PSCNA: Double podium for Anna Cecchi at Watkins Glen
- LIAM REDFORD
- 1 hour ago
- 6 min read
Anna Cecchi bounced back from adversity in race one at Watkins Glen to secure two podium finishes in the latest round of Porsche Sprint Challenge North America: after receiving contact in race one, the Charlie Hayes Racing driver fought back to claim a runner-up finish in race two, before ending the event with a third-place finish within the Cayman Pro/Am class to complete the event.
Anna Cecchi bounced back from adversity in race one at Watkins Glen to secure two podium finishes in the latest round of Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. After receiving contact in race one, the Charlie Hayes Racing driver fought back to claim a runner-up finish in race two, before ending the event with a third-place finish within the Cayman Pro/Am class to complete the event.
At the previous round of the season at Road America, Cecchi showed excellent determination to recover from an early weekend setback to bank vital championship points. After a crash in testing forced a change of chassis, Cecchi finished on the podium in the Cayman Pro/Am class to consolidate second position in the championship.
Race two at Road America was then postponed due to inclement weather and therefore an additional contest took place at Watkins Glen, resulting in a triple-header in New York. Working with her team Charlie Hayes Racing, Cecchi was therefore keen to begin the weekend on the front foot despite her lack of experience at the circuit.
Two free practice sessions were held on Friday and Cecchi took advantage of the track time in the first session by completing the highest number of laps out of any drivers in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Her quickest lap of a 1:56.387 was less than a hundredth of a second away from pacesetter Loni Unser as Cecchi showed her speed early in the weekend.
In session two, Cecchi improved by half a second as she continued to build up her confidence with the times among the drivers remaining extremely close. The Charlie Hayes Racing driver ended the session in ninth position overall, fourth among the Cayman Pro/Am drivers ahead of qualifying on Saturday morning.
Conditions remained dry on Saturday morning after a cool and damp start to Friday’s running at Watkins Glen. The qualifying session was quickly red flagged after the car of Daniel Ammann leaked fluid on the track with only a handful of drivers having completed flying laps. The timing of the stoppage meant that Cecchi had yet to set a time when the session resumed with just six minutes left on the clock.
Despite the limited time in which to set a fast lap, the Charlie Hayes Racing driver did a nice job to remain both fast and consistent. At the end of qualifying, Cecchi had set the fourth quickest time overall, while setting the third fastest lap among the Cayman Pro/Am class drivers.
Race one at Watkins Glen took place on Saturday afternoon with Cecchi starting from fourth on the overall grid, third within the Cayman Pro/Am class. As the lights went out and the drivers approached turn one, Loni Unser made a move on Alain Scalzo ahead and as the Canadian racer lost momentum, Cecchi briefly drew level with Scalzo. Although she was just unable to complete the pass, Cecchi retained her starting position and ended lap one in fourth overall, third in class.
William Peluchiwski was close behind and with the Cayman Masters driver within a quarter of a second at the end of lap one, Cecchi was briefly forced to defend her position. This meant that the leading trio were able to pull away, while Cecchi resisted the challenge of Peluchiwski as well class rival Erika Hoffmann. After building a small margin in the early exchanges, Peluchiwski started lap five just two tenths of a second behind Cecchi as the Kellymoss racer was showing good speed in the final part of the lap.
Cecchi responded with a personal best time and after setting one of the quickest middle sectors of the entire field, she built a gap once more. As the drivers came through the final sector on lap six, Cecchi lost some momentum and as a result, Peluchiwski and Hoffmann were looking for a way through into turn one. As Hoffmann attempted a move on Peluchiwski, she made contact with the rear of Cecchi’s car. The Charlie Hayes Racing driver spun as a result of the contact with her car receiving substantial damage.
Cecchi was able to bring her car back to the pits, however the damage was too significant for her to rejoin the race. It was an unfortunate end to the first race of the weekend with Hoffmann subsequently issued a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact as a result of the incident at turn one.
The second race of the weekend took place on Sunday morning with Cecchi starting from fourth on the overall grid, third within the Cayman Pro/Am class. It was an excellent getaway from the second row as Cecchi made a stunning move around the outside of turn one to pass both William Peluchiwski and Loni Unser. After overtaking Unser, Cecchi was into second position within the Cayman Pro/Am class behind championship leader Jens Hantson.
In the early stages of the race, Hantson began extending his advantage while Cecchi was forced to defend from race one winner Unser. On lap three, Unser was just a quarter of a second behind, however Cecchi was doing a nice job to resist the challenge posed by the Kellymoss driver. By lap six, Cecchi began eating into Hantson’s advantage and after taking three-quarters of a second out of his lead, the margin shrunk to less than three seconds.
Cecchi’s pace in the first two sectors was allowing her to bridge the deficit and although she was occasionally having to defend from Unser, both drivers were faster than Hantson in this stage of the race. On lap eight, Unser mounted an attack on Cecchi’s runner-up spot, but again the Charlie Hayes Racing driver raced smartly to hold second position.
As the second half of the race unfolded, Unser continued to force Cecchi to defend her position with the margin to Hantson out front remaining at around two seconds. As the duo of female drivers began closing in further, the race entered a full course yellow period after Reginald Tartaglione had stopped on the exit of the Inner Loop.
Following good work form the marshals, the race resumed for one final lap with Cecchi looking to apply pressure on Hantson for the race victory. After getting a good run through the Esses, Cecchi was just unable to move alongside Hantson before she was forced to defend from Unser. A strong drive from Cecchi saw her finish in the runner-up position in the Cayman Pro/Am class to complete a good start to the day.
The final race at Watkins Glen was held on Sunday afternoon and was the make-up race from Road America. Cecchi lined up from fourth on the overall grid, third within the Cayman Pro/Am class and she challenged Peluchiwski into turn one. After briefly running side-by-side with the Kellymoss driver, Cecchi slotted in behind with Alain Scalzo getting a good run through the Esses behind her. Scalzo looked to the inside at the Inner Loop with an optimistic move and as a result, the Canadian driver spun.
Cecchi continued without losing a position and completed lap one in fourth overall, third in class. After settling into this position, Cecchi set the overall fastest first sector on lap three as she looked to pass Peluchiwski and remain in contention with the leading duo in the Cayman Pro/Am class. Peluchiwski’s pace was strong in the early exchanges and as a result, the Cayman Masters driver was able to retain third position overall.
By lap six, the margin remained stable at around two seconds while Cecchi had grown the gap behind her to over five seconds with Top Kopczynski the driver in fifth overall. Following a personal best time through the middle sector, Cecchi cut the deficit to Peluchiwski to less than a second. The Charlie Hayes Racing driver continued to make small gains in the second half of the race as she began to apply pressure to the Cayman Masters leader.
The gap reduced to under half a second in the closing stages as Cecchi aimed to force Peluchiwski into a mistake. As the tyres began to wear with Cecchi running in the dirty air, Peluchiwski extended the gap once more and as the chequered flag was displayed, Cecchi crossed the line in fourth position overall, third in the Cayman Pro/Am class.
It was a good end to the weekend for Cecchi who showed great determination to rebound from an unfortunate incident in race one, to twice finish on the Cayman Pro/Am class podium. Her defensive drive in race two was particularly impressive, while she was regularly faster than championship leader Hantson. Cecchi will be aiming to end her season on a high when the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America drivers visit Road Atlanta for the season finale on the weekend of 13th/14th September.