Porsche’s recent motorsport history has been relatively woman-inclusive, hiring driving talent like IMSA champion Christina Nielsen to drive 911s and open-wheel veteran Simona de Silvestro as test and development driver for the highly successful Formula E program. Both men and women adore Porsches, and everyone enjoys racing once they give it a try. Porsche has been working to increase female participation in racing, especially at the professional level, for at least the past ten years. Women of the quality of world champions have existed for years, but many of them lack the resources or opportunities—especially when they are young—to advance as high on the racing growth ladder as they could or ought to. Porsche is now working with Deluxe in a new relationship to help create such prospects.
During the 2023 season, Sabré Cook will be the inaugural recipient of the Porsche motorsport scholarship. Kellymoss Motorsport, the Carrera Cup North America champions, conducted an all-female driver shootout late last year, which Cook easily won, securing her spot on the squad for 2023. In addition to connecting Cook with support from Deluxe, Porsche Motorsport North America will pay Cook’s event entry fees and offer one-on-one coaching with Patrick Long, a Porsche Racing great.
Cook is not new to Carrera Cup; during the Circuit of the Americas Formula One weekend in 2021, she placed third in her sole outing in a Cup car. She had a one-time ride in the Kellymoss #37 vehicle for the weekend when she was at the track competing in the W Series (where she finished 11th and 13th in a doubleheader). She finished third in her first-ever race with the vehicle, having qualified fourth. The 28-year-old mechanical engineer from Colorado put in a lot of work to get where she is now, struggling for the first ten years of her career with funding and mediocre open-wheel team efforts. We can only hope that Cook will be the next open-wheel driver to make the switch to tin tops after climbing the Porsche Motorsport pyramid.
