Toyota GR Cup NA: Maite Cáceres sweeps female driver awards on the streets of Arlington
- LIAM REDFORD
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Maite Cáceres made a highly promising debut in the Toyota GR Cup North America as she twice finished as the highest finishing female driver on the streets of Arlington, having just turned her first laps in the Toyota GR86 Cup car on Friday, before securing a superb 12th place finish in race one.
Maite Cáceres made a promising debut in the Toyota GR Cup North America as she twice finished as the highest finishing female driver on the streets of Arlington. The RAFA Racing Team driver turned her first laps in the Toyota GR86 Cup car during the opening practice session on Friday, before securing a superb 12th place finish in race one. Cáceres was set for another top-15 result in race two, before contact resulted in a late-race retirement.
Making her series debut, Eagles Canyon with Fast Track driver Ava Schletz displayed excellent speed as she consistently battled with more experienced drivers. Schletz secured a best qualifying result of 17th position and was unfortunate that contact ended both of her races prematurely after running as high as 13th in race one.
Returning to Toyota GR Cup North America, it was a challenging opening event for Paityn Feyen. The Copeland Motorsport driver was involved in a number of thrilling battles during race one, however a sizeable incident towards the end of the race ended her weekend early. With the car unable to be repaired for race two, it was an unfortunate end to an event where Feyen gained street circuit experience.
Firmly establishing itself as one of America’s premier one-make championships, the Toyota GR Cup North America is the perfect proving ground for young drivers looking to make their mark on the world of GT racing. Visiting iconic circuits such as Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, close and competitive racing is guaranteed as drivers battle it out in equal machinery.
Following a promising rookie season in 2025, Feyen returned to the series looking to push towards the overall top-10. The Copeland Motorsports driver regularly finished inside the top-20 last season while often battling with more experienced rivals. Feyen has been busy competing in pavement oval racing over the winter and was now looking to build upon these experiences in the single-make series.
Newcomer Maite Cáceres also began her 2026 campaign in different forms of motorsport, most recently claiming a race victory in the Formula Fara single seater championship. Last season, the Uruguayan racer completed a partial campaign for RAFA Racing Team in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup where she secured a best result of 11th place on the streets of St Petersburg. Therefore, Cáceres aimed to use her street circuit knowledge to begin the campaign on the front foot in Arlington.
Feyen and Cáceres were joined on the grid by American rookie Ava Schletz. Driving for Eagles Canyon with Fast Track, seventeen-year-old Schletz was looking to make a positive impression on her first weekend in the series. In preparation for the season ahead, Schletz has gained valuable mileage at Eagles Canyon Raceway and secured a class podium in an eight-hour World Racing League event in February.
On-track action began on Friday morning with the first of two free practice sessions in Texas. With street circuit set to evolve over the course of the event, learning the track and building a rhythm was the top priority during the early running. This was especially important for Cáceres who turned her first laps behind the wheel of the Toyota GR86 Cup car during free practice.
The session was red flagged midway through the session and following its resumption, Schletz was the quickest of three female drivers. The Eagles Canyon with Fast Track competitor was 21st quickest overall with a fastest time of a 2:13.973. Feyen began the weekend in 24th spot, while Cáceres ended free practice one in 26th position behind the wheel of her RAFA Racing Team machine.
The second free practice session took place on Friday afternoon and after running uninterrupted, significant improvements were made throughout the field. Once again, Schletz impressed with her knowledge of the car proving beneficial on the new street circuit. The young American racer ended practice inside the top-15 with her fastest time of a 2:09.724 placing her in 14th position. Cáceres took huge strides forward as she got up to speed with the Toyota GR86 Cup car and she ended free practice two in 18th position with a 2:10.402. Feyen narrowly missed out on a top-20 ranking as the Copeland Motorsport driver ended the session in 23rd spot.
The first of two qualifying sessions brought Friday’s action to a close with a short 15-minute session setting the grid for the opening race of the season. The slipstream effect was powerful down the long back straight and therefore the majority of the drivers ran in packs to maximise their advantage.
Schletz was the leading female driver for a large part of the session as she held a position inside the top-15. However, a superb late improvement from Cáceres saw the Uruguayan racer set a time of a 2:09.345 to qualify in 13th position. Schletz’s debut qualifying session in the Toyota GR Cup North America was nonetheless strong as she set the 17th fastest time for Eagles Canyon with Fast Track. Improving by almost half a second from her best lap in free practice, Feyen qualified her Copeland Motorsports machine in 23rd position.
The first race of the season took place on Saturday afternoon with Cáceres lining up from 13th, Schletz from 17th and Feyen from 23rd position on the grid. All three female drivers made a clean start and did a superb job to avoid a multi car incident involving Beltre Curtis, Joseph Maley and Michael Edwards. The Dream Machine @ Eagles Canyon machine of Jason Kos had also stopped out on circuit and therefore the race entered a full course yellow period.
Under the neutralisation period, Cáceres was up to 11th position with Schletz in 13th and Feyen in 17th spot. The race resumed on lap four and Schletz was involved in a close battle with the Copeland Motorsports machine of Nathan Dupuis. Contact was made between the drivers with Schletz retiring from her debut race with right-front suspension damage.
The recovery of Schletz’s car necessitated a second full course yellow period with Feyen moving up to 16th courtesy of Schletz’s retirement. When the green flag was displayed, Cáceres was on the move as she continued to build confidence in the car. After overtaking Patrick Brunson, the RAFA Racing Team driver was inside the top-10. Feyen was also battling hard and although she lost out to a recovering Curtis and a hard-charging Malbec Ramos, the young driver was gaining valuable experience.
Feyen slipped to 20th position on lap nine as Amilio DiLauro moved ahead, before she engaged in a fantastic battle with Jay Thomas. Meanwhile, Cáceres continued her strong debut race by setting consistent lap times despite coming under threat from Ramos. Despite the TechSport Racing driver completing an overtake on lap 11, Maite had a sizeable gap behind her and therefore she could focus forward.
On lap 12, Feyen ran side-by-side with Thomas and after initially falling behind her rival, she fought back and reclaimed the position. Feyen then caught Carter Wilson and this led to another thrilling battle between the drivers with Feyen moving into 18th position at the conclusion of lap 13. While battling with Wilson on the following lap, the two drivers made contact with Feyen delayed and she briefly fell to 21st position.
As she looked to regain positions, an incident involving Feyen and Paul Wilson saw the Copeland Motorsports driver retire from the race. It was an unfortunate end to a productive race for Feyen who was confidently battling within the midfield.
Just prior to this incident, Curtis caught Cáceres and he was just able to complete the pass before the race entered a third full course yellow period. The race finished behind the safety car with Cáceres completing an excellent debut race in 12th position, a particularly impressive achievement considering this was just her second day behind the wheel of the Toyota GR86 Cup car. As a result, Cáceres secured a $5,000 bonus for finishing as the highest-placed female driver.
The second qualifying session was held later on Saturday and therefore it was a race against time for the teams to repair the damaged cars. After her strong debut, Cáceres was looking to continue her momentum with Schletz aiming to bounce back after her race one incident. Following good work from the Eagles Canyon with Fast Track team, the young American racer took part in the fifteen-minute session. Due to the extensive damage sustained by Feyen, she was sadly unable to take part in the remainder of the event.
Cáceres quickly got up to speed and began contending for a top-10 position in her RAFA Racing Team machine. The session ran uninterrupted and the Uruguayan racer improved by half a second from the first qualifying session on her way to a quickest time of a 2:08.700 which placed her in 15th position.
Despite her limited running earlier in the day, Schletz came close to matching her previous qualifying time with Ava setting a fastest lap of a 2:10.290 for 20th overall.
Due to a local weather advisory, the second race of the weekend on Sunday morning took place earlier in the day and was run to the scheduled duration of 45-minutes. Cáceres was looking for her second female driver award starting from 15th on the grid with Schletz looking to challenge from 20th position.
As the race got underway, Cáceres made a clean start and although she fell to 17th position at the end of lap one, she remained the highest placed female driver. Schletz’s initial getaway was excellent and she quickly climbed to 18th, before being shuffled back to 21st where she battled with Alcyr Araujo.
Schletz overtook Jason Kos on lap two and now with a sizeable gap to push into, the Eagles Canyon with Fast Track racer looked to gain further ground. Misfortune then struck as an off-track moment dropped Schletz to 25th position on lap three and the young American driver was now looking for a full course yellow period to catch the midfield runners.
Nonetheless, Schletz remained on the lead lap and after overtaking teammate Jeff Curry, Ava was up to 24th position. Meanwhile Cáceres was chasing down a position inside the top-15 and the Uruguayan driver was showing excellent speed in the final sector in particular. Following an earlier pass on Patrick Brunson, Cáceres was now chasing Massimo Sunseri and she made her move on the BSI Racing driver on lap six.
Using his experience to fight back, Sunseri reclaimed 15th position on seven while Nathan Dupuis also made his way through. Cáceres was then involved in a close battle with Sunseri and Dupuis before contact was made between herself and Sunseri. The BSI Racing driver pulled off the circuit with damage, while Cáceres was delayed and dropped to 24th position as the race entered a full course yellow period.
This neutralisation was fortunate for Schletz who could now catch the tail of the field and the Eagles Canyon with Fast Track driver was now up to 22nd spot. Cáceres then brought her RAFA Racing Team machine into the pits with the crew working on damage to the left-front of the car. The Uruguayan racer rejoined the race one lap down and began circulating at a reduced pace while she managed the damage to her car.
The race resumed on lap 11 and Schletz was soon gaining ground as she passed both Kos and Araujo to reclaim a spot inside the top-20. In her attempt to move forward, Schletz made a mistake on lap 12 and hit the outside wall with Carter Wilson also caught up in the incident. The damage sustained to the car was too significant for Schletz to continue and therefore Ava was forced into retirement while the race entered another full course yellow period.
This incident allowed Cáceres to reclaim honours among the female drivers with Maite initially continuing to circulate behind the safety car. When the race resumed, Cáceres pulled into the pits to retire in order to ensure further damage was not caused to her car. It was a tough end to the weekend for the female drivers in the Toyota GR Cup North America who had all shown good promise throughout the event.
Cáceres claimed both female driver awards on the streets of Arlington as she adapted well to a new car. Schletz was her closest challenger throughout the event and she will be aiming to bounce back after a tough debut at a difficult circuit. Feyen enjoyed fantastic battles during race one and the young American driver will be keen to showcase her racecraft when the Toyota GR Cup North America returns at COTA on the weekend of April 25th/26th.