PSCNA: Podium finish for Therese Lahlouh at COTA
- LIAM REDFORD
- May 20
- 6 min read
Having qualified inside the overall top-5 for both races at COTA, JDX Racing driver Therese Lahlouh continued her strong early-season form in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America as she secured her second podium finish of the season in Race 2.
JDX Racing driver Therese Lahlouh continued her strong early-season form in Porsche Sprint Challenge North America as she secured her second podium finish of the season. Lahlouh showed impressive pace throughout the event at the Circuit of the Americas and qualified inside the overall top-5 for both races. After narrowly missing out on a podium finish in the 992 Pro/Am class in race one, Lahlouh pulled off a superb pass on Josh Conley to finish third in class in the second race of the weekend.
Following her first podium finish of the season at Sonoma Raceway, Lahlouh was aiming to carry this momentum forward into Circuit of the Americas. The JDX Racing driver has taken significant strides in a 2025 campaign which has consistently seen her challenge for top-5 finishes within the 992 Pro/Am class.
After a phenomenal recovery drive in the season opener at Sebring International Raceway, Lahlouh’s podium finish at Sonoma was earned on merit and now she arrived at a circuit where she had impressed at in the past.
In 2024, Lahlouh finished both races at Circuit of the Americas within the top-6 of the 992 Pro/Am class, including a top-5 result in race two. She combined this with two strong performances in Porsche Endurance Challenge North America. In the inaugural race, Lahlouh ran inside an overall podium position for the majority of the contest and now with additional experience under her belt, she was targeting a successful weekend in Texas.
On-track action got underway on Thursday with the 992 class competitors given two test sessions to work on car setup. Across the course of the day, Lahlouh completed 22 laps and with over 30 cars on track, completing a clean lap was a challenge. Therese’s quickest time came in the first session with a 2:11.551 fast enough for a top-5 result in the 992 Pro/Am class.
On Friday morning, the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America drivers hit the track for the first official free practice session. With cooler track temperatures due to the early morning running, lap times improved with Lahlouh’s fastest time of a 2:10.532 just over a second quicker than her fastest lap from Thursday. As a result, the JDX Racing driver ended the session in a strong sixth position overall, third within the 992 Pro/Am class.
For the second free practice session on Friday afternoon, track temperatures were once again higher and this made it challenging to set a fast lap time. Lahlouh ended the session in fourth place within the 992 Pro/Am class with a fastest time of a 2:11.368.
Qualifying was the final session on track on Friday and once again the drivers were split into two groups to ease traffic management. Lahlouh did a superb job to extract peak performance from the tyre and set her quickest time on her first flying lap of the session. As a result, her fastest lap of a 2:10.684 was third fastest in Group A and placed her fifth on the overall grid, third within the 992 Pro/Am class.
For the first race of the weekend on Saturday, Lahlouh lined up from the third row of the grid. It was an extremely slow run to the line and once the lights were extinguished, Therese was challenged by the drivers behind into turn one. However, smart car placement from the JDX Racing driver saw Lahlouh emerge out of the first turn ahead of 992 Masters driver Scott Blind and into fourth position overall, while retaining third in the 992 Pro/Am class.
Blind was keen to fight back and on lap two, he passed Lahlouh at turn 12. This brought Tony Malito in contention and Lahlouh was now working hard to fight off her class rival. Out front, Cole Kleck and Alan Metni were battling hard for the overall race lead, while trading positions at the head of the 992 Pro/Am class. As Kleck pulled clear, the gaps between the leading drivers stretched with Lahlouh and Malito now the closest battle inside the top-10.
As the drivers emerged from the final turn on lap three, Malito drew level and he was able to clear Lahlouh into turn one. The JDX Racing driver therefore fell to fourth position in class with Damir Hot now looking for a way through. Hot made a move to the inside of turn one on lap five, however good driving from Lahlouh allowed her to get the cut back out of the corner and maintain her position. As Lahlouh pulled clear of Hot, she set a personal best final sector time which ensured she built herself a small margin.
After setting consecutive laps faster than her rival, Lahlouh’s margin over Hot grew to over one second at the conclusion of lap seven. On lap eight, Therese was the second fastest driver on track following a personal best lap and with Hot now under attack from Daniel Bloom, her margin was extending. By lap nine, her gap over the fifth placed driver in class was approaching four seconds to underline both her speed and consistency in the middle portion of the race.
Hot was able to resist the challenge of Bloom and as a result, he slowly made inroads on Lahlouh once again. Following a personal best time from Hot on 12, the Charlie Hayes Racing driver was back within two seconds of Lahlouh’s JDX Racing machine. A strong end to the race saw Therese match Hot in the final laps as she took the chequered flag in sixth position overall, fourth in the 992 Pro/Am class.
The second race of the weekend took place early on Sunday and due to the low track temperatures, the drivers were given an additional formation lap. Lahlouh lined up fifth on the overall grid, third in the 992 Pro/Am class and Therese used the outside line smartly to retain her position as the drivers exited the first turn.
Josh Conley began applying pressure throughout the first lap and Lahlouh’s class rival made a move to the outside of turn one on lap two. Conley was able to complete the pass with the JDX Racing driver now required to defend from Tony Malito. Lahlouh responded to the pressure on lap four as she was the fastest driver through sector one during this lap. Nonetheless, Malito fought back and he closed right in once again and forced Lahlouh to defend her position.
Despite the pressure from behind, Lahlouh remained close behind Conley and by lap six, all three drivers were separated by just three-quarters of a second. Heading into turn one on lap seven, Lahlouh made an attempt to overtake Conley on the inside of the corner but she was not quite close enough to complete the move.
Lahlouh remained in contention to mount another challenge into turn 11 and Therese briefly moved ahead before the drivers ran side-by-side down the back straight. Although Lahlouh was on the outside, she successfully executed the cut back to clear Conley on the exit of the corner before holding the position through the complex. As the drivers completed the lap, Therese had already pulled out a small margin as Conley came under attack from Malito.
Lahlouh was now into a podium position within the 992 Pro/Am class while moving inside the overall top-5. On lap eight, a personal best time allowed Lahlouh to pull out a gap of a second over Conley as the pressure eased. With her rivals now duelling for position behind, Lahlouh set a series of consistent lap times and when Malito passed Conley on lap 12, the margin behind was over two seconds.
Lahlouh set a further personal best time on lap 14 as she continued to manage the race superbly. She continued this pace into the closing stages and this enabled Therese to claim her second podium finish of the season with a strong third place result in the 992 Pro/Am class, while crossing the line in fifth place overall.
It was an excellent end to the weekend for Lahlouh who consistently battled at the head of the 992 Pro/Am class throughout the event. The JDX Racing driver showed good speed over both one-lap and a full race distance, while pulling off some brilliant overtakes as she displayed her racecraft.
Lahlouh will be aiming to sustain this momentum when Porsche Sprint Challenge North America returns at Virginia International Raceway on the weekend of July 12th/13th.
