"I really had to work hard in these races because of a P4 qualifying effort, but that made the wins even sweeter" - Chloe Chambers turned around a challenging weekend and secured two victories at COTA, in one of her most impressive performances of her Porsche Sprint Challenge North America's campaign.
Chloe Chambers keeps delivering spectacular performances in her first season of GT racing.
The young American completed arguably one of the most impressive weekends of her Porsche Sprint Challenge North America's campaign at COTA, winning two out of the three scheduled races after set up issues had hampered her qualifying efforts earlier in the weekend, forcing the Monoflo International-sponsored athlete to remarkable comebacks.
Despite joining the series after the first round - which basically ruled her out from a potential title fight due to the championship's point system - Chambers has been collecting victories in every race meetings of the Cayman GT4 Clubsport category, starting from a clean sweep at Barber Motorsports Park at series debut, until a double win at Road America.
At Elkhart Lake, Chloe had once again showcased her talent by almost bagging an unbelievable win in the third race, where she built a 25 second gap that would have allowed her to overcome a 20 second penalty for a restart infringement. While her work came undone due to a late caution, Chambers had stunned the paddock with her unchallenged speed.
Circuit of the Americas played host to the penultimate round of the 2023 Porsche Sprint Challenge North America and Chambers was eyeing another dominant weekend in the Cayman ProAm class; the 19 year old, though, had to work extra hard at the current home of the US Grand Prix, as she battled with the setup of her #70 TPC Racing Porsche throughout the weekend.
In the first practice session, Chambers found herself fourth fastest in class and sixth among all the Cayman entries, over two seconds off the pace. While she improved in the second practice, where she clocked a 2:22.200 that put her second in class and third among the Caymans, the car's speed was still not enough to challenge for pole position on Saturday, where Paul Bocuse claimed the top spot with a 2:19.313 lap, ahead of Nicholas Maloy and Florian Eyme. Chambers would have to settle for fourth place, 9 tenths adrift of the pole sitter.
But Chloe never gave up and, later in the day, contested the first race of the COTA weekend targeting a podium.
Among a 31-car field that also featured the 991 class, Chambers was able to snatch third on the first lap, behind Maloy and Bocuse. Her #70 machine, though, was still struggling to keep up the pace with the front runners and she would drop to fourth place on lap 4, just before the safety car was deployed.
At the restart, Chambers remained close to the leading Cayman ProAm cars, which ran separated by tenths of a second for a few laps. Now slightly faster than Eyme, Chloe couldn't quite find a gap to move up into a podium position: she crossed the finish line in fourth place, behind Nicholas Maloy, Paul Bocuse and Florian Eyme.
The team continued to work on the car ahead of Sunday's races - where Chambers had two more chances to step on the podium.
From fourth on the grid of race 2, Chloe was initially slowed down by a slow getaway from the car in front of her, but she could nonetheless make up two positions over the first lap, behind Cayman ProAm championship leader Paul Bocuse.
In a five-car battle for the lead, Chloe made a brilliant move stick on the final corner at the second lap, taking over the first place from Bocuse.
Just as Chambers was trying to open a gap, the race was neutralized for the stranded 991 car of Gregory Schermer.
Jason Golan had meanwhile taken second among the Cayman category from Bocuse - but it would be Maloy to become Chambers' closest pursuer at the restart with 21 minutes left on the clock. In the close fight, in fact, Bocuse dropped down the order and Maloy hunted down Chambers - who defended masterfully.
Chloe was under pressure in the final minutes, as Nicholas Maloy followed the #70 TPC Racing Cayman by the smallest margin. With an epic defense, Chambers made no mistakes and took her sixth victory in the series at the end of a hard-fought contest.
Paul Bocuse started from pole position for the third race - a make up round following the cancellation of the Mid Ohio round earlier in the year. Race 2 winner Chloe Chambers lined up in second and Jason Golan in third. Chambers followed Bocuse at turn 1 after a clean start throughout the Cayman field, then tried to put pressure on the driver of the #71 Porsche - while Golan and Maloy battled for third.
Chloe made a great pass for the lead on lap 2 - but then had to defend hard at turn 1 on the following lap, when Bocuse dived on the inside in an attempt to switch back. Chloe defended around the outside and held off Maloy, who had seized the opportunity to overtake Bocuse. The latter, though, fought back one lap later, making the most out of a mistake by his rival at turn 1.
Chambers used all her experience and race craft to defend her position from the two fast rivals: she managed to open a small gap as Bocuse and Maloy traded positions.
With 5 minutes to go, Maloy attempted another charge for the win: having pulled away from Bocuse, the leading pair were separated by three tenths of a second, when Peluchiwski got stranded in the gravel, bringing out the caution on the final lap.
After a highly impressive race, Chloe Chambers turned around a challenging weekend and secured her second win at COTA, in a masterclass for the young driver part of the Porsche Deluxe Female Driver Development Program.
"Super happy to have gotten wins in race 2 and the make up race at COTA", Chambers told us. "The weekend started off rough with some troubles getting the car setup right, but we worked hard at it and got the car good enough to challenge for wins."
"I really had to work hard in these races because of a P4 qualifying effort, but that made the wins even sweeter", she continued. "Huge thanks to the TPC Racing team for their hard work and Monoflo International for the support back in Virginia. We will continue to develop the cars to be ready for Indianapolis in October!"
Indianapolis Motor Speedway will host the final round of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America season, on October 4th.
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