PCCNA: Madeline Stewart closes out her season with double points finish at COTA

Madeline Stewart completed her second season in Porsche Carrera Cup North America with a strong final event at COTA, where she took steps forward in performance on a way to a highest-finish of 11th in race two, as she enjoyed a particular strong second half of the campaign.

Photo credits: Jessica Johnk

JDX Racing driver Madeline Stewart completed her second season in Porsche Carrera Cup North America with a strong final event at Circuit of the Americas. Stewart took steps forward in performance over the course of the event on a way to a highest-finish of 11th in race two.

As a result, the JDX Racing driver ended the campaign with a run of eight points scoring finishes in the final nine races as the Kiwi racer showed excellent late-season form.

Stewart arrived at Circuit of the Americas high on confidence after a superb event last time out at Road Atlanta. The Kiwi racer enjoyed one of her strongest showings in Porsche Carrera Cup North America to date as she contended for overall top-10 positions with excellent pace over both one-lap and a full race distance. The JDX Racing driver achieved a best result of 13th and Madeline was now looking to continue this momentum into the season finale.

Circuit of the Americas was the track at which Stewart had the most experience of throughout the campaign and she was looking to put this to good use. Last season, Madeline achieved two points scoring finishes in Texas as she raced consistently on her way to a highest-finish of 14th. Stewart also gained additional track time at the circuit in Porsche Endurance Challenge North America last season and now she was targeting a positive end to the 2025 season.

The sole practice session for the Porsche Carrera Cup North America drivers was held on Friday afternoon in warm conditions. The session ran uninterrupted and Stewart set her fastest time of a 2:10.422 on her 12th and final lap. This placed Madeline in 13th position overall as she continued her good form, while her pace in the technical final sector was especially strong.

Qualifying took place on Friday morning with cooler conditions for the thirty-minute session. Stewart made a consistent start to the session and almost matched her quickest time from free practice on her first flying lap. As the session approached halfway, Madeline took another step forward as she improved to a 2:10.008.

On her second set of tyres, the Kiwi racer made significant improvements as she first broke the 2:10 barrier, before lapping setting a fastest time of a 2:08.975. After a brief red flag, Stewart returned to the circuit and improved once again as she completed qualifying with a quickest lap of a 2:08.658. This time placed her in 14th position overall, 13th in the Pro class, while Stewart achieved an identical result with her second fastest qualifying time.

Photo credits: Jessica Johnk

Race one of the weekend was held on Saturday afternoon with Stewart lining up from 14th position overall, 13th in the Pro class. As the lights went out, Madeline made a confident late-braking move to the outside of turn one and this enabled her to initially make up some ground. Stewart then enjoyed a great battle with Masters class champion Scott Blind through the opening lap as she moved up to 12th overall, 11th in the Pro class.

On lap two, a recovering Cole Kleck mounted a challenge on Stewart with the Topp Racing driver looking to make up ground after starting from the rear of the field. Stewart was resolute in defence, however Kleck moved ahead with Madeline now in 13th position overall, 12th in the Pro class. A personal best time on lap three indicated Stewart’s intent, before she came under attack from Michael De Quesada.

De Quesada’s challenge was halted on lap four after he pulled into the pits with a technical issue which saw the Alegra Motorsport driver retire from the race.

Michael McCann then began to close in and on lap six, he overtook Stewart with the JDX Racing driver running in 14th overall, 13th in the Pro class. During the middle portion of the race, Stewart was struggling for pace and as a result, she was challenged by the Pro-Am class runners.

After closing to within half a second, JP Martinez moved ahead on lap eight and he brought Patrick Mulcahy with him. Stewart got back into her rhythm and ensured that Blind was unable to move ahead as she looked to regain lost ground. On lap 12, Kleck pitted and this elevated Stewart back inside the overall top-15, while she claimed 12th position in the Pro class.

The following lap saw a sizeable incident for Blind through the Esses and with his car heavily damage, the race entered a full course yellow period. The drivers remained behind the safety car until the conclusion of the race with Stewart taking the chequered flag in 15th position overall, 12th in the Pro class.

However, subsequent post-race penalties applied to both Yves Baltas and Tyler Maxson promoted Stewart to 13th overall, while with the Kiwi racer secured a top-10 result in the Pro class.

Photo credits: Jessica Johnk

The Porsche Carrera Cup North America season finale was held on Sunday morning with Stewart starting from 15th on the overall grid, 13th in the Pro class. It was a good start for the JDX Racing driver who negotiated a busy opening lap by holding her position inside the overall top-15. Although Stewart had lost one spot in the Pro class, her early race speed was strong as she looked to charge towards the top-10.

At the end of lap two, Stewart ran just a quarter of a second behind Pro-Am class leader Alan Metni and at turn one on the following lap, she executed a superb pass. Now clear of the Pro-Am class traffic, Stewart could focus forward on challenging her fellow Pro class competitors. Battles began to emerge ahead of Madeline and this gave her encouragement as she looked to gain positions.

By lap five, Stewart had opened out a gap of over half a second to Metni and this was followed by the Kiwi racer setting a new personal best time. On lap seven, a moment for Michael De Quesada ahead saw the Alegra Motorsports driver run wide out of turn nine. This brought Stewart on the tail of her Pro class rival with Metni also closing back in as the trio began to fight for position.

Stewart ended lap seven just a tenth of a second ahead of Metni, however some smart defending and fast lap saw her extend the gap once more. Breaking the 2:10 barrier for the first time in race trim across the event, Stewart was now matching the drivers ahead of her. Her persistence was rewarded on lap 13 as Michael McCann retired from the race following suspension damage after an earlier kerb strike.

As the race entered the closing stages, a number of Pro class drivers ahead were awarded post-race time penalties for exceeding track limits and therefore a top-10 result was still a possibility. Despite Metni closing back in during the final laps, Stewart held on to take the chequered flag in 13th position overall.

Post-race penalties were indeed awarded to both De Quesada and Yves Baltas which therefore saw Stewart finish the season finale in 11th position, narrowly missing out on the top-10.

It was a great end to the season for Stewart who enjoyed a particular strong second half of the campaign in her JDX Racing machine. Improving both her qualifying and race pace, Madeline became a consistent top-10 challenger in the final events of the season.

The Kiwi racer has continued her progression during her second full season in the championship which saw Stewart finish inside the points on nine separate occasions.