Kelly Moss to select 2023 driver with all-women’s test

Kelly Moss Racing is co-owned by Victoria Thomas, who hopes to bring the first female driver in Porsche Carrera Cup North America history for 2023. To achieve this, the team intends to host a two-day test at Putnam Park Raceway later in October for four women, with the winner earning the team’s 2023 ride.

Sabré Cook, Sarah Montgomery, Aurora Straus, and Loni Unser were named as the four drivers on Thursday. The quartet was selected from a pool of twelve drivers.

Besides on-track performance, the test will also gauge the four’s media abilities and resonance with their crew. Judging them will be a panel that includes owners Thomas and Andy Kilcoyne, Kelly-Moss driver Riley Dickinson, Women in Motorsport North America founder and 1992 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year Lyn St. James, team managers Ken Swan and Will Alexander, and data engineer Alex Stone.

“Our goal is to find the very best female talent to drive our Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car, type 992 competitively in the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup North America series,” said Thomas.

“The Netflix F1 series Drive to Survive has further proven women are very interested in motorsports when they know the story beyond just race results. We intend to share the story of our journey, the ups and downs to draw women into and share the love of motorsports and its community.”

Cook recently competed in the W Series, finishing twentieth in the 2021 standings and twelfth two years prior with three points finishes. She also has experience in the Road to Indy ladder, racing in the USF2000 Championship in 2018 followed by Indy Pro 2000 two years later. Cook is currently an engineer for Kelly Moss and NTT IndyCar Series team Paretta Autosport, the first woman-led and -driven team in the series.

Montgomery is a regular in the Mazda MX-5 Cup, where she has raced since 2014 and finished fourth in the ND1 standings in 2019. That year, she became the first woman to score a podium in the series when she finished third twice at Portland and second in both Laguna Seca rounds. She received the Spirit of Mazda Award in 2015 and 2016.

Straus has experience in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and Pirelli GT4 America Series. In 2018, she finished runner-up in the latter’s GTS Am championship with two wins and four podiums. She has spent 2022 competing in the Blue Marble Radical Cup.

Unser is a fourth-generation racer from a legendary racing family that needs no introduction; her father Johnny competed in CART from 1996 to 2000 and is closely involved with IndyCar’s feeder series operations. In June, she competed at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which her family has won twenty-six times, finishing forty-seventh overall and second in the Porsche Pikes Peak Trophy class. She currently races in the MX-5 Cup and World Racing League.

A similar programme was also recently organised by IMSA’s The Heart of Racing for their GT4 stable.