Sabre Cook Wins Kelly-Moss Female Driver Shootout

November 7, 2022

Shift Up Now Athlete Sabre Cook was announced today as the winner of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America team Kelly-Moss Road and Race 2023 Female Driver Shootout, marking the first time in history that a female has earned this seat.

The two-day shootout test took place at Putnam Park Raceway in Indiana. Four female candidates were chosen to participate, selected from a pool of 12 profiles. They were evaluated on and off the track, with selection criterion including performance, communication with engineers, understanding of car dynamics, fitness level and media skills. Drivers were competing for a 2023 seat on the championship-winning Kelly-Moss Road and Race team.

The panel of jurors included an icon and pioneer for women in motorsport – 1992 Indy500 Rookie of the Year as well as Daytona 24H and Sebring 12H winner Lyn St James, alongside Porsche Carrera Cup NA race winner Riley Dickinson, team owners Victoria Thomas and Andy Kilcoyne, as well as team's management and engineering personnel. Katherine Legge, Jeremy Shaw, Alex Stone and their engineer also gave input on which candidate should be chosen.

According to Kelly-Moss Road and Race, “Sabré demonstrated the on and off track skills needed to perform at a very high level. Her experience, athleticism and engineering background will serve her well in the 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup North America series.”

“Winning the shootout and thus the scholarship with Kelly-Moss is an incredible opportunity for me,” said Cook. “I’m so eager to have the chance to run in a fully-funded season with the top team for the first time in my career. Kelly-Moss has such a great group of people and I’m confident they can provide me with the tools to be successful.

“I cannot thank Victoria, Andy and the team enough for believing in me and creating such an amazing opportunity. I look forward to our future success together and breaking down barriers.”

Kelly-Moss Road and Race also announced that, due to extensive media coverage about the female-driver mission, there’s potential to put one more female behind the wheel. The team is currently in negotiations to fund another of the Kelly-Moss Female Driver Shootout finalists in the Porsche Sprint Challenge. Both are Shift Up Now Athletes: Sarah Montgomery and Loni Unser.

Further updates will be available in the coming weeks, and the team is excited to bring two young women into competition in the Porsche Motorsport pyramid.

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