PSCNA: Anna Cecchi battles changeable conditions to secure podium finish at Sonoma Raceway
- LIAM REDFORD
- Apr 13
- 6 min read
Anna Cecchi secured her fifth podium finish of the season in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America as she overcame challenging weather conditions at Sonoma Raceway, rebounding from a tyre gamble in race one to lead a number of laps before securing a runner-up finish in race two, retaining the championship lead.
Anna Cecchi secured her fifth podium finish of the season in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America as she overcame challenging conditions at Sonoma Raceway. Cecchi qualified second in extremely wet conditions, before a tyre gamble in race one led to a challenging race for the Charlie Hayes Racing squad. Rebounding in race two, Cecchi led a number of laps before securing a runner-up finish to ensure she retained the Cayman Pro/Am class championship lead.
Cecchi held the Cayman Pro/Am championship lead following the opening two rounds of the season by a margin of 31 points over closest challenger Keith Grant. Maintaining her 100% podium rate following Barber Motorsports Park, the Charlie Hayes Racing driver was the only competitor with this record entering Sonoma. Therefore, Cecchi was looking to extend her lead at the top of the standings as she entered her home round.
Sonoma Raceway is the circuit on the 2026 calendar which Cecchi has had the greatest experience competing at. In 2025, Cecchi secured a best result of third in the Cayman Pro/Am class while she consistently battled for podium finishes. Also racing in Porsche Endurance Challenge North America with her father Greg, Cecchi has built up valuable knowledge of the California circuit in her short racing career to date.
This knowledge proved valuable as Cecchi missed the opening day of action on Thursday due to study commitments. Despite skipping the first free practice session, the conditions were wet on Friday and with mixed conditions set to remain throughout the event, much of Thursday’s running proved unrepresentative.
Cecchi’s first laps of the event were turned on Friday morning as the drivers hit the track for free practice two. The session was held in extremely wet conditions and ran uninterrupted for a duration of forty-minutes. Cecchi held the quickest time for the majority of the session, while the times continued to improve as the drivers acclimatised to conditions. The Charlie Hayes Racing driver ended free practice two in fifth position overall, third within the Cayman Pro/Am class with a fastest time of a 2:08.161, while completing a session-high 18 laps.
Qualifying took place later on Friday with wet conditions remaining at Sonoma Raceway. With less standing water, the lap times were quicker than in free practice and the majority of the drivers remained on the circuit for the full twenty-minutes. Cecchi consistently challenged for pole position and set the second fastest time overall with a quickest lap of a 2:04.306 which was a quarter of a second away from polesitter Cody Knight.
Race one of the weekend completed the action on Friday and with the rain having stopped, this led to a dilemma over tyre choice for the drivers. The track was predominantly dry, however there were some damp patches away from the racing line while some puddles remained in sheltered spots. Cecchi, along with her Charlie Hayes Racing teammates, all fitted the wet tyres with almost an equal split in tyre choice across the field.
As the race got underway, Cecchi got a good initial launch and held second position before Cayman Masters leader Tom Rogers made a robust move into turn two. After Rogers completed the pass, both Todd Ruttura and William Peluchiwski made their way through on the slick tyres. Keith Grant also passed Cecchi as she ran wide at turn seven with the Charlie Hayes Racing driver completing lap one in sixth position overall, fourth in the Cayman Pro/Am class.
On lap two, a spin for Peluchiwski elevated Cecchi back inside the top-5 as large gaps began to emerge throughout the field due to the split in tyre choice. Cecchi was beginning to struggle on her grooved rubber and after Peluchiwski reclaimed fifth spot on lap four, Anna was under pressure from class rivals Zach Bradford and Spencer Propper.
Due to her tyre disadvantage with the track getting ever drier, Cecchi was powerless to hold back her rivals and by the end of lap seven, she had fallen to tenth position overall, sixth in the Cayman Pro/Am class. With all of the Charlie Hayes Racing cars struggling on wet tyres, the team elected to pit their drivers in order to change onto slicks. Although this strategy meant that Cecchi fell off the lead lap, it was important to return to the circuit as the change in conditions resulted in the fastest lap from race one setting the grid for race two. Therefore, the race turned into a qualifying session for Cecchi who was now targeting pole position via a fast lap time.
Despite coming out of the pits on cold slick tyres, Cecchi set the second quickest time on her first flying lap. Her lack of dry weather running was not apparent as Cecchi was consistently the fastest driver on the circuit. On lap 12, Cecchi’s quickest time of a 1:46.135 was the fastest lap of the race as she held provisional race two pole position.
As the race entered the closing stages, the leading Cayman Pro/Am drivers continued to trade fastest laps as the track continued to dry. Cecchi drove smartly and let a number of Cayman Masters drivers through in order to find some clean track to prepare for one final attempt. On the penultimate lap of the contest, Cecchi set a new overall fastest lap of the race with a time of a 1:45.285. However, Cody Knight responded on the final lap to claim race two pole position by a quarter of a second with Cecchi setting the second fastest time. The Charlie Hayes Racing driver took the chequered flag in 11th position overall, sixth in the Cayman Pro/Am class, to bank vital championship points.
Race two was held on Sunday morning and with conditions again damp, the teams faced another tyre choice dilemma. However, with additional surface water and the threat of more rain during the race, all drivers fitted the wet weather tyres. Lining up from second on the grid, Cecchi made a clean getaway and held the runner-up position through the opening turns.
Cecchi was fast in wet conditions during qualifying and her confidence was on again show as she made a fantastic move to the inside of Knight at turn seven. Just completing the move on the exit of the corner, Cecchi cleared the Topp Racing machine and led the opening lap by a margin of one and a half seconds.
On lap two, Knight benefited from following Cecchi and he set the fastest lap of the race while cutting the margin to under a second. Nonetheless, both Cecchi and Knight were pulling out a sizeable gap to the chasing pack who were struggling in the tricky conditions. On lap three, Cecchi responded to Knight’s pressure by setting the overall fastest first sector. The margin between the two race leaders remained at half a second as the rain began to intensify.
By lap six, Cecchi was forced to defend from Knight and for the first time during the race, third-placed driver Tom Rogers was beginning to cut the deficit. After a spell of pressure, Knight got a good exit out of turn three on lap 10 and he drew level with Cecchi. Slight contact was then made between the drivers due to the low visibility and Knight moved ahead with Cecchi doing a superb job to stay off the wet grass. Although she was now three seconds behind her rival, she still had a sizeable margin to Rogers behind and a gap of over 20 seconds to the nearest Cayman Pro/Am class driver.
On lap 12, Cecchi regained her confidence and lapped over two seconds faster than Knight as she mounted a late-race charge. As the rain continued to fall, the conditions became increasingly challenging as standing water began to form and visibility deteriorated further. With six minutes remaining, the gap held at three seconds with Knight and Cecchi now extending their margin over Rogers once more.
On lap 15, Cecchi was the fastest driver on track and this allowed her to reduce the gap to two seconds. Knight responded in the closing stages and ensured the margin remained stable with Cecchi taking the chequered flag in second position both overall and within the Cayman Pro/Am class.
Overcoming changeable conditions throughout the event, Cecchi displayed her adaptability despite missing the pre-event test sessions. Her speed in wet conditions was particularly strong and she successfully maximised her points haul in challenging circumstances. As a result, her Pro/Am class championship lead over Keith Grant stands at 21 points heading into the next round at Circuit of the Americas on the weekend of 8th/9th May.
