PSCNA: Double podium finish for Anna Cecchi at COTA
- LIAM REDFORD
- May 20
- 5 min read
Anna Cecchi made it five podium finishes from the first six races in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America with a strong weekend at Circuit of the Americas, where she secured a career best in race one finishing second within the Cayman Pro/Am class, before closing out the event with a third-place result.
Anna Cecchi made it five podium finishes from the first six races in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America with a strong weekend at Circuit of the Americas. The Charlie Hayes Racing driver secured a career best result in race one as she finished in second within the Cayman Pro/Am class, before closing out the event with a third-place result.
Cecchi has been one of the stand-out drivers in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America to start the 2025 season. Despite limited experience coming into the campaign, the Charlie Hayes Racing driver has consistently fought for podium finishes in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Despite misfortune in race one at Sonoma, Cecchi fought back to secure a podium finish in race two to ensure she remains in touch with championship leader Jens Hantson.
Cecchi did not compete at Circuit of the Americas during her limited 2024 campaign and she was therefore targeting a weekend of improvement. On-track action began on Thursday morning with the first of two test sessions in Texas. Cecchi began the event on the front foot and topped the times in the Cayman Pro/Am class with a lap of a 2:17.250.
Further encouragement came in the second test session where she continued to pace the field in the Cayman Pro/Am class while improving her best time by three-quarters of a second. In the first official free practice session on Thursday afternoon, Cecchi set the second fastest time in class with a margin of one second back to third-place driver Loni Unser.
Friday’s running began early in the morning with the second free practice session. It was another excellent session for the Charlie Hayes Racing driver as Cecchi set the second fastest time in the Cayman Pro/Am class with a lap time of a 2:16.533. Cecchi was also the quickest driver through the technical final sector and this gave her further encouragement ahead of qualifying.
Qualifying was held on Friday afternoon with Cecchi aiming to continue her strong one-lap form. After a good initial lap, a red flag disrupted the rhythm of the drivers as the car of Reginald Tartaglione required recovery. Cecchi’s quickest time of a 2:16.869 was a quarter of a second down on her free practice two effort, however she still qualified on the second row of the grid in fourth position overall, third in the Cayman Pro/Am class.
For the first race of the weekend on Saturday morning, Cecchi lined up from fourth on the overall grid, third in the Cayman Pro/Am class. The Charlie Hayes Racing driver made a good start and got a nice run around the outside of turn one to maintain her position. Cecchi ended the first lap in fourth position overall, third in class and was now watching the drivers ahead fight for position.
On lap three, Cecchi set the fastest first sector within the Cayman Pro/Am class as she remained close behind Loni Unser. Cecchi was now faster than both Unser and Alain Scalzo as she hunted down a spot on the overall podium. Consistency was the key to Anna’s first half of the race as she protected the tyres well while remaining in contention with the leading drivers.
On lap eight, Unser and Scalzo began battling for second position overall and this allowed Cecchi to briefly cut the margin to the Kellymoss driver to less than a second. Unser was then able to make the move and therefore Scalzo was the next driver directly ahead. Although passing the Canadian driver would not gain Cecchi a position in the Cayman Pro/Am class, she was still keen to look for a way through.
As the second half of the race progressed, Cecchi continued to apply the pressure to the Cayman Masters leader. Following a personal best time on lap 13, the gap to Scalzo reduced to less than a second as the Charlie Hayes Racing driver mounted a late challenge. Her progress was then halted by a full course yellow period as Unser’s car had stopped out on track with a technical issue. This promoted Cecchi to third overall, second within the Cayman Pro/Am class and with the race ending behind the safety car, Cecchi finished in the runner-up position to secure a career best result.
For the second race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon, Cecchi lined up from fourth on the overall grid, third in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Cecchi made a great start to quickly clear the Cayman Masters machine of Daniel Ammann into turn one, before challenging Loni Unser on the exit of the corner. Anna was just unable to get the overlap on Unser and therefore she slotted into third position at the end of lap one.
Ammann quickly closed back in on lap two, before he came under pressure from William Peluchiwski for the Cayman Masters class lead. This enabled Cecchi to pull clear with Peluchiwski now the driver behind. On lap five, the race entered a full course yellow period as an opening lap incident between Paul Bonderson and Thomas Kerr required their cars to be recovered.
When the race restarted, Peluchiwski was applying the pressure to Cecchi and he moved ahead with an overtake into turn 12. Alain Scalzo, who was now second in the Cayman Masters class, looked to follow Peluchiwski through at the start of lap eight, however he out-braked himself into turn one. As a result, Cecchi held fourth position overall while maintaining a podium position in the Cayman Pro/Am class.
As the second half of the race progressed, Cecchi continued to apply pressure to Peluchiwski ahead and by lap 11, she was just half a second behind. Peluchiwski then began to hold up Cecchi and this brought Scalzo back into contention. The Canadian driver made a move to the inside of turn 12 on lap 13, but Cecchi was again able to reclaim the position on the exit of the corner.
In the final stages of the contest, Cecchi was managing the gaps both ahead and behind as her podium position within class solidified. The Charlie Hayes Racing driver took the chequered flag in fourth position overall, third within the Cayman Pro/Am class to secure her fifth podium finish of the season.
It was another excellent weekend for Cecchi as she retained second position in the Cayman Pro/Am championship standings. Cecchi’s consistency has been key to her campaign to date, while her one-lap pace has put her in strong positions to begin the races. The next round of Porsche Sprint Challenge North America takes place at Virginia International Raceway on the weekend of 12th/13th July.