The female drivers of the Toyota GR Cup North America showcased strong performances at Barber Motorsports Park, with Mia Lovell securing a top-ten finish and the Highest Finishing Female Award in race 1, while Jade Avedisian was protagonist of brilliant drives but was denied her personal best finish by a mechanical issue on the final lap. Maddie Aust, and Miki Onaga each delivered competitive races despite mixed fortunes.
The sixth round of the Toyota GR Cup North America at Barber Motorsports Park was another positive one for the female drivers in the series, who consistently demonstrated strong pace and battled at the front of the field.
Mia Lovell secured her fifth top-ten finish of the season and claimed her eighth Highest Finishing Female Award in Race 1. However, a slow puncture cost her another top-ten result in Race 2, forcing her to drop down the order.
Jade Avedisian had a solid weekend at the Alabama circuit, narrowly missing out on a top-ten finish in Saturday’s Race 1 after running strongly before settling in P14. She fought hard at the front in Race 2, making a significant improvement by battling up to P11 before a mechanical failure denied her another strong result. Despite the issue, she still emerged as the top female driver in Race 2.
Maddie Aust had a positive showing in Race 1, gaining four positions from the start and securing her seventh top-20 finish of the season, finishing in P18 after a strong race. In Race 2, she was forced to retire on the opening lap.
Joining the grid for the second time this year, Japanese racer Miki Onaga was back on North American soil after a first appearance at COTA earlier this year, when she had a personal best finish of 20th. The Toyota-sponsored driver has experience of the GR86 machine in Japanese competitions and is a race winner in the all-female championship Kyojo Cup.
Racing under the banner of Hattori Motorsports at Barber Motorsports Park, Onaga showed good racecraft and battled solidly in the midfield throughout the weekend, eventually improving on her personal best with a P19 in Race 1, with an unfortunate first lap issue forcing her to an unscheduled pit stop at the start of Race 2.
In preparation for the sixth round at the 3.83 km, 17-turn road course located in Birmingham, most drivers were competing at Barber Motorsports Park for the first time since SRO America last raced there in 2016. Despite mixed conditions in practice, both Mia Lovell and Jade Avedisian immediately demonstrated enough speed to contest for top-10 and top-15 positions, while Aust and Onaga made steady progress over the practice sessions. Aust was particularly strong in damp conditions, finishing 16th fastest in a wet FP2.
The weather improved for Saturday's qualifying session, where Mia Lovell qualified tenth with a time of 1:38.271, setting her up for another strong race. Miki Onaga found good pace and qualified 18th, with Jade Avedisian lining up in P20 and Maddie Aust in P22.
At the start of Race 1, Gresham Wagner led from pole position, while Lovell made up ground to move into ninth place. Jade Avedisian also gained positions early on, moving up to P17, and Onaga dropped to 19th after some tight midfield battles. Maddie Aust was P20 after the first lap.
As the race progressed, Lovell clocked a personal best lap and closed in on Devin Anderson, though the gap remained stable. Avedisian moved up to P15 after battling with Steven Clemons, capitalizing on a mistake by Clemons to seize the opportunity.
Meanwhile, Aust continued to push forward, passing Diaz to enter the top 20, and Onaga maintained a consistent pace in P18, holding off pressure from cars behind.
In the chaotic midfield, Avedisian continued her charge, moving up to P14 after a tough battle with Casey Mashore, who briefly fought back but couldn't hold off Jade.
Ahead, Lovell maintained her ninth-place position, battling within the top ten but finding it difficult to pass Anderson. In the closing laps, Onaga was overtaken by Aust, who set her personal best lap in 1:40.2 to finish P18, while Onaga crossed the line in P19.
Gresham Wagner took a dominant victory, with Lovell finishing ninth, securing another top-ten result and another Top Female Award, along with a $5,000 prize.
Avedisian finished P14 after a hard-fought race, just 0.6 seconds short of 13th - in a brilliant recovery drive from 20th on the grid.
In Sunday’s qualifying session for Race 2, Lovell once again demonstrated impressive one-lap pace, qualifying seventh with a 1:37.277, aiming to continue her top-ten streak. Avedisian also improved her qualifying, securing P12, just under a second from pole position. Onaga and Aust lined up P21 and P22, respectively.
At the start of Race 2, Spike Kohlbecker led from pole, with Lovell maintaining her P7 position. Avedisian had an excellent start, making a bold three-wide move and climbing to P11 by the end of the first lap.
Onaga moved up to P19 but soon had to pit at the end of the first lap, rejoining a lap down. Unfortunately, Aust was forced to retire the #09 machine on the opening lap.
As the race unfolded, Lovell dropped to P8 after a battle with Jaxon Bell but remained in contention. Avedisian was again on a mission and fought hard to defend her P11 position from Ford Koch, eventually losing the spot on lap 11.
Lovell then came under pressure from Maximilian Hewitt and Will Robusto, with Hewitt eventually taking eighth place, leaving Lovell to defend ninth, with a slow puncture that caused her to progressively lose pace.
With just over 14 minutes remaining, Lovell's puncture eventually gave out and she spun into the gravel at turn 1 and triggering a Safety Car.
This promoted Avedisian to P11, placing her in a strong position to attack for the top ten at the restart. However, despite running well and waiting for an opportunity to strike, her car came to a halt on the final lap, forcing her to settle for P19 after what was shaping up to be an excellent run.
In Race 2, Onaga finished P21 after recovering from her earlier pit stop, and Lovell rejoined, pitted for a new tyre and never gave up, finishing P22.
Despite a weekend of mixed fortunes, the female drivers in the Toyota GR Cup North America showed their speed and racecraft once again. They will look to bounce back at the season finale, the seventh double-header scheduled for October 4-6 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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