Nicole ends season on a high with 3rd at COTA

Fifteen drivers made their way to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas for the final race of the 2024 Formula Regional Americas season. Qualifying

Qualifying
Qualifying saw the Canadian driver end the session lining up on the inside of the fourth row, in seventh. However, Nicole felt she could have been further up the grid if traffic had fallen her way while her tires were at their peak.

Race 1
The start saw Nicole drop to eighth. She made a daring move on the outside for seventh, but couldn’t complete the pass. Even so, by the end of lap 1, she was in seventh.

The race saw Nicole in a tight battle with James Lawley and Hayden Bowlsbey, with Bowlsbey passing her and pushing her down to eighth.

Crossing the line to start lap 3 Nicole was back up to seventh, having passed Lawley and third place Brady Golan, who ran across the track with either a tire puncture or suspension issue. Nicole was now lying sixth.

On lap 4, the safety car was deployedmafter a car was stranded in the gravel trap.

When racing resumed, it was a sprint to the finish. Unfortunately, on the last corner of the final lap, Nicole was balked by a slower moving car in front of her. This allowed a closely pursuing car to get a better exit and narrowly pip the BC native at the finish line.

Race 2
Saturday started out wet, as rain pelted down on the Texas track.

The race saw drivers facing a damp track and having to decide to race on either rains or slick tires – and dealing with the treacherous conditions.

Starting from seventh, Nicole moved up to fifth place on the first lap. However, being one of the drivers who opted to run on slicks, she dropped back to eighth place on lap 2. Nicole then settled in and began to work her way back towards the front and, over the next three laps, she was back up to fifth place.

Lap 5 saw a full course yellow and the safety car being deployed for an incident that occurred behind Nicole.

After three laps, the safety car came into the pits and racing resumed on lap 8, with Nicole locked in a side-by-side battle to retain her fifth place.

On lap 9, on the still very slippery track, she ran wide and was passed.

Lap 11 saw another crash and this time it brought out the chequered flag.

After the race, several penalties were handed out for contact, and Nicole – who kept her nose clean – was officially classified in third place in the final event of the 2024 season.