TGRNA: Paityn Feyen claims personal best with maiden top-15 in Sebring
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“Sebring was definitely a rollercoaster, but I’m proud of what we accomplished, especially in the first race of the weekend" - Paityn Feyen made a step forward in the third round of the 2025 Toyota GR Cup North America season at Sebring, where the Nitro Motorsports driver scored her first top-15 finish in the series with a recovery drive in Race 1, ultimately earning the Highest Finishing Female Award in both races.
Paityn Feyen made a significant step forward in the third round of the 2025 Toyota GR Cup North America season at Sebring International Raceway, where the Nitro Motorsports driver scored her first top-15 finish in the series with a strong recovery drive in Race 1, ultimately earning the Highest Finishing Female Award in both races.
The 16-year-old driver, a 2025 Shift Up Now Foundation grantee, is contesting her rookie season in the Toyota GR Cup North America—her first full-time campaign in race cars after stepping up from karting. She made a promising debut at Sonoma Raceway, where she earned the Highest Finishing Female Award in Race 1 and secured a personal best result of P25. Feyen impressed with her clean driving as she took her first steps in the highly competitive single-make series.
At Circuit of the Americas, Feyen showed notable progress in pace and racecraft during her second race weekend, where she bounced back from a setback to complete a recovery drive that gained her first top-20 finish in the series in Race 1.
Heading to Sebring for the third round, she targeted an even bigger step forward—and she immediately showed progress in practice.
“Sebring is one of those tracks that really challenges you as a driver,” explained Paityn before the event. “It’s rough, it’s fast, and it rewards you when you’re brave but smart. I’ve been working hard to prepare for this weekend, and I’m feeling confident. I’m ready to push hard and fight for strong results in both rounds.”
Known for its demanding and bumpy layout, Sebring presented another challenge for the rookie driver—but she was up for it and made big gains during the practice sessions.
In FP1, Paityn ran 18th fastest, steadily within the top 20, and continued her improvement in FP2, where her 2:27.742 lap was just 1.8 seconds off the overall pace-setter. She carried that momentum into qualifying.
In the first qualifying session on Saturday morning, Feyen clocked a 2:27.489 and qualified P21—just outside the top 20—but remained positive, having shown strong and consistent pace and confidence in her ability to move forward during the races.
Later in the day, the field took the green flag under sunny skies for the first race of the weekend. Feyen initially dropped to P22 but quickly picked up a position as Beltre Curtis encountered issues and pitted on the opening lap.
Finding her rhythm early, Feyen set a 2:29.2—faster than the cars ahead—and passed Max Schweid on lap 2, then began closing in on Massimo Sunseri. With improving lap times, she overtook Sunseri on lap 3 to move into P19.
Once ahead, Feyen continued her charge, overtaking Karl Forman and opening a gap to the cars behind with particularly strong sector one times. On lap 6, she gained another position when Ayden Kirk fell down the order, moving up to P18 with 28 minutes to go.
She settled into P18 with consistent pace, holding about a one-second buffer to Sunseri behind. Midway through the race, she set more personal best laps and began closing the gap to Farran Davis and Forman, who were battling for 16th.
With seven minutes remaining, Sofronas went off the track after contact with Tovo, and Feyen advanced to P17. Tovo then pitted with damages, allowing Feyen to climb to P16 and begin chasing Davis for a place inside the top 15.
On lap 16, she made a clean move on Davis for P15, though the latter fought back the following lap. The final lap saw the two trade places again, but Feyen ultimately secured P15 at the flag—clinching her personal best finish in the series to date, marking another step forward in her rookie season.
Sunday morning’s second qualifying session saw an early start, with Feyen aiming to build on Saturday’s strong result. She set a 2:28.224 and qualified P22 after being unable to improve in her final laps.
Starting from P22 for Race 2, Feyen unfortunately encountered trouble just before Turn 1 and was forced to retire due to a mechanical issue that prematurely ended her weekend.
Nevertheless, the weekend still marked significant progress: Paityn Feyen showed good pace in practice and delivered an excellent charge in Race 1 to secure her first top-15 finish of the season.
“Sebring was definitely a rollercoaster, but I’m proud of what we accomplished, especially in the first race of the weekend,” said Paityn. “Saturday’s race showed the progress we’ve made, and even with the tough break on Sunday, we still walked away with some positives. I’m learning every weekend and can’t wait to keep building toward even better results at VIR.”
After six races, Feyen has finished as the top female driver five times, banking another $10,000 in the series awards after the Sebring round. She will look to continue her upward trajectory at the next round at VIRginia International Raceway, scheduled for July 16–18.