining up from the third row of the grid. It was a clean start as the drivers approached the first turns with Hainer settling into sixth overall, second in the Pro-Am class. Just ahead of her, class rival John Dempsey found a way past Am class competitor James Sofronas and therefore the GMG Racing driver was in between the Pro-Am leaders.
Hainer’s pace in the early stages was strong and by the end of lap two, she had opened up a margin of over five seconds to Tom Kopczynski behind. Out front, the overall race leader Tommy Pintos received a drive-through penalty for a jump start and after this was served, he rejoined the race behind Hainer.
On lap six, Pintos moved his way back through with Hainer settling in behind and ensuring she remained consistent in her pursuit of class leader Dempsey. At this stage, the gap behind was now approaching 20 seconds and this allowed Hainer to focus forward on bridging the gap to the RWE Motorsport machine which was now just over five seconds ahead.
As the pit window approached, Sofronas was able to overtake Dempsey for fourth position overall and now Hainer had her rival in her sights. On lap 15, Hainer pitted to hand over to teammate Lazare while the car of Colin Harrison had come to a stop out on circuit. As Lazare rejoined the circuit, the race entered its first full course yellow period as Harrison’s car required recovery.
Under the neutralisation, Lazare was running in fifth position overall, second in the Pro-Am class with the race resuming with ten minutes remaining on the clock. The Canadian racer made a good restart and he was able to capitalise on contact ahead between Sofronas and Cooper Broll which elevated Lazare to third overall, second in class.
As the race entered the closing stages, Pro-Am leader Andrew Davis was awarded a five-second time penalty for a pit stop infringement and therefore Lazare aimed to bridge the gap which currently stood at six seconds. Despite a superb effort from Lazare, he was not quite able to cut the deficit with the Motorsports In Action duo finishing third overall, second in the Pro-Am class.
Sunday’s action began with the second qualifying session in which Hainer was targeting pole position in the Pro-Am class. Conditions remained dry and the drivers were pushing from the outset with just fifteen-minutes to set a fast time. At the end of the session, Hainer had set a lap which was three tenths of a second faster than she managed the previous day. As a result, the Motorsports In Action driver had qualified eighth overall, second in the Pro-Am class.
The second race of the weekend took place just a couple of hours later and with the Pro drivers scheduled to start, Lazare got behind the wheel for the opening stint. Following a penalty for a driver ahead, the Canadian racer lined up from seventh overall, second in Pro-Am, and he was keen to make a fast start. Lazare quickly passed two cars through the opening turns and as a result, he completed the first lap in fifth position overall, second in class.
Lazare then had to resist pressure from class rival Eric Filgueiras as the leading trio of Pro-Am competitors ran nose-to-tail. All three drivers were catching Am class racer James Sofronas and by the end of lap three, the GMG Racing driver was just a tenth of a second ahead. Lazare was able to successfully make the move the following lap as he set off in pursuit of class leader Andrew Davis.
Lazare did a nice job to run a couple of seconds behind Davis throughout his stint before he pitted on lap nine to hand over to Hainer. Due to the Motorsports In Action team requiring to serve a success penalty, Hainer rejoined the race behind Riley Motorsports driver Tom Kopczynski. An excellent out lap saw Hainer overtake Kopczynski and therefore she regained second place within the Pro-Am class.
Hainer also passed the Am class car of Bob Stockard and this was important as she chased the race leading machine of John Dempsey. Dempsey was then given a drive-through penalty for a short pit stop and this was a good break for Hainer as she soon moved into the Pro-Am class lead. However, once Dempsey’s penalty was served, the race entered a full course yellow period after the car of Tommy Pintos had stopped out on circuit.
The race resumed with a little over 15 minutes remaining and at the head of the field, Neil Langberg ran wide from the overall lead. As a result, Hainer moved through into third position overall, while retaining the Pro-Am class lead. Hainer defended her position well as Dempsey applied significant pressure as the drivers got their tyres back up to temperature.
After good resilience from the Motorsports In Action racer, Dempsey moved ahead on lap 21 with a good late-braking manoeuvre. Nonetheless, Hainer remained close to her rival and applied pressure of her own as she attempted to force Dempsey into a mistake. Hainer took the chequered flag less than one second behind her rival as she secured a second runner-up finish of the weekend in the Pro-Am class.
Hainer and Lazare consolidated their championship lead at Virginia International Raceway with a pair of second place results. The team’s consistency has set them apart during the early stages of the season and they will now be looking to return to the top step of the podium when McLaren Trophy America returns at Road America on the weekend of 16th/17th August.