PSCNA: Anna Cecchi secures pole position, leads laps at VIR
- LIAM REDFORD
- Jul 15
- 5 min read
Anna Cecchi enjoyed an excellent weekend in Porsche Sprint Challenge NA by securing her first pole position in the series, before leading a number of laps at Virginia International Raceway and finishing both races on the Cayman Pro/Am podium while equalling her career best result of second in race one.
Anna Cecchi enjoyed an excellent weekend in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by securing her first pole position in the series, before leading a number of laps at Virginia International Raceway.
The Charlie Hayes Racing driver finished both races on the Cayman Pro/Am podium while equalling her career best result of second in race one. Cecchi completed the event with a third-place finish in race two as she consolidated second position in the championship standings.
Cecchi arrived at Virginia International Raceway high on confidence after twice standing on the podium last time out at Circuit of the Americas. Securing a season’s high finish of second in the Cayman Pro/Am class, the Charlie Hayes Racing driver held second position in the standings. Consistency has been the key to Cecchi’s progress and as the second half of the season now gets underway, she was targeting a breakthrough victory in the series.
Cecchi’s race weekend began on Wednesday as she took advantage of a series of test sessions leading up the competitive action getting underway. By gaining crucial mileage, Cecchi could work on car setup while learning the challenging circuit alongside her teammates.
In Thursday’s test sessions, Cecchi continued her progress and she was consistently challenging at the top of the timesheets. Despite her limited experience of Virginia International Raceway, Anna was adapting superbly ahead of the official free practice sessions which began on Friday.
In relatively cool conditions on Friday morning, Cecchi starred in the first free practice session. Following a superb final lap, Cecchi topped the times with a lap of a 1:53.259 which saw her finish the session over three tenths of a second clear of Cayman Pro/Am championship leader Jens Hantson.
In session two on Friday afternoon, Cecchi focussed on consistency and set seven lap times within one second of her best. She ended the day in in fifth position overall, third in the Cayman Pro/Am class and she now looking to display her one-lap pace in qualifying.
Qualifying was held on Saturday morning and Cecchi was immediately on the pace as she maximised the performance of her new tyres. On her first run, she jumped to the top of the timing sheets and successfully claimed her first ever pole position in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. The Charlie Hayes Racing driver was almost half a second clear of Jens Hantson, while her time through the first sector was significant quicker than her rivals could manage.
Race one of the weekend took place in extremely warm conditions on Saturday afternoon. Starting from pole position, Cecchi made a superb launch and immediately broke clear from Hantson as the green flag was displayed. From the second row of the grid, Erika Hoffmann also made a great start and she slotted in behind Cecchi into the runner-up spot. As a result, the Charlie Hayes Racing driver opened up a margin of one second at the end of the first lap.
On lap two, Hantson fought back and overtook Hoffmann for second with Loni Unser following through into third. Hantson began edging closer to Cecchi and on lap three, the Speedsport Tuning driver set the overall fastest lap of the race. However, Cecchi remained focussed and resisted the initial challenge posed by Hantson with the leading trio separated by just one second at the end of lap five.
As Cecchi ran slightly wide coming onto the main straight to start lap six, Hantson drew level as the drivers entered turn one. Cecchi was determined to hold her advantage and a nice late-braking move saw her retain the lead through the first sector. Hantson remained just a car length behind and after he gained momentum through the Esses, the championship leader took the lead from Cecchi. Unser was also looking to capitalise and the Kellymoss racer immediately closed in while Hantson built a small advantage out front.
Cecchi then got back into her rhythm and began closing in on Hantson once again, with her times through the middle sector particularly impressive. On lap nine, the race entered a full course yellow period as the car of Bill Fenech required recovery. The race resumed on lap 13 and Cecchi made a good restart as the trio of leading Cayman Pro/Am class drivers ran nose-to-tail.
After defending well from Unser, Cecchi mounted a late-race challenge on Hantson and with one lap remaining, the margin was less than one second. A strong final lap saw Cecchi match her personal best finish of second overall, while finishing just three-quarters of a second behind race winner Hantson.
Race two of the weekend took place on Sunday morning and Cecchi was looking to make progress from fifth on the overall grid, fourth in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Similarly to race one, Cecchi made a brilliant start and she quickly passed Daniel Ammann on the run down to the first turn. Now in fourth position overall, Cecchi was keen to pass Erika Hoffmann and following a fantastic late-braking move at Oak Tree, Anna moved her Charlie Hayes Racing machine ahead.
At the end of the first lap, Cecchi was up to third and quickly building a margin to the Kellymoss driver behind. Beginning lap three, the gap was over two seconds and therefore Cecchi could focus forward on catching Unser ahead and race leader Hantson. Cecchi was particularly fast through the middle sector and this enabled her to be the fastest driver on circuit during lap five.
Through the middle portion of the race, Cecchi was just four seconds away from the race lead and she was aiming to stay consistent in order to capitalise on any mistakes ahead. On lap 12, the race entered a full course yellow period after Reginald Tartaglione had left the road and his car required recovery.
This was a good break for Cecchi who could now restart right behind the race leaders in her search for a maiden victory. In her attempt to push forward, Cecchi made a small mistake on the exit of the last corner as the white flag was displayed and this allowed Hoffmann to draw level. However, a strong defensive effort on the final lap prevented from the Kellymoss driver from moving ahead and therefore Cecchi collected her second podium finish of the weekend with a third-place result.
It was a weekend of milestones for Cecchi at Virginia International Raceway as she claimed a breakthrough pole position in a dominant qualifying performance. As a result, Anna gained valuable experience of leading race one and although she was unable to convert it into a victory, she still finished both races on the Cayman Pro/Am class podium.
Cecchi will now be looking forward to the next round of Porsche Sprint Challenge North America which takes place at Road America on the weekend of August 9th/10th
