JDX Racing Returns To Winning Ways As Alex Sedgwick Earns First Career Carrera Cup Victory at Watkins Glen
JDX Racing took home its second win of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by RAFA Racing Club season and the first for driver Alex Sedgwick over the weekend, as the British driver led every lap of last Saturday’s race at Watkins Glen.
Sedgwick joins teammate Alex Vanier as Carrera Cup race winners in 2024 after starting his No. 98 PT Autosport/Byers Imports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup on pole and leading the race ahead of a first lap incident that collected eight cars, including JDX Racing driver Madeline Stewart’s No. 82 Spool Imports/Byers Imports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup.
The race restarted on lap seven, and Sedgwick again pulled away from the field. With season point leader Loek Hartog behind him, Sedgwick made his car as wide as possible to hold the lead. He turned his quickest lap of the race on lap 11 to create a small gap, which never stretched wider than just a few car lengths, and held off Hartog to the finish to earn his first official race win.
It was a redemption win for Sedgwick, who led every lap and crossed the line first in Miami but was assessed a time penalty for a false start. This win moved him into second place in the point standings, coming on the heels of Friday’s sixth-place finish.
Among those chasing Sedgwick was Vanier, who capped his weekend with a pair of top five performances. After finishing fifth in Friday’s race, he started his No. 9 Technica Mining/Byers Imports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fourth and ahead of the opening lap crash.
Vanier kept his Porsche ahead of the battles behind him, but was unable to move into the final podium position.
Elias De La Torre made up two positions on Saturday to move firmly into the top 10 with an 8th-place finish, his best on a traditional road course this season and just behind his finishes in both of his hometown Miami races. De La Torre and the No. 4 HCB Yachts/iKon Boats/Porsche Columbus Porsche 911 GT3 Cup made his moves early, picking up two spots on the opening lap before holding his position after the restart.
Despite her tough Saturday, Stewart ran a solid race on Friday as the New Zealand native continues to come to terms with the car, the series, and many of the tracks on the Carrera Cup North America calendar. She currently sits second in the Porsche Mobil 1 Female Driver Development standings.
At the halfway point of the season, Sedgwick sits second in the Driver’s Championship with 119 points, 31 behind the leader of the Pro Class. Vanier sits fifth with 106, just four points from third place in the standings. De La Torre has also cracked the top 10 with 57 points, while Stewart is 23rd out of a possible 45 drivers with three points. JDX Racing is third in the team standings, just 23 points out of the lead.
Porsche Carrera Cup North America has a brief summer break prior to the next round, taking the month of July off before regaining the season at Road America, August 2-4.
Alex Sedgwick, Driver, No. 98 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “I’m super relieved to get this one, it’s been a very long time coming and it’s great to pay back JDX and PT for the support they have given me with the first win – that we get to keep! The car was awesome, I knew it was going to be tough to pass here to I just had to run a clean race and minimize mistakes to reduce any opportunities Hartog had to get around me. It’s great to get this one out the way, and already looking forward to Road America where we know we will be strong.”
Elias De La Torre, Driver, No. 4 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup: “The Watkins Glen weekend as a whole was a solid recovery at the end from when it started. In Free Practice 1 and 2, we were struggling to find any sort of pace and found that we had an engine issue which the team immediately solved. From then forward we were focusing on staying consistent and getting good points but after getting hit and shoved off track in Race 1, Race 2 was focused on moving forward, which we ultimately did. This weekend showed how crucial it is to qualify well as when you’re further back, not much can be achieved. So heading to Road America next we need to maintain pace and progress.”