Therese Lahlouh achieves a double top-five finish at the season finale in Sonoma

Therese Lahlouh concluded her first season in the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America with two top-five finishes in Sonoma and secured fifth place in the 992 Pro/Am class standings after consistently strong racing all weekend and throughout the season had proven.

JDX Racing driver Therese Lahlouh ended her first season in the 992 Pro/Am class of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America with two top-five finishes in Sonoma. Lahlouh showed excellent speed throughout the weekend and was able to pull ahead of the field in both races thanks to her race pace.

After starting the first race from 11th overall and sixth in class, Therese finished eighth overall and fifth in class. Lahlouh again started from the sixth row of the grid in the second race and repeated her result from Saturday's race to finish the season with another eighth place overall while also securing her fifth 992 Pro/Am top five finish of the season.

Lahlouh arrived in Sonoma fifth in the 992 Pro/Am Porsche Sprint Challenge North America standings with a realistic chance of moving up to fourth and was looking to get up to speed quickly in California.

Since the start of the championship, Lahlouh made her European racing debut by taking part in the Michelin 992 Endurance Cup at Spa-Francorchamps alongside three JDX Racing teammates. With the goal of using this additional experience to improve her season, Therese was determined to end her sprint racing season on a high note.

The Sonoma track action began on Wednesday as Lahlouh took advantage of the additional testing sessions to prepare for speed on the challenging track. Further sessions followed on Thursday, with an extended group of drivers working on their car setup, before two races over the course of the weekend.

Lahlouh continuously fought for a top-five position within his class and maintained this pace in the last two training sessions on Friday. The JDX Racing driver finished final practice seventh overall, fifth in the 992 Pro/Am class, and showed good form in Sonoma.

Qualifying took place on Saturday morning and was expected to be an important session as lap times were extremely close across the field. Lahlouh's fastest time was set on her fifth lap of the session and she qualified in 11th place, sixth in the 992 Pro/Am class but just half a second off eighth overall.

Lahlouh started the first race of the weekend on the sixth row of the grid and got off to an excellent start. He improved two positions and moved to ninth overall while defending sixth place in the 992 Pro/Am class. Therese ran right behind Rob Walker and put pressure on the JTR Motorsports Engineering driver from the start.

After the driver directly behind, Mark Boden, was given a drive-through penalty, Lahlouh was now a comfortable distance behind him and was able to concentrate on the front. The gap between Walker and Lahlouh was only half a second and the JDX Racing driver wanted to force her rival to make a mistake.

On lap seven, Therese set a new personal best and was now faster than the next three riders in front of her, while also getting within two tenths of a second of Walker. Although her rival began to open up a small lead midway through the race, Lahlouh cut the gap to under a second with new best times on laps 13 and 16.

Lahlouh started the final lap just half a second behind Walker and just couldn't move, but finished the first race of the weekend ninth overall and sixth in the 992 Pro/Am class before falling to eighth overall and fifth Moved up in class after Jared Thomas received a post-race penalty.

At the final race of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America season, Lahlouh started 11th and sixth in the 992 Pro/Am class. Although it was initially a challenging start for Therese as she lost to her class rival Shane Leathers, she was quickly able to regain her position and also overtake Joel Johnson to move into the top 10 overall.

The next target was 992 Masters competitor Mark Boden, and after putting pressure on her rival, Lahlouh moved forward to secure ninth place overall while remaining sixth in the 992 Pro/Am class.

Lahlouh then set her personal best time of the race and was now faster than the next two drivers in front of her. The JDX Racing driver pulled away from the ground and now caught up with Ruckus Racing driver Scott Blind, who took eighth place. On lap 12, the race began with a full yellow period for the first time, with two cars requiring recovery, resulting in a three-lap restart.

Lahlouh showed good speed in the closing stages of the race, but was unable to gain any further positions on the track and finished the final Porsche Sprint Challenge North America race of the season in ninth place overall and sixth in the 992 Pro/Am class. However, a post-race penalty imposed on Aaron Jeansonne saw Lahlouh move up to fifth in his class, a positive end to a hard-fought weekend.

After these two strong results in Sonoma, Lahlouh secured fifth place in the 992 Pro/Am class of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America. The JDX Racing rider has made excellent progress throughout the season, highlighted by her podium finish at Watkins Glen.

Lahlouh ended the campaign as a constant challenger for a top-five finish in her class as she developed her racing skills in a highly competitive field of riders. Her goal now is to conclude her season with an appearance at the Porsche Endurance Challenge North America finale, which takes place on the weekend of March 23rd/24th. November at the Circuit of the Americas.