GTWC America: Therese Lahlouh fights back to fourth at Road America
- RACERS
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Therese Lahlouh and Thomas Merrill produced one of their strongest performances of the 2026 GT World Challenge America season at Road America, recovering to fourth in the ProAm class after a challenging weekend that nevertheless saw the duo climbing through the field despite some front-end damage.
Therese Lahlouh and Thomas Merrill produced one of their strongest performances of the 2026 GT World Challenge America season at Road America, recovering to fourth in the ProAm class after a challenging weekend that included limited practice running and some front-end damage to their Wright Motorsports Porsche in the race.
The result marked the duo’s best finish since their podium at Circuit of the Americas and delivered another valuable haul of championship points for Lahlouh during her impressive rookie GT3 campaign.
The fifth round of the season marked Lahlouh’s return behind the wheel after almost three months with the championship heading to Road America after the summer break for a three-hour race at one of North America’s most famous circuits. The fast and technical Wisconsin venue, featuring a combination of high-speed sections and iconic corners, presented another demanding challenge for the Wright Motorsports pairing, particularly after a difficult start to the weekend.
Their preparation was slowed down from Friday, when a gearbox issue significantly restricted their running. Merrill still managed to set a 2:06.153 in the opening practice session, placing the #242 Porsche 13th in ProAm, but Lahlouh was unable to complete a representative lap.
The team replaced the gearbox overnight, allowing the Porsche to return to the track for Saturday morning practice, although further disruption came when rain arrived during the session and prevented the duo from completing any representative running. The lack of seat time left Wright Motorsports on the back foot heading into qualifying, particularly compared with several rivals who had been able to maximize their preparation through additional testing and GT America practice sessions.
Lahlouh took over the Porsche for the opening qualifying segment and posted a 2:09.650 to place 14th in ProAm. Merrill then climbed aboard for Q2 and improved the benchmark with a 2:06.002, putting the #242 Porsche 13th in class. Their combined qualifying effort placed the car 21st overall on the grid for Sunday afternoon’s three-hour race.
Lahlouh took the start as the Bronze-rated driver, lining up 21st overall and 14th in ProAm. She made an excellent getaway, staying glued to the car ahead and taking the inside line into Turn 1 as she looked for opportunities to gain positions during a busy opening lap. She held her position through the initial exchanges, but the race was neutralized just a few corners later when John Gilliland suffered a snap of oversteer over a kerb, sending the #88 Kellymoss Porsche into the wall and bringing out the first Full Course Yellow. Lahlouh, who was immediately behind, had to take evasive action but kept it clean.
The neutralization immediately triggered strategic activity, with the #21 Kellymoss Porsche and #99 Random Vandals BMW among the first to pit in an attempt to reset their stint time. Lahlouh had moved up to 19th overall and 12th in ProAm when the race was neutralized, and the field returned to green after around ten minutes.
Lahlouh immediately found herself in the slipstream of the AM-class Ferrari driven by Schreibman and began looking for a way forward. She however took no unnecessary risks, having to avoid a competitor going for a move - and the battle allowed some ProAm rivals, including DeBoer, DePew and Parriot, to make progress around her.
Green-flag running lasted only a few more minutes before another major incident brought out a second Full Course Yellow. Tony Davis suffered a heavy crash in the #04 Ferrari at Turn 5, giving the rest of the field an opportunity to make its first scheduled pit stops under caution. Lahlouh came into the pits from 20th overall and rejoined in 21st, 14th in ProAm.
The race went green again approaching the half-hour mark; the restart also produced another difficult moment when Lahlouh had to avoid a car slowing just as the green flag was waved, resulting in a small contact that caused some damage to the front end of the Porsche.
Another major incident however immediately unfolded at the Kink: the multi-car crash happened directly ahead of Lahlouh and involved Depew, Clark, Washington and Parriot, with one of the cars being tagged into a spin and into the wall, then collected by incoming cars. Faced with a rapidly developing accident and a cloud of dust across the track, Lahlouh reacted superbly, braking heavily and bringing the Porsche to a complete halt to avoid the wreckage before safely continuing.
She subsequently made another pit stop under caution for fuel and fresh tyres, with the car carrying some front damage from the earlier restart incident but remaining raceable. Despite the difficult opening phase, Lahlouh had steadily climbed the order and was now 17th overall and ninth in ProAm when the race prepared to restart after roughly one hour.
Once racing resumed, Lahlouh continued to make progress. She moved ahead of Musial Jr. to climb to ninth in class and then immediately found herself involved in a series of battles through the midfield. Her intelligent approach paid dividends as she gained several positions, reaching 13th overall and seventh in ProAm before another sequence of penalties promoted her further.
When Lawrence brought the Pro-class Ford into the pits for a full service, Lahlouh moved up to 12th overall while maintaining seventh in ProAm. Musial subsequently returned to the fight and managed to reclaim a position on lap 19, but Lahlouh kept her cool having established more than 30 seconds over Stewart behind her.
Further penalties for rivals continued to benefit the Wright Motorsports Porsche, with Daskalos receiving a penalty for incident responsibility and Lahlouh consequently moving back into seventh in class and 11th overall. As the next round of pit stops approached, she stayed out for one additional lap, completing her required driving time before pitting at the end of lap 25.
Lahlouh had cycled as high as sixth overall and fifth in ProAm during the pit sequence, in an extremely solid run considering the limited preparation and the damage sustained during her stint. She handed the Porsche over to Merrill with 1 hour and 37 minutes remaining, having completed a demanding opening stint while keeping the car in contention despite the various disruptions.
After the driver change sequence, Merrill rejoined in 11th overall and sixth in ProAm. He immediately settled into a strong rhythm, closing on the AM-class leading Ferrari of Simonsen ahead while maintaining a safe margin over Philip Ellis in the #27 Mercedes behind. Merrill's pace remained consistently strong, allowing him to steadily gain some ground.
As the second half of the stint unfolded, Ellis began to reduce the gap, but Merrill continued to hold him at a distance of more than eight seconds. The Pro-class leading Ferrari retired with engine issues and brought further changes to the order, before the AM-class leading Ferrari of Simonsen eventually came to a halt and triggered another Full Course Yellow just as the final pit window was approaching.
The caution moved Merrill up to 10th overall and sixth in ProAm, but it also compressed the field and placed Ellis and Agostini directly behind the bright yellow and blue Wright Motorsports Porsche. The final round of pit stops opened with an hour remaining, and Merrill brought the car in for service before returning to the track in eighth overall and fifth in class after a strong stop by the team.
The closing stages developed into a fierce ProAm battle, with Merrill part of a train also featuring Eriksson, Agostini and Ellis. He quickly went on the attack, gaining on Yardley after the latter was passed Morad - and Merrill reducing the gap to around two seconds as he began to target fourth place in class.
Agostini was also closing from behind, leaving Merrill caught between the fight ahead and two fast cars in his mirrors. Yardley was meanwhile battling Heylen, creating the possibility for Merrill to close further, and the Wright Motorsports driver continued to chip away at the gap by a few tenths each lap.
With 33 minutes remaining, Siljehaug pitted, promoting Merrill to sixth overall and fourth in ProAm. He was now only around 1.5 seconds behind Yardley, although Agostini remained less than a second behind. Ellis was also close, creating an increasingly intense battle for the final positions at the sharp end of the ProAm field.
Merrill remained remarkably consistent and managed to extend his advantage over Agostini to more than a second, although Yardley was also able to pull slightly clear. In the final stages, race control instructed Ellis and Agostini to swap positions following a blocking incident, but Ellis immediately resumed the attack and closed back onto Merrill.
The final lap produced a three-car fight for fourth, fifth and sixth, with Merrill having to defend against two fast cars. He defended intelligently and cleanly, closing every available gap and refusing to give his rivals an opportunity to pass. At the chequered flag, he held on to fourth place by just 0.023 seconds, completing a remarkable final stint and securing one of the duo’s best results of the season.
The fourth-place ProAm finish represented a particularly strong result for Lahlouh and Merrill given the difficulties they had faced throughout the weekend.
“At the second restart, we took some damage to the front end that made the car really tough to drive, making Thomas’ performance all the more incredible”, Lahlouh explained.
The result nevertheless showed again the potential of the duo, as Lahlouh maximises the learning opportunities in first season racing GT3 machinery. Her smart, controlled drive during a chaotic opening stint at Road America once again provided a strong foundation for her teammate's late-race charge.
The points scored at Road America moved Lahlouh and Merrill onto 44 points for the season, placing them sixth in the ProAm standings as the championship heads into its final stages.
The next round of GT World Challenge America will take place at Barber Motorsports Park on September 25-27, with Lahlouh and Wright Motorsports looking to continue the momentum.
