Shift Up Now Athletes Sabré Cook and Ashley Freiberg finished in the top ten - Cook in ninth and Freiberg in 10th - during the second race of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America round three weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 13-15, 2025.
Cook, a Hagerty-supported Athlete, piloted the No. 37 PenFed / privé entry for JDX Racing, and Freiberg drove the No. 22 “Be Your Own Hero” entry for Kellymoss.
Racing alongside the Formula 1 Pirelli Grand Prix Du Canada meant limited track time for practice. Despite that, Freiberg maximized her laps in practice to gain as much experience as possible during her rookie outing on the 2.71-mile, 14-turn track.
Cook, who has historically performed well at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, was challenging for the top ten immediately in the first practice.
Qualifying took place on Saturday morning, with the fastest lap setting the grid for race one, and the second-fastest lap for race two. The entire session ran caution-free, giving Freiberg and Cook two full attempts on their new sets of Yokohama tires.
Freiberg showed significant improvement from the practice sessions, running a personal-best time of the weekend to qualify 11th. Cook also had a solid qualifying run and would start 12th, putting the Shift Up Now Athletes side-by-side in row six.
The first of the two 40-minute sprint races began at 6:00pm EST under clear blue skies. The field ran two-by-two to the green flag, then fanned out three-wide into turn one. Everyone made it through cleanly, and Freiberg and Cook continued to run in tandem. Cook marginally edged out Freiberg as the cars took their places in a single file line heading into the hairpin.
Returning to the front straight, the field was tightly packed. Cook began an attempt to pass, running alongside Freiberg’s mid corner, then the two ran side by side again as they approached the second chicane. When the racing line squeezed the pair together, Freiberg did her best to avoid contact, putting two wheels in the grass, but to no avail. The suspension damage forced her to retire from the race.
Cook emerged from the melee in 11th place, and was able to move forward, running as high as eighth. By the time the checkered flag fell, she crossed the finish line in ninth to earn her first top-ten finish of the year.
On Sunday morning, the second 40-minute sprint race began at 9:30am EST, once again under clear skies. This time, Freiberg was lined up in 12th on the outside of row six, with Cook in 13th on the inside of row seven.
In a repeat of the day before, the field had a clean start and fanned out three-wide into turn one. Freiberg got caught in a check-up at the apex of turn one, costing her the couple spots she had gained at the start. She maintained her 12th-place position.
Meanwhile, Cook advanced into 11th place on the first lap, then settled in for what would be a long green-flag run.
Near the halfway point of the race, Freiberg - still on Cook’s heels - set her fastest lap of the race. Lap after lap, her split was less than one second.
When the race remained green until the checkered flag fell, Cook crossed the finish line in 10th with Freiberg right behind in 11th. When post-race penalties were assessed, both Shift Up Now drivers were promoted into the top ten, to give Cook her first double top-ten of the season.
“I’m happy to bring home a double top-ten finish for the JDX Racing crew and my sponsors,” said Cook. “We’ve all been hard at work so it feels really rewarding after what was an unlucky start to the season. I’m really excited to bring the momentum into our race week at Watkins Glen, and keep moving forward on the grid.”
Next up, Freiberg and Cook head to Watkins Glen International for round four of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship, on June 19-22, 2025.
