Loni Unser crowned Porsche Sprint Challenge North America vice-champion
- LIAM REDFORD
- Sep 15
- 6 min read
Loni Unser closed out her season in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America with two podium finishes at Road Atlanta, where the Kellymoss driver finished second in race one and third in race two, thus securing vice-champion honours in the Cayman Pro/Am class.
Loni Unser closed out her season in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America with two podium finishes at Road Atlanta. The Kellymoss driver finished second in race one and third in race two, thus securing vice-champion honours in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Unser enjoyed fantastic battles with teammate Erika Hoffmann both races as the duo completed an all-female Kellymoss 1-2 finish in the first race of the weekend.
Following her breakthrough victory of the season last time out at Watkins Glen, Unser was looking to end her year on a high at Road Atlanta. She arrived at the circuit tied on points with Anna Cecchi as the pair battled for second position in the Cayman Pro/Am championship standings. Prior to the season finale, Unser had secured nine podiums in twelve races and she has often been the closest challenger to champion Jens Hantson.
The undulating Road Atlanta circuit was new to the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America calendar for 2025 and therefore many drivers arrived at the track with little experience of the venue. Unser was aiming to contend at the head of the field and add to her win tally after a season of progress with the Kellymoss team.
During the first pair of test sessions on Wednesday, Unser completed the most laps of any driver in the Cayman Pro/Am class with 62 tours of Road Atlanta. Loni’s fastest time of the day came in the afternoon session where she set a lap of a 1:28.842 which placed her third in class.
The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America drivers then participated in two official free practice sessions on Thursday which served as the final running ahead of qualifying. Unser improved significantly from her best time on the previous day as she set a new benchmark of a 1:27.346 in the morning session where she also secured the overall fastest middle sector. This led to the Kellymoss driver setting the second quickest time in class, before replicating this result in free practice two as she looked to continue her momentum from Watkins Glen.
Qualifying was held early on Friday morning with Unser targeting a front row starting position. Prior to the Kellymoss driver completing a flying lap, an incident at turn one for teammate William Peluchiwski forced the session to be red flagged.
Fortunately, the stoppage was only brief and Unser returned to the circuit with over fifteen-minutes remaining. Throughout the session, Unser was extremely consistent and her quickest time of a 1:26.937 came during the latter stages of qualifying. As a result, this placed her in fourth overall, third within the Cayman Pro/Am class, and just one tenth of a second away from the front row.
For the first race of the weekend on Friday afternoon, Unser lined up from fourth on the overall grid, third in class. As the lights went out, her first objective was to pass Cayman Masters polesitter Keith Grant and she did just that with a superb move round the outside of turn one. This enabled her to move onto the back of teammate Erika Hoffmann as the Kellymoss drivers battled over the runner-up spot.
Unser completed lap one in third position and ran just half a second behind Hoffmann as she looked for a way past the Canadian racer. Unser’s strength in the first sector saw her cut the margin to just a quarter of a second as she carried significant momentum through the high-speed corners. However, Hoffmann’s excellent speed through the middle sector was allowing her to extend the gap prior to the key braking zone and turn 10.
Unser also had to defend her third-place overall position from Grant who was showing good speed in the early stages. The lap times among the top-5 drivers were extremely close and therefore shaping for a move on Hoffmann came with the risk of losing positions to those behind. Unser ensured the gap to her teammate remained at less than half a second throughout the first half of the race, regularly cutting this to a quarter of a second into the heavy braking zones. On lap 11, Unser was the second fastest driver on track following a personal best time as she continued to apply pressure to Hoffmann.
The battle between the pair continued as the race passed halfway and although Hantson’s lead was now substantial, the podium positions remain closely contested. Unser also remained ahead of Cecchi who was starting to lose touch with Grant, therefore strengthening her position on second in the Cayman Pro/Am class championship standings.
On lap 18, Unser was able to force Hoffmann to defend into turns six and seven and she almost drew level with her teammate down the back straight. Hoffmann was able to maintain second position and with Unser losing momentum after being off-line, Grant looked to make his move. The Otto Werks drive started the following lap just a tenth behind Unser and the drivers ran side-by-side through the exit of the first corner.
Unser was able to protect her position on the entry to turn two, however Hoffmann was now over a second ahead as she was able to escape without pressure. Nonetheless, Unser showed her speed to close back in and re-apply pressure to her teammate. At this point, both Unser and Hoffmann were lapping faster than race leader Hantson and good fortune followed.
On lap 23, Hantson’s car slowed on the exit of turn 10 and he was forced to retire from the race with a technical issue. This moved Hoffmann into the lead with Unser claiming second position as the race initially stayed under green flag conditions. With a full course yellow imminent, Unser looked to apply further pressure to Hoffmann but she was just unable to make a move before the race was neutralised. Just two minutes remained on the clock and therefore the race ended behind the safety car with Unser finishing in second position to secure an all-female 1-2 for Kellymoss.
The season finale took place on Saturday morning with Unser aiming to secure second position in the Cayman Pro/Am championship standings. Starting from fourth on the overall grid, third in class, Unser made a good initial start as the lights went out. However, championship rival Anna Cecchi attempted an ambitious move into turn one and contact was made between the cars. Unser was able to continue without any significant loss of momentum and she retained fourth overall, while Cecchi spun and collected Cayman Masters driver Bill Fenech.
As a result of this incident, Fenech’s car required recovery and the race entered a full course yellow period. Cecchi was able to continue at the rear of the field, however the Charlie Hayes Racing driver was subsequently handed a stop + 60 penalty for incident responsibility. The race resumed with twenty minutes left on the clock and Unser initially had to resist the challenge from class rival Spencer Propper on the restart.
After pulling clear of her fellow Cayman Pro/Am driver, Unser set her sights on teammate Erika Hoffmann as they resumed their battle. After Keith Grant passed Hoffmann on the restart, the female drivers were running in third and fourth positions respectively, while fighting for the runner-up position within class.
Unser applied significant pressure to Hoffmann, however she knew that finishing the race without incident would now see her end the season in second position within the championship standings. On lap 13, Loni shaped for a move at turn 10 and forced Hoffmann to defend. With the gap to Propper now at over two seconds, Unser had room to manoeuvre and look for any possible weaknesses of her teammate.
After briefly dropping back in the closing stages of the race, Unser mounted another challenge on lap 18 where she also set the overall fastest middle sector. This brought her to within a quarter of a second and Loni was also the quickest driver on track during the final lap of the race as she took the chequered flag in fourth position overall, third within the Cayman Pro/Am class.
Unser’s consistency at Road Atlanta secured her second position in the Cayman Pro/Am championship standings as she added two further podium finishes to her season tally. Following her breakthrough win at Watkins Glen, Unser has continued to fight for race victories and she established herself as one of the drivers to beat in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America.
Unser will now be looking to take the next step on her motorsport journey after a successful 2025 season.
