Double Podium for De La Torre IV at COTA

16-year-old Elias De La Torre IV again impressed with a pole position and double podium in the final round of the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America at COTA, Texas, over the weekend.

Starting from pole position in race 1 Elias held the lead heading into turn 1 but as they neared the end of the lap the #117 dived up the inside and nudged Elias back to P2. The fight for the lead had now become a 4-car battle and now on lap 2 Elias mounted another attack into turn 1 but was unable to make it stick. This allowed the #22 to launch an attack for P2. With Elias having to defend from the #22, the leader had pulled out a gap of over 1 second and by lap 4 Elias had managed to get himself into a position to attack for the lead. As they approached halfway round lap 5 he made his move to take the lead only to be pushed back to second two corners later. With 21 minutes remaining a full course yellow was shown for a stranded car. With 13 minutes remaining the race resumed and on the next lap a superb move saw Elias take the lead, with a clear track ahead Elias pushed to create a gap to the chasing pack and by the chequered flag he had extended his lead to 2.5 seconds to win the race.

Race 2 on Sunday would see Elias starting from P2 on the grid, at the green flag Elias was nudged back to third at the first turn, but on lap 2 he managed to regain the position and set off after the leader. A small error on lap 3 saw him drop back to 3rd, not deturbed Elias set about attacking to regain the position. As the race unfolded Elias was having to attack and defend in a race long fierce battle swapping places lap after lap. Unfortunately, the battle for third allowed the two leaders to extend a gap of 4 seconds. With the clock ticking down Elias was determined to finish the season on a high and managed to break the tow of his rival in 4th place and set about catching the leading duo but a full course yellow was required to retrieve a damaged car, thereby neutralising the race. With the white flag being shown for the final lap there was not enough time to restart the race which finished under yellow with Elias crossing the line in P3.