MX5 America: Sally Mott continues excellent form in changeable conditions at Mid-Ohio
- LIAM REDFORD
- Jun 11
- 7 min read
Sally Mott extended her run of female driver honours in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup after a last lap pass in wet conditions at Mid-Ohio, having also claimed the prize in a dry race one where she finished 16th overall. Heather Hadley also drove superbly in race two score her fourth top-15 finish of the season.
Sally Mott extended her run of female driver honours in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup after a last lap pass in wet conditions at Mid-Ohio. Mott also claimed the prize in a dry race one as the JTR Motorsport Engineering driver finished 16th overall. In treacherous conditions in race two, Mott had to come from the rear of the field after an early spin and she gained 16 places to take the chequered flag in 14th.
Hadley also drove superbly in race two score her fourth top-15 finish of the season in a contest which saw her challenge for positions just outside the top-10. It was a challenging event for Maite Caceres who battled technical issues in qualifying with the RAFA Racing Team by MMR driver achieving a best result of 27th.
Ashlyn Speed continued to progress in her rookie season and she gained valuable experience in changeable conditions throughout the event, scoring a highest finish of 26th position.
The Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup drivers arrived at Mid-Ohio looking to build upon a strong weekend of improvement at Barber Motorsports Park. Mott was the star driver as the young American charged through the field in both races to extend her top-15 finishing streak to four races. By finishing both races in 14th position, Hadley moved inside the top-20 of the overall standings with Hadley and Mott sweeping all but one female driver prize so far this season.
Ashlyn Speed was the other recipient of the award in the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway and she was now looking to return to the top-20 after a challenging weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. So too was RAFA Racing Team by MMR driver Maite Caceres. Caceres had shown good speed in her rookie season to date and she was now searching for the luck to carry her further up the order.
The opening session of the weekend took place on Friday morning with first of two free practice sessions. It was a productive start to the event for all four drivers with Mott setting a quickest time of a 1:35.979 which placed her 19th overall, but just six tenths of a second away from the fastest lap set by Grant West. Hadley ended the session in 26th position with rookies Speed and Caceres evenly matched as they ended the first practice session in 27th and 28th positions respectively.
In the second free practice session on Friday afternoon, the majority of the drivers ran in a pack to gain experience ahead of the two races. As a result, this yielded fast lap times with Mott once again the quickest of the four female drivers in 16th position. Hadley finished the session in 25th with a much-improved Caceres in 27th. Speed ended the day in 32nd position as she continued to learn the challenging Mid-Ohio circuit.
Qualifying for the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup drivers took place on Saturday morning with the slipstream effect proving powerful in the short fifteen-minute session. The times remained extremely close throughout the field and the top-24 drivers were covered by just over eight tenths of a second.
Mott remained the fastest of the four female drivers as the JTR Motorsports Engineering racer set the 20th fastest time. Hadley was close behind in 24th position with Caceres finishing the session in her highest position of the weekend to date in 26th spot. Speed set the 32nd quickest lap, however the rookie was within one second of the next four cars ahead and was be looking to replicate her hard-charging performances of previous rounds.
Race one of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with all four female drivers targeting progress through the field. Hadley made the best start as she gained three places on lap one to end the first tour in 21st position, just one spot behind Mott. Caceres remained in 26th, while Speed gained one position after Ethan Goulart took a trip through the gravel on the exit of the final turn.
Mott’s pace in the early stages was strong as she set the overall best first sector on lap three with almost the whole field still running nose-to-tail. Speed continued to make progress from her starting position as successive overtakes on Damon Ockey and Steve Weber moved her into 29th spot by the end of lap four. Caceres was also moving forward and by lap six she was into 24th position following an overtake on Peter Atwater and an off-track moment for Ethan Tyler.
Tyler’s car required recovery and thus the race entered a full course yellow period. Mott continued to lead the way among the female drivers with the JTR Motorsports Engineering driver running in 21st position. Hadley was directly behind in 22nd, while Caceres remained in close contention for the female driver prize in 24th. Speed ran in 29th position and was showing improved performance in the first race at Mid-Ohio.
When the race resumed, Mott was quickly back inside the top-20 as she overtook Christopher Haldeman and after Nate Cicero retired with a technical issue, Sally was up to 19th. Crucially, she had now put one car between herself and Hadley with the Hendricks Motorsport driver now in 21st position with Caceres another two spots behind in 23rd.
Speed’s charge through the field was then halted by a small off-track moment which dropped her to 30th, however she comfortably remained on the lead lap and got back into her rhythm. As the race entered the closing stages, the battle to be the highest placed female driver intensified. On lap 17, Mott ran as high as 17th with Hadley moving into a race-high position of 19th after overtaking Haldeman.
Caceres remained within three seconds of Mott as she was continuing to enjoy one of her best showings of the season. Misfortune then struck for the RAFA Racing Team by MMR driver who went off the circuit on the penultimate lap and although she rejoined to take the chequered flag in 27th position, she narrowly missed out on her third top-20 finish of the season.
This left Mott and Hadley to battle it out with the JTR Motorsports Engineering driver holding on to continue her streak of female driver awards with a 16th place overall finish. Hadley also secured a spot inside the top-20 with a good drive to 18th from 24th on the grid. Speed was able to pass Caceres following her late incident to finish the opening race in 26th position to maintain her 100% finishing record in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup.
For race two of the weekend on Sunday morning, conditions had changed dramatically with heavy rain leading to a wet track. All drivers fitted the grooved tyres and an additional lap was completed behind the safety car before the green flag was displayed. Mott lined up from 21st on the grid with Hadley close behind in 23rd, while Caceres and Speed started from 26th and 32nd positions respectively.
Hadley made a superb start as she used her experiences to good effect by gaining five positions on lap one to move into 18th and claim the top spot among the female drivers. Mott gained one position to move into 20th, before a solo spin at turn one on lap three relegated her to 30th position.
Turn one was proving particularly treacherous and Cody Powell spun just behind Mott and while trying to avoid the spun JTR Motorsports Engineering machine, Caceres made contact with Powell. This led to damage for the Uruguayan driver who was forced to pit as the race entered a full course yellow period due to debris from this incident. Speed benefited from this action ahead and as the race was neutralised, the Hendricks Motorsport driver was now up to 27th.
The race restarted on lap six and Caceres was able to rejoin the race after repairs to her car, albeit one lap down. Mott was quickly making up for lost time as she gained three positions in the next two green flag laps before the race was brought under full course yellow conditions for a second time. Speed had spun into the gravel trap at turn nine and with her car beached, the race was neutralised.
Following good work from the marshals, Speed was able to rejoin the race and she was now also one lap down along with Caceres as the two female drivers ran in 30th and 31st positions respectively. Hadley remained the lead female driver under the stoppage as she was classified in 16th, later 15th after Justin Adakonis pitted under the safety car with Mott now back up to 25th position.
The restart took place on lap 10 and again it was just a short period of green flag racing before the car of Bobby Gossett stopped on track with a technical issue. Hadley benefited from the loss of power for the McCumbee McAleer Racing driver and she was now into a race-high position of 13th.
The two female drivers remaining on the lead lap then encountered mixed fortunes on the next restart with Hadley being shuffled back to 16th position on lap 16, while Mott was now up to 22nd. Mott’s position was improved further after Tyler Gonzalez became beached in the gravel on lap 18, while Sally’s racecraft on the restart elevated her to 18th. Hadley was also moving forward once again as she ran in 14th position under this latest full course yellow period.
The green flag was displayed with just four minutes remaining and the two leading female drivers were now separated by just a couple of seconds. Hadley was still pushing forward as she moved into 13th place on lap 21, while Mott passed Peter Atwater to claim 16th with just two laps remaining.
As the drivers began the final lap, the margin between Hadley and Mott was just one second and with a stunning last lap pass, Mott gained two positions, including an overtake on Hadley, to continue her streak of female driver awards by a margin of just over one tenth of a second.
Mott had also finished in 14th place overall after falling to 30th after her early race spin to complete a phenomenal recovery drive in difficult conditions. Hadley crossed the line in 15th to bank vital championship points in what was a positive race for the Hendricks Motorsport driver. Taking the chequered flag in 28th spot, Speed was classified one lap down with Caceres later pulling into the pits to retire the car as a result of the damage sustained earlier in the race.
Mott now leaves Mid-Ohio in 13th position in the overall championship standings as she closes in on a position inside the top-10. Hadley is close behind in 16th with the consistency of both drivers particularly impressive in a highly-competitive field. Both Caceres and Speed will be looking to bounce back as the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup returns at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario on the weekend of July 12th/13th.
