Mazda MX5 Cup: Ellie Gossett takes top Female Finisher awards at Mid Ohio
- RACERS
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Both Ellie Gossett and Charlotte Traynor enjoyed some of their best races of the Mazda MX5 Cup season and appeared capable of securing personal-best results inside the top 20 before late-race setbacks; Gossett ultimately emerged as the highest-placed female driver in both races, continuing her positive start to her rookie campaign.
The third round of the 2026 Mazda MX-5 Cup season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course proved to be an encouraging yet ultimately frustrating weekend for the championship’s two female drivers, Ellie Gossett and Charlotte Traynor. Both racers demonstrated some of their strongest pace of the season and appeared capable of securing season-best results inside the top 20 before late-race setbacks denied them the finishes their performances deserved.
Gossett ultimately emerged as the highest-placed female driver in both races, continuing her strong start to her rookie campaign, while Traynor showed good speed throughout the weekend as she continued her development during her first full-season in the highly competitive single-make championship.
Traynor, driving for Parker Delong Racing, is contesting her first full-time MX-5 Cup campaign after earning the Mazda Women Scholarship following a promising part-time programme in 2025.
Gossett, meanwhile, joined the series with BSI Racing and immediately impressed during her debut at Daytona, topping the female classification in both races.
The second round of the season at the challenging St. Petersburg street circuit presented a completely different test from Daytona, with neither driver having previous experience around the narrow and unforgiving street track. Both adapted well, building valuable experience while battling in the midfield. Traynor secured back-to-back top female finisher awards in the second round.
The championship then moved to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for round three, where changing weather conditions would create a particularly challenging qualifying session.
Qualifying took place in wet conditions, making lap times difficult to judge and forcing drivers to focus on simply keeping the car on track.
Despite having shown top-20 pace during the opening practice session, Gossett was unable to fully capitalize on her speed in the rain and qualified 29th with a best lap of 1:52.036.
Traynor also faced the challenging conditions and recorded a 1:53.613 lap to secure 36th position on the grid.
Saturday's first race took place in dry conditions, offering both drivers an opportunity to move forward through the tightly packed 38-car field. Gossett slotted into 30th position, while Traynor slipped back to 37th by the end of the opening lap.
On lap two, Sunseri moved ahead of Gossett for 31st position, while Traynor gained a place by overtaking Dombroski to move into 36th.
A few laps later Ruben Caceres had an off-track moment, allowing Gossett to reclaim 30th while Traynor also gained another position to move into 35th.
As the race settled, Gossett began showing stronger pace, consistently running in the 1:37.0 range while remaining in a tightly packed midfield group. Traynor continued battling further down the order and soon gained another position when Stretch pitted with damage, moving up to 34th on lap seven, although she would later fall back to 36th.
Gossett carved her way through the field; running in a four-car train, she closely followed Dilauro, who managed to pass Leach ahead. Gossett remained firmly attached to the group and waied for her opportunity. Meanwhile Traynor found herself engaged in a battle with Jacobs further down the order.
On lap 15, Gossett gained another position when Mishko pitted with issues, promoting her to 27th while she remained less than half a second behind Leach.
Moments later, Traynor suffered a setback when she ended up in the gravel, triggering a Full Course Yellow. Fortunately she was able to rejoin the race, although she lost a lap in the process.
The caution period reset the field and gave Gossett another opportunity to attack. Restarting from 27th with ten minutes remaining, she immediately resumed her charge. Showing improved pace once again, Gossett dipped into the 1:36.9 range and climbed to 26th when Leach dropped back. The field remained incredibly compressed, with five cars separated by roughly one second.
In the closing laps Gossett mounted a determined attack on Ebben, eventually making the move stick. She then gained another position on the final lap to complete a great recovery drive and finish 24th, having gained six positions from her starting spot.
The result earned Gossett the Highest Place Female Driver award once again.
Traynor, despite her earlier gravel excursion, fought through to finish 34th.
Sunday's second race provided another opportunity for both drivers to build on their encouraging pace. Gossett lined up 32nd on the grid while Traynor started 35th, both determined to move further up.
The opening lap saw a clean getaway across the entire 38-car field, although a few corners later Ben Jacobs spun after slight contact from another competitor. Despite the incident, the race remained green.
Traynor produced one of her best starts to date, surging from 35th to 30th by the end of the opening lap and slotting in just behind Gossett. The latter also quickly moved forward as well, passing O'Dell to claim 28th.
Further ahead, several incidents unfolded throughout the midfield, but both female drivers successfully avoided the trouble.
Gossett benefited significantly from the chaos, climbing to 24th, while Traynor advanced to 28th after Caceres and Tyler pitted with damage.
Traynor continued finding better pace and gradually worked her way forward. She reached 27th by lap eight and improved again to 26th by lap ten.
Gossett meanwhile became involved in a close battle with Stretch as the pair fought over position.
With 27 minutes remaining, Woody Heimann was pushed into the gravel but managed to recover without bringing out a caution. Shortly afterwards Sunseri spun across the grass before continuing.
The incidents further benefited the two female drivers, as Gossett advanced to 23rd while Traynor climbed to 25th, both enjoying a clean and increasingly competitive race.
Gossett in particular continued to show better speed, moving into 22nd while improving her sector times throughout the stint.
Traynor then overtook O'Dell to move into 24th with 20 minutes remaining before immediately setting her sights on Salerno. On lap 17 she completed another pass, moving into an impressive 23rd position.
With 16 minutes remaining, Jared Thomas was involved in an accident that triggered the race's first Full Course Yellow. At the restart, with just eight minutes left, Gossett ran 20th and Traynor 21st, setting up an exciting battle for the top female finisher award.
When Hodneland and McKee encountered trouble shortly afterwards, both Gossett and Traynor found themselves running inside the top 20, on course for what would have been their best results of the season to date.
Unfortunately, the race then took a turn for the worse. On lap 23, chaos erupted in a series of incidents and contacts. Gossett became caught up in the confusion and dropped all the way back to 26th position.
The misfortune initially promoted Traynor to 16th overall and into the lead of the female classification with only five minutes remaining. However, one lap later, Traynor's own race came undone when she slid off into the gravel.
Suddenly both drivers found themselves having to recover positions once again. By lap 24 Gossett was running 25th while Traynor had fallen to 27th. Despite the setback, Traynor immediately began charging back through the field, passing Ockey to reclaim 26th and reducing the gap to Gossett to just three seconds.
On the final lap Gossett successfully held her position and crossed the finish line in 25th place, narrowly ahead of Traynor in 26th. The result secured Gossett another Highest Place Female Driver award and marked her second consecutive class victory in that category at Mid-Ohio.
While the finishing positions did not fully reflect their pace, both drivers had shown throughout the race that a top-20 finish, and potentially even a top-15 result, was within reach before late-race incidents changed the outcome. Nevertheless, the weekend provided valuable experience and further evidence of the progress both drivers are making.
Following three rounds, Gossett sits 38th in the championship standings with 290 points, while Traynor is just behind in 39th with 280 points.
The Mazda MX-5 Cup season now moves to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on 10-12 July, where both drivers will look to convert their growing pace into better results.
