Shift Up Now Athlete Sabré Cook earned a P8 finish on Saturday and followed it up with a P10 on Sunday during Round 2 of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, part of the Formula 1 race weekend at the Miami International Autodrome on May 3-5, 2024.
Driving the No. 37 Ease Logistics 992 Porsche Carrera Cup Car for MDK Motorsports, Cook was anxious to hit the Miami street circuit on her Yokohama Tires. The track is one of her favorites, and where she earned her first top-ten series finishes in 2023.
The 37-car field had two practice sessions on Friday, with the first one taking place in the early afternoon. The second session was run at dusk, giving drivers a preview of the expected conditions during their race at the same time the following day. Cook ran her Mobil1 Porsche Cup Car in the top 15 for both sessions.
Sunny, hot and humid weather continued throughout the weekend, making Saturday’s mid-day qualifying tougher. The entire Porsche Carrera Cup field hit the track together on their Yokohama tires at the start of the session and completed four green-flag laps before the first incident.
A car in the wall resulted in a red flag, and Cook - whose fastest lap so far had her in P15 - returned to the pits with the rest of the field. When the qualifying session went green again, she had one flying lap to improve her time, and advanced to a P12 starting position.
On Saturday evening, Cook was on the outside of row six for the first 40-minute sprint race. At the green flag, despite some of the cars running three-wide heading into turn one and a penalty for one of the leaders for jumping the start, the field made it through cleanly.
Cook had a great start and began to work her way toward the top ten. As the green-flag racing continued, other cars began pushing harder and making racier moves. Cook was running P11 when contact from two cars ahead advanced her to P9. Shortly afterward, another incident brought out a full-course caution that would remain until the end. When the checkered flag flew, Cook was P9, however she gained one additional position to finish P8 after the penalty was assessed for the car that had jumped the start of the race.
Sunday’s 40-minute competition began in the morning under light cloud cover and slightly less heat. Track temperatures were just under 100 degrees with an ambient temperature in the low 80s. Once again, Cook’s 992 chassis was lined up on the starting grid on the outside of row six.
Just like the day before, the field made a clean start. Cook spent the first lap challenging the car ahead for the P11 spot before a multi-car incident caused a full-course caution for an extended period.
Approximately mid-way through the race, the lights went out on the safety car and the field lined up for a single-file restart. Once again, Cook had a solid start and focused on the car ahead. However, another incident brought the safety car out for a second full-course caution. At its conclusion, the Carrera Cup Car field had just two laps of racing left. Cook crossed the line in P10.
“I’m really pleased and energized by the progress the team and I have made since the first race of the season,” said Cook. “I had my best qualifying yet and it felt great to solidly get those two top-ten finishes. I can’t wait for our next race at Montreal to keep the momentum going. I can’t thank my partners and MDK Motorsports enough. Let’s keep pushing!”
Next up, Cook heads to Montreal, Quebec, Canada for Round 3 of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 7-9, 2024.
