Nielsen takes two 5th place finishes in Sebring to open 2014 Porsche GT3 Cup USA Season
Fighting with the leaders in both races and running as high as second, Nielsen drove away with fifth in both races and left Sebring fifth in points.
SEBRING, Fla. - Christina Nielsen entered this weekend at Sebring International Raceway with high expectations for her first event on the 2014 calendar of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama as part of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring fueled by Fresh From Florida weekend.
Nielsen, a 22-year-old Dane, is in her third year in competition in the Porsche GT3 Cup car, having competed in 2012 in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany for Farnbacher Racing and in 2013 as the first female driver ever in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East.Nielsen qualified fifth and sixth respectively in the first two rounds of competition in her No. 25 NGT Motorsport Porsche against a field of young guns and veterans with more experience at the famed 17-turn circuit.
Fighting with the leaders in both races and running as high as second, Nielsen drove away with fifth in both races and left Sebring fifth in points against stiff competition in the series, now in its 10th season of competition under the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) banner.
"I think the team and I were up to a nice start to the championship and collected good points, which is important to finish in the top by the end of the year," Nielsen said. "I truly believe that consistency is the key to a championship. The speed was quite good most of the weekend but we of course always have room for improvement, which is where our focus is."
Nielsen now looks forward to expanding her Porsche knowledge and new experience with Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA in preparation for the next rounds of competition.
"It is my third year with Porsche so I have collected some experience that came in handy and my goal is to keep improving those skills," Nielsen said. "The team did a nice job and it is a pleasure to work with them.
"There are several strong candidates in the championship that have been in the championship in previous years and who know all the tracks, so our next goal is to go testing hopefully and learn the tracks so we aren't a step behind."
MOMO NGT Motorsport also campaigned a Porsche 911 GT America with Nielsen for a second time in TUDOR United SportsCar Championship competition in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring race on Saturday, March 15.
Teammate Kuba Giermaziak delivered the car to Nielsen in the lead during the second caution of the race. After less than 10 minutes of green-flag racing, Nielsen had contact with the No. 62 Ferrari when it attempted to enter race traffic from off course. Nielsen's car was forced to retire after the on-track incident. The team had previously recorded a top 10 finish with Nielsen co-driving at the Rolex 24 Hours At Daytona back in January.
Nielsen will take her NGT Motorsport No. 25 Porsche GT3 Cup to the next two rounds of Porsche GT3 Cup USA competition on May 3-4 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Christina Nielsen
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