Courtney Crone scores double podium at COTA in IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge

Courtney Crone enjoyed a highly positive weekend at Circuit of the Americas, securing her first podium finishes in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge GSX class with two second-place results that elevate her to second in the championship standings.

Photo credits: IMSA

Courtney Crone enjoyed a highly positive weekend at Circuit of the Americas, securing her first podium finishes in the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge GSX class with two second-place results that elevate her to second in the championship standings following Round 2 of the 2026 season.

The COTA event, held on the circuit’s short-track configuration after the season-opening round at Daytona, marked Crone’s second outing since returning to GT racing. Driving the #35 CarBahn Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 Evo, the American continued to build momentum after an encouraging debut weekend at Daytona, where she had already shown podium-worthy pace and recorded a best finish of fourth.

Crone’s return to GT competition follows her recent single-seater campaign in F1 Academy and represents her first starts into GT4 machinery, despite prior IMSA VP Racing Sportscar Challenge experience in the LMP3 category in 2022 and 2023. Additional race mileage gained during a successful World Racing League round just weeks before COTA further helped sharpen her preparation heading into the Texas weekend.

From the opening session, Crone established herself as a front-runner in GSX. She set the second-fastest time in first practice, missing the top spot by just one tenth of a second behind class benchmark Westin Workman. Later in the day, she improved further, clocking a 1:40.703 lap to lead the second practice session by 0.048 seconds.

Qualifying also confirmed the strong form: Crone secured the second-fastest GSX time, earning a front-row start and completing a remarkable start to the weekend for the former F1 Academy racer.

At the start of the opening 45-minute race, Crone launched cleanly and briefly took the GSX class lead before settling into second position behind Workman's Toyota. The leading pair immediately demonstrated superior pace, quickly pulling away from the rest of the field.

Running more than two seconds per lap faster than third-placed Brel, Crone established a comfortable cushion behind while remaining within striking distance of the leader. She improved steadily during the stint, recording laps in the 1:42.1 range while maintaining an unchallenged hold on second place. By lap eight, however, Workman’s RAFA Racing Toyota dipped below the 1:41 barrier and extended the gap to roughly seven seconds.

The race was neutralized on lap 13 following a heavy crash for the #86 Forte Racing LMP3 entry of Hirshberg, who escaped injury despite significant car damage. After an extended cleanup, the race restarted with 12 minutes remaining, but another LMP3 incident involving Siffert and Thienes quickly triggered a second caution.

Crone executed a clean restart and retained second position, with the top two once again pulling clear before the race ultimately finished under caution. The result secured Crone’s first podium finish in the GSX class of the IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge.

Photo credits: IMSA

Later the same day, Crone lined up again from second on the GSX grid for Race 2, aiming to capitalize on her growing momentum. She made another strong start, slotting in behind Workman as the leading duo once again broke away from Austin and Brel. Running consistently in the 1:41s, Crone quickly demonstrated superior pace relative to the chasing pack, gaining slightly on the leader early before Workman responded to stabilize the gap.

By lap five, Crone had already built an advantage of approximately 20 seconds over third place, effectively securing her podium position through pace. She continued refining her performance, dipping into the 1:40s with a 1:40.9 lap before improving again to a personal best of 1:40.803. Her consistency remained a defining feature of the race, further highlighted by a 1:40.790 lap on lap 13, during which she marginally reduced the deficit to the leader.

A brief scare occurred on lap 20 when the LMP3 Ligier of Thienes went off track, but the car was safely parked and the race remained green. With uninterrupted running to the finish, Crone focused on maximizing valuable seat time while maintaining a commanding margin over the cars behind, nearly a minute by the closing stages.

She crossed the line second in class once again, completing a flawless double-podium weekend and extracting the maximum possible result from the event.

Although Workman proved just out of reach in outright race pace, Crone’s performance at COTA demonstrated significant progress in her adaptation to GT4 machinery; across both races, she combined good one lap speed in practice and qualifying, as well as race consistency to firmly establish herself among the GSX front-runners.

The pair of second-place finishes moves Crone into second position in the GSX championship standings. With confidence and momentum on her side, she will look to continue her run of results when the GSX class returns to action at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in June.