RAFA Racing Team rookie Paige Morales made sizeable progress throughout the event at Road America and was set for her first ever top-5 finish of the season after qualifying sixth and finishing sixth in race one. Her race starts were once again superb, displaying racecraft beyond her limited racing experience.
RAFA Racing Team by JDX driver Paige Morales contended for a top-5 result on her first trip to Road America. The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America rookie made sizeable progress throughout the event after a strong sixth-place qualifying effort. Finishing race one in sixth, Morales was set to finish fifth in the Cayman Pro/Am class in race two before a late-race incident saw her retire from the race. Nonetheless, Paige raced confidently in the midfield and enjoyed her highest running position in the series to date.
Prior to the action at Road America, two events remained in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America season with Morales still in contention for a top-5 finish within the Cayman Pro/Am standings.
From her debut at Sebring International Raceway, Paige has made significant progress and this resulted in her achieving an equal-best haul of points at Watkins Glen. Now, the RAFA Racing Team by JDX driver was targeting her maiden top-5 finish as she arrived at the formidable Road America circuit.
Morales was able to use the test and practice sessions to work on a good car setup alongside teammate Jem Hepworth. The pair teamed up for the weekend-ending Porsche Endurance Challenge North America race and therefore seat time was shared between the drivers leading up to qualifying. Paige showed encouraging speed in the final practice session on Friday and set the sixth fastest time in the Cayman Pro/Am class.
Qualifying was the next chance for Morales to take a step forward and make the most of the new tyres at her disposal. Ambient and track temperatures were significantly lower than at other rounds this season and this led to trickier warm-up for the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America drivers. Nonetheless, Paige did a nice job to qualify sixth among the Cayman Pro/Am class drivers with a best time of a 2:18.181.
Morales lined up 20th overall, sixth in Cayman Pro/Am and enjoyed a trademark fast start in her RAFA Racing Team by JDX machine. Gaining seven overall positions on lap one, Paige was up to 13th and did a nice job to negotiate a multi-car incident at The Kink. Although remaining sixth in class, Morales was solidly among the midfield runners as the safety car was deployed at the end of the opening lap.
As the race resumed, Paige was on the move and passed Jason Golan for 12th overall as Joseph Rizzo began to close in. Although Rizzo moved ahead on lap seven, Morales immediately ran a series of personal best laps as she gained further experience at Road America.
Into the closing stages of the race, Morales began to match the lap times of Rizzo ahead and was enjoying one of her strongest races of her rookie campaign. Following a late-race incident for Patrick Dempsey, the race ended under the safety car with Morales taking the checkered flag in sixth position within Cayman Pro/Am, 12th overall.
Aiming for her season’s best result in the second race of the weekend, Morales lined up 18th on the grid, sixth among the Cayman Pro/Am competitors. The RAFA Racing Team by JDX driver made another superb start, gaining four overall positions and battling among the more experienced racers.
Holding comfortably in the midfield, Paige moved ahead of Alain Scalzo on lap three before losing out to Woody Whichard on lap four. Morales held in close proximity to Whichard and this saw her apply pressure to the Cayman Masters competitor during the middle portion of the race.
By lap eight, Morales was just half a second behind Whichard and after a spin for Chris Hutter, she was inside the top-5 of the Cayman Pro/Am class. The incident for Hutter also led to a full course yellow period, with Paige now running in a career best position of fifth.
On the restart, Morales was able to pass Whichard for 12th overall, however late-race steering issue saw her retire to the pits with the race ending behind the safety car. This was an unfortunate end to Paige’s best ever showing in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America to date.
"An unforgettable weekend at Road America in the #87 - my best one yet!" - Morales commented. "Pushed hard, gained valuable experience, and delivered a solid performance. Grateful for the opportunity to push myself on this iconic track."
"During testing and practice, I got comfortable with the track and made key setup changes to the car", she summed up. "Although qualifying was cut short due to a red flag, I showed significant progress in just a few laps. I had a strong start in Race 1, making several passes and finishing P12 overall. In Race 2, we faced a steering issue but still managed consistent lap times. It was shaping up to be a career-best finish until contact forced us to pit with only two minutes left in the race."
Despite a tough end to the weekend, Morales showed improved performance at Road America and was set for her first ever top-5 finish of the season. Her race starts were once again superb, displaying racecraft beyond her limited racing experience and building upon this experience will be vital to finishing the season on a high.
"Huge thanks to my team at JDX and all my sponsors for the support — couldn’t have done it without you! Locked in for the final round at Sonoma", she concluded.
The final round of Porsche Sprint Challenge North America takes place at Sonoma Raceway on the weekend of 28th/29th September.
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