PSCNA: Loni Unser returns to the podium at Road America
- LIAM REDFORD
- Aug 11
- 4 min read
Loni Unser maintained her excellent form in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America, where the Kellymoss driver enjoyed a consistent race in which she challenged the championship leader and finished as the runner-up for the fourth time this campaign in the Cayman Pro/Am class.
Loni Unser maintained her excellent form in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by securing a runner-up finish at Road America. After topping the times in free practice, Unser qualified in second position and enjoyed a consistent race in which she challenged championship leader Jens Hantson. The Kellymoss driver finished as the runner-up for the fourth time this campaign in the Cayman Pro/Am class and she has now extended her podium streak to four races.
At the previous round of the season at Virginia International Raceway, Unser consistently challenged for victory in the Cayman Pro/Am class and left the event with two podium finishes to her name. In race two, Unser missed out on the race win by less than half a second with her race pace particularly impressive during the course of the event. As she edged closer to a maiden victory, Unser was looking to use her past experience of Road America to her advantage.
Last season, Unser twice finished on the podium while displaying consistent pace throughout the weekend. After qualifying in second, Loni finished race one in the runner-up position, before banking valuable points with a third-place result in race two. This gave the Kellymoss driver a solid foundation heading into the weekend as she looked to close in on Anna Cecchi for second in the Cayman Pro-Am class standings.
Unser turned her first laps at Road America on Thursday as she participated in all three additional test sessions. Loni improved by over a second throughout the course of the day and ended the final session in the runner-up position within the Cayman Pro/Am class.
On Friday, the drivers returned to the circuit for a pair of official free practice sessions and it was here that Unser took another step forward. After starting the day second in the Cayman Pro/Am class, Loni topped the times in free practice two while completed a session-high 16 laps at Road America.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and Unser was searching for a front row starting position. It was a positive first half of the session for Loni who was third fastest overall, second within the Cayman Pro/Am class as qualifying reached the halfway point. The session was then red flagged after Alain Scalzo became beached in the gravel at turn 10.
The session resumed with six minutes remaining and Unser returned to the circuit in an attempt to improve upon her fastest time. The Kellymoss driver was very consistent, however with the peak of the tyre having passed, Unser was unable to beat her earlier time of a 2:16.158. After Scalzo had his two fastest laps removed for causing a red flag, this meant that Loni qualified in second position overall, also second within the Cayman Pro/Am class.
Race one of the weekend was held on Saturday afternoon with Unser lining up from the outside of the front row in second position. Loni made a good start and settled in behind race leader Jens Hantson while resisting the challenging of William Peluchiwski who was leading the Cayman Masters class. By the end of the first lap, Hantson’s lead was just over a second with Unser initially showing good speed through the first sector.
Hantson began increasing his lead in the early stages and by lap four, the gap was three seconds. Unser continued to build her margin behind and the Kellymoss driver was lapping extremely consistently while holding second position overall. On lap seven, the race entered its first full course yellow period as contact between the Cayman Masters drivers of Bill Fenech and Roland Krainz required their cars to be recovered.
The restart came on lap 10 with Unser putting a significant amount of pressure on Hantson. Loni ran just a quarter of a second behind her rival and briefly looked to the inside of the Speedsport Tuning driver through the opening turn. Hantson was able to maintain his lead and Unser settled into the runner-up spot, again building a small margin to Cayman Masters leader Peluchiwski.
Unser was doing a good job to keep the margin to under two seconds following the restart and the Kellymoss driver was regularly the fastest driver through sector one. Loni maintained her consistency in the closing stages to secure another runner-up finish while Hantson claimed victory by a margin of just under five seconds in race one at Road America.
The second race of the weekend was due to take place on Sunday morning, however due to persistent heavy rain and lightning, the contest was postponed. The drivers were able to run a sighter lap behind the safety car, however with the significant risk of aquaplaning, the decision was made to schedule race two for the next event at Watkins Glen.
The Porsche Sprint Challenge North America drivers will take a trip to New York state for the sixth round of the championship on the weekend of August 30th/31st.
