PCCNA: Ashley Freiberg battles back to top-10 finish in Montreal
- LIAM REDFORD
- Jun 17
- 4 min read
It was a challenging first trip to Montreal for Ashey Freiberg, however she made good progress throughout the event and secured a top-10 result in race two, showcasing great determination battling back from adversity in race 1.
Ashley Freiberg showed great determination as the Kellymoss driver battled back from adversity to secure a top ten on her first visit to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. After qualifying in 11th position, Freiberg was involved in an incident during the early stages of race one which forced her into retirement. Despite this setback, she competed well in race two finish the event with a solid 10th place finish.
In her Porsche Carrera Cup North America rookie season, Freiberg has impressed with a number of hard-charging drives through the field. The Kellymoss driver has displayed superb racecraft as she has battled back from adversity on multiple occasions. Despite this setbacks, Ashley has scored points in three of the first four races with a best result of tenth not indicative of the performance she has displayed.
Freiberg now arrived at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve looking to contend for top-10 results at a circuit she had not previously visited. This was also a challenge she overcame at the Miami International Autodrome with her lack of experience not holding her back as she showed excellent performance from the opening practice session of the weekend.
Freiberg’s first laps of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve came on Friday morning during the first practice session and the Kellymoss driver quickly got up to speed. Ashley completed a total of 19 laps during the thirty-minute session, the most of any driver, with her quickest time coming in the final five minutes. It was a solid start for Freiberg whose fastest lap of a 1:38.758 placed her in 15th position overall, 14th in the Pro class.
Free practice two was held later on Friday with Freiberg continuing to learn the track and improve her lap times. This was shown by her quickest time of a 1:38.372 coming on her 18th and final lap of practice with the Kellymoss driver improving by almost half a second from the morning session. Freiberg ended Friday’s running in 16th position overall, 13th in the Pro class.
Saturday’s action began with qualifying and this would be another chance for the Kellymoss driver to take further strides forward. It was a strong start to the session for Ashley who dipped below the 1:38 mark for the first time all weekend. A fantastic late improvement from Freiberg saw her shave almost two seconds off her quickest time from the previous day as she qualified 11th overall on a time of a 1:36.576.
Race one of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon with Freiberg lining up from the sixth row of the grid. The Kellymoss driver made a clean start and held her position well on the opening lap in her debut race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Sabre Cook was running directly behind and as the drivers began lap two, the JDX Racing driver had closed the margin.
As the drivers exited turn two, Cook drew level with Freiberg and while entering turn three, contact was made at the apex of the corner. This resulted in Freiberg making contact with the wall as Cook moved ahead and with the damage too substantial to continue, she was forced to retire the car. It was an unfortunate end to the first race with Freiberg’s results continuing to be unrepresentative of the excellent pace she was showing in her debut season in the championship.
Following good work from the Kellymoss crew, Freiberg lined up on the grid for the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning. Ashley started from 12th position and the positions were closely contested into the opening two corners. As the drivers on the inside stacked up, Freiberg picked up some damage to the front of her car. Although she dropped to 13th at the end of lap one, the damage was not substantial enough for her to retire and she was soon building a gap to Pro-Am leader Patrick Mulcahy behind.
Freiberg was attempting to remain in contention with the leading group of drivers in the early stages of the race while running consistent lap times. The positions on the fringes of the top-5 were hotly contested and on lap six, Michael McCann made contact with the wall. This caused him to slow through the middle sector and Freiberg made a nice move on her more experienced rival at the hairpin.
McCann settled in directly behind Freiberg and on lap eight, he reclaimed 12th position from the Kellymoss driver. Freiberg ensured McCann did not leave her sights and after running a personal best time, Ashley moved back into 12th after McCann’s damage from hitting the wall brought him into the pit lane to retire. Another personal best time followed on lap 12 and now Freiberg was making substantial inroads on Sabre Cook ahead.
By lap 13, the margin had reduced to just half a second with the two female drivers now engaged in a superb battle for 11th position. During the second half of the race, Freiberg remained within a second of Cook ahead and she was looking to force her rival into a mistake. On lap 19, Freiberg again set her quickest lap of the race and she was now faster than the next five drivers ahead.
As the race entered the closing stages, Freiberg mounted a late challenge on Cook at the final chicane which saw the Kellymoss driver mount the kerbs. On the penultimate lap of the race, Michael De Quesada pitted with an issue and this elevated Freiberg to 11th. A consistent end to the race saw Ashley take the chequered flag in 11th position, later promoted to tenth following a post-race penalty assessed to Tyler Maxson, to complete the weekend with a solid haul of championship points.
It was a challenging first trip to Montreal for Freiberg, however she made good progress throughout the event. Freiberg secured a top-10 result in race two and she will be looking to replicate this as Porsche Carrera Cup North America returns next weekend at Watkins Glen in support of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship.
