"It feels so encouraging to see the results of all the hard work come to fruition a little more each race weekend."- Kellymoss racer Sabré Cook is making her way up the field of the highly competitive Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America, having claimed two top ten finishes at the Miami GP.
An unfortunate incident in the closing stages of race 2 at Long Beach had denied Sabré Cook of her first top-ten finish in the uber competitive Porsche Carrera Cup North America - in her first ever full season in GT cars. Just a few weeks later, the Porsche one-make series made its return to the track, supporting the F1 Miami Grand Prix - and it was time to take revenge for the young Colorado-native. Cook - who is not new to the F1 paddock, having raced in the all-female single seater championship W Series, as well as worked as an engineer for the Renault F1 Team as part of the Infiniti Engineering Academy - is learning the 992 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car at the speed of light. In a 40 car field, the young American battled in the top-15 at her debut at Sebring, then closed in on her first top-10 at the very challenging Long Beach street circuit, at her first visit to the track. On another track where she had never driven on before, Cook kept climbing the order and claimed an outstanding sixth place finish in race one - before returning to the top ten in the second race of the weekend - at only her third race meeting in a form of racing significantly different to formulas. The Shift Up Now athlete is the inaugural recipient of the Porsche Deluxe Female Driver Development Program – a scholarship resulted from the joint effort by Porsche Motorsport North America and Deluxe Corporation to provide female drivers with further support on the Porsche Motorsport pyramid, and is proving to belong to the top of the field. After some hurdles in the first practice session - where circumstances outside of her control prevented her to set a lap - Cook started to learn the track in the second 30 minute practice. Her progression continued in qualifying, as the driver of the #37 Kellymoss Porsche qualified P18 despite being impeded by traffic in her fastest attempts. On a very hot Miami International Autodrome, Sabré had a good start and gained two places by the end of the first lap. She would move further up to P14 in the early stages of the race, before a safety car neutralized the action on lap 8. In an action-packed race, championship dominator Riley Dickinson (Kellymoss) had been trying to pull away from Will Martin (JDX Racing) and former series champion Kay van Berlo (Accelerating Performance), returning for this special occasion on the grid of Porsche Carrera Cup NA. When Jimmy Llibre's #74 MDK Porsche had contact with another car and stopped on track, the first caution effectively shuffled the race, as Martin, van Berlo and Dan Clarke dropped out of contention after a messy restart. Cook, on the other hand, was able to navigate the chaos to snatch tenth place, before the second safety car was deployed. In a two lap shootout, Dickinson held off Tom Sargent (McElrea Racing) and Michael McCann (McCann Racing), once Alex Sedgwick was hit with a drive through penalty. Sabré Cook survived a contact that sent her into a spin at the restart, nevertheless advancing into seventh place. A post race penalty for a competitor promoted her to sixth - in what was her strongest finish of the season so far and her first top 10. A light rain welcomed the cars on the grid of race 2 on Sunday, as Riley Dickinson started again from pole position, ahead of Will Martin and Tom Sargent. From 14th on the grid, Sabré Cook held position in the opening stages, before she could advance to 12th. While catching up with the group of cars ahead, Cook was fast but overheated the tyres, causing some understeer. A safety car - brought out by a contact between Jeff Mosing and Stefan Rzadzinski - gave Cook the chance to cool down her tyres and prepare for the final charge. At the green flag, Sabré was up to P10 and, albeit she had to manage the tyres in the final laps, the Kellymoss racer would bring home another superb top 10 when the chequered flag fell. Following another post race penalty, she was classified ninth. “What an incredible weekend,” Sabré commented. “Kellymoss and I couldn’t be happier with the progress made this weekend. It feels so encouraging to see the results of all the hard work come to fruition a little more each race weekend." “Thank you, as always, to my partners for fueling this opportunity, and all my supporters and fans for being so encouraging and delighting in the progress made. Porsche Motorsports North America did a fantastic job at securing such a cool event like the Miami GP for Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup to compete at." Dickinson took another win after losing the lead to Martin with 10 minutes to go, but could then respond back. Sargent had been hit and spun around by van Berlo, promoting Sedgwick to third. With plenty of good points at the third double-header of the season, Cook now sits 14th in the championship standings of the Pro class. “I’m putting my head down as always to continue the work and bring this momentum into the next race event at Watkins Glen in June", she concluded. The next round will in fact be held at another iconic North American racetrack: Watkins Glen, in support of the IMSA 6 Hours of the Glen on 22-25 June
