Anna Cecchi sweeps Road America to strengthen championship lead with dominant double victory
- RACERS
- 5 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Anna Cecchi produced a spectacular weekend at Road America in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America, taking a commanding double victory from pole position and extending her lead in the Cayman championship with three consecutive race wins.
Anna Cecchi produced a spectacular weekend at Road America in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America, taking a commanding double victory from pole position and extending her lead in the Cayman championship with three consecutive race wins.
The Charlie Hayes Racing driver arrived at Road America with momentum on her side after reclaiming the championship lead at Virginia International Raceway, where she secured her third victory of the season. Cecchi had opened the campaign with four straight podiums, including a double victory at Sebring International Raceway, before briefly losing the points lead to Keith Grant during the middle portion of the season. Her response at Virginia was firm, and she carried that renewed confidence into the penultimate round of the campaign.
The Road America weekend also came shortly after Cecchi was confirmed as part of Porsche North America's Female Driver Development Program for another year, providing further recognition of her progress and commitment to advancing her career in motorsport. “I’m incredibly honored and excited to be part of the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver Program again this year,” Cecchi said, highlighting the importance of initiatives that support female drivers and create opportunities for them to progress in racing.
On track, Cecchi immediately demonstrated that she would be one of the drivers to beat. After finishing fourth in the opening practice session with a 2:16.944, she returned to the top of the timing sheets in FP2, lowering her benchmark to 2:15.702 to lead the field heading into qualifying.
Qualifying proved even more impressive. Cecchi became the only driver to break into the 2:15 range, setting a 2:14.914 to secure pole position by 0.25 seconds over championship rival Keith Grant. Her second-fastest lap was also strong enough to secure pole for the second race, giving her the perfect starting position for both contests and placing the championship leader in control of her own destiny.
Race 1 began under sunny conditions, with Cecchi starting from pole alongside Keith Grant and with David Grant right behind. Cecchi made a perfect getaway and immediately established herself at the head of the field, although David Grant managed to move into second position through the opening corner sequence.
The early advantage quickly became decisive. Cecchi had clean air ahead of her and began pulling away immediately, opening a 1.1-second advantage over David Grant after the first lap. She continued to increase the gap throughout the following laps, adding another second on lap two before setting another fastest lap and stretching her advantage to approximately four seconds by lap three.
While Cecchi settled into an exceptionally consistent rhythm in the low 2:17s, the drivers behind her became increasingly involved in their own battles. Keith Grant came under pressure, while Cody Knight and Will Peluchiwski joined the fight near the front. Grant subsequently slipped as far as seventh, while Peluchiwski moved into third and began chasing Keith Grant.
By then, however, Cecchi had already created a commanding margin. Her advantage grew to approximately 8.5 seconds as the battles behind continued, allowing her to focus entirely on maintaining her pace and bringing the car home.
She did so without ever coming under serious pressure, completing a textbook lights-to-flag victory. Cecchi took pole position, led every lap and set the fastest lap of the race, producing exactly the kind of dominant performance she needed in the championship battle.
The victory was her fourth of the season and gave her an ideal platform heading into the second race.
Cecchi returned to pole position for Race 2 on Sunday and once again made a clean getaway, retaining the lead while David Grant moved again into second ahead of Keith Grant. The race was interrupted early when Jim Jonsin and Greg Cecchi were involved in an incident at Canada Corner, bringing out a full-course yellow. Cecchi therefore had her lead neutralized, but she remained in control when the race restarted with 24 minutes remaining.
Another incident involving three cars in the midfield resulted in a second caution period, setting up another restart with only 11 minutes left on the clock.
Cecchi once again reacted perfectly, immediately opening a gap as soon as the race returned to green. The situation then became even more favourable when Keith Grant, her closest championship rival, was forced to pit with an issue. With her principal title challenger out of contention for the win, Cecchi focused on controlling the race from the front. She produced a 2:16.5 lap, becoming the only driver consistently circulating below the 2:17 mark, and continued to extend her advantage over David Grant.
Even when Grant responded with a 2:16.3, Cecchi remained in control. She entered the final lap with a 2.8-second advantage after setting another fastest lap of the race, a 2:15.768, before completing another faultless run to take the chequered flag.
The result completed a perfect weekend, with Cecchi taking both pole positions, both victories and fastest laps, while extending her winning streak to three consecutive races.
More importantly, the double victory significantly strengthened her position in the championship. Cecchi now leads the standings with 612 points, 85 points clear of Keith Grant on 527, giving the Charlie Hayes Racing driver a substantial advantage heading into the final round.
The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America season will conclude at Road Atlanta on September 11-13, where Cecchi will arrive as the championship leader and with the momentum of three straight victories behind her.
