McLaren Trophy America: Runner-up finish for Kaia Teo at Road Atlanta
- LIAM REDFORD
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
Kaia Teo continued her championship challenge in McLaren Trophy America as the Forte Racing driver secured a runner-up finish in the Pro class at Road Atlanta in race one, before banking solid championship points for a fourth-place result in race two.
Kaia Teo continued her championship challenge in McLaren Trophy America as the Forte Racing driver secured a runner-up finish in the Pro class at Road Atlanta. Driving alongside teammate Paul Holton, the pair secured a second-place finish in race one, before banking solid championship points for a fourth-place result in race two.
Stepping up to McLaren Trophy America for the 2026 season, Teo has impressed within the highly competitive Pro class. With the leading three crews separated by just four points after the second round of the championship, Teo was aiming to return to the top of the standings as she was reunited with teammate Paul Holton.
At the previous round of the championship at the Miami International Autodrome, Teo was joined by Jon Miller as the pair secured a fourth-place result within class. Due to inclement weather, race two was subsequently postponed, however the drivers experienced racing on a Formula 1 weekend for the first time in a landmark moment for McLaren Trophy America.
Reunited with Paul Holton, the Forte Racing duo first hit the track at Road Atlanta on Thursday morning as the drivers participated in an official test session. Only limited running was completed by the team with Teo showing good early pace as her quickest lap of a 1:25.074 saw the duo begin the event in fourth position within the Pro class.
The first official free practice session was held on Thursday afternoon with Teo and Holton improving upon their pace. Setting a fastest time of a 1:23.636, the Forte Racing team finished the session in third position overall, while setting the second quickest lap within the Pro class.
Free practice two took place on Friday afternoon and the running was interrupted by a series of red flags. Nonetheless, Teo and Holton ended the session with the fourth fastest time overall, third in the Pro class, on a 1:23.311. Due to Teo causing one of the red flag interruptions, the duo’s quickest lap was removed and therefore they were classified in seventh overall, fourth in class.
Saturday’s action began with the two qualifying sessions which were held back-to-back. Teo drove in the first session and the Forte Racing driver was showing good speed through the first sector. At the end of the session, Teo had set a quickest time of a 1:25.309 which placed her in 13th position overall, sixth in the Pro class.
Holton got behind the wheel for the second session and the lap times remained extremely close at the head of the field. Holton’s fastest time of a 1:22.290 placed him in fifth position overall, third in the Pro class. With the first seven drivers covered by just four tenths of a second, the races were set to be among the most competitive in McLaren Trophy America history.
The first race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon and with the grid positions based upon the results of the first qualifying session, Teo started from 13th position overall, sixth in the Pro class. As the lights went out, Teo immediately passed Stephen Sorbaro before she enjoyed a fantastic opening lap. Completing lap one in ninth position overall, fifth in class, Teo used her racecraft to move forward in the early stages.
On lap three, the race was neutralised after damage for Edmond Barseghian saw his car stopped out on track. Am class leader Jeff Cook then received a drive-through penalty for a false start and therefore Teo was up to eighth position overall, fifth in class, as the race resumed on lap five.
Teo was quickly defending from Cody Kishel with the debutant looking to contend for honours in the Pro-Am class. After a small spell of pressure, both Teo and Kishel began edging away from Robby Stockard before the Hooper Street Racing with OMS driver started fighting back. After passing Kishel on lap 10, Stockard took fifth position in the Pro class away from Teo as the drivers began lap 11.
As Stockard looked to escape from Teo and Kishel, he made a mistake and went off the circuit with the Forte Racing driver moving back into ninth position overall, fifth in the Pro class. Two laps later, the pit window opened with Teo bringing her car to the attention of the crew with Holton getting behind the wheel for the second stint.
It was an excellent stop from the Forte Racing crew and following a series of quick laps from Holton, he was consistently the fastest driver on track. Following the conclusion of the pit cycle, Holton was up to sixth position overall, while he held fifth position in the Pro class. Now running just three seconds behind Bryson Morris, Holton was looking to bridge the deficit to the debutant while the pair were faster than the leading Pro class trio.
As the drivers entered the final 15 minutes of the race, Morris and Holton continued to catch race leader Tanner Harvey with the lead margin being reduced by around three seconds per lap. On lap 24, an issue for Sam Neser saw him slip behind Morris with Holton following him through on the following tour.
With eight minutes remaining, Holton ran in fifth position overall, fourth in the Pro class, but the Forte Racing driver was just six seconds away from the race lead. Two laps later, the leading quintet were covered by just two and a half seconds with the position podiums still up for grabs.
As the drivers completed lap 30, Madsen slowed with an issue out of the final corner and after he also passed Cooper Broll, this promoted Holton to third position. With just two laps to go, Harvey encountered a technical issue after defending from the Forte Racing driver and therefore Holton was now in second, while leading the way among the three championship contending teams.
A strong run to the chequered flag saw Holton and Teo finish in second position overall, while also claiming a runner-up finish in the Pro class. Both drivers delivered excellent stints which saw them use their racecraft to make progress while claiming the initiative in the title battle.
Race two at Road Atlanta took place on Sunday afternoon with Holton starting from fifth place overall, third in the Pro class. As the lights went out, it was a challenging start for the Forte Racing driver with the outside line holding an advantage through the opening turns. At the end of lap one, Holton was in eighth position overall, while he slipped to fifth in the Pro class.
Now chasing Am class driver Cooper Broll, Holton set the overall fastest final sector on lap three as he started to apply pressure to his teammate. After closing to within a quarter of a second on lap five, Holton passed Broll on lap seven and now he had a small amount of clean air to push into. On lap eight, Holton was the fastest driver on track as he looked to cut the margin to fellow Pro class drivers Matt Bell and Sam Neser.
On lap 11, the race entered a full course yellow period after the RAFA Racing machine of Keegan Massey hit the barriers out of the final corner. During the neutralisation period, the pit window opened with Holton pitting while a number of his rivals remained on the circuit. A good stop from the Forte Racing crew saw Teo get behind the wheel with Kaia up to fourth place overall, second in the Pro class, following the conclusion of the pit cycle.
The restart took place with 18 minutes remaining and Patrick Liddy quickly made a move on Teo with Broll now closing in. After Broll passed Teo on lap 19, Daniel Hanley was the next driver shaping for a move with Teo aiming to hold on to her provisional podium position.
After Hanley was overtaken by both Fabio Grecco and Stephen Sorbaro, the pressure on Teo was briefly relieved while the Am class competitors fought amongst themselves. On lap 22, Grecco got a good run down the back straight and contact was made between Teo and Grecco as the Brazilian driver made his way through. Sorbaro was also able to benefit as Teo slipped to eighth overall, while retaining third in the Pro class.
This battle had brought Pro class rival James Li into contention and he passed Teo on lap 23, before the RWE Motorsport driver was assessed a drive-through penalty for earlier contact with Philip Ploskas. Teo was now battling Hanley and she was doing a nice job to keep the debutant behind her with the Forte Racing driver showing good speed through the middle sector in particular.
After Li served his drive-through penalty, Teo was back into third position in the Pro class and she successfully held off the challenge of Hanley to take the chequered flag in eighth position overall, third in the Pro class. Post-race, Teo and Grecco were both assessed a five-second time penalty for avoidable contact which dropped the Forte Racing crew to ninth overall, fourth in the Pro class.
Although it was a challenging end to the weekend, Teo and Holton enjoyed two positive races at Road Atlanta. Scoring a large haul of championship points in both contests, they gained ground on both of their title rivals ahead of the summer break. The next round of McLaren Trophy America takes place at Road America on the weekend of August 29th/30th.
