Charlotte Traynor claimed back-to-back Highest Place Female Driver awards with consistent, incident-free performances at the challenging St. Petersburg street circuit, while rookie Ellie Gossett bounced back with a determined drive in race 2 despite early setbacks during the second round of the 2026 Mazda MX-5 Cup season.
Photo credits: Alec Gamino
The 2026 Mazda MX-5 Cup season continued with its second round on the iconic streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, supporting the IndyCar weekend at one of the most scenic and technically demanding venues on the calendar. Following the season opener at Daytona, drivers faced a completely different challenge: a narrow, unforgiving street circuit where precision, consistency, and racecraft are essential simply to reach the chequered flag.
Two female drivers are contesting the Highest Place Female Driver award this season, with Parker Delong Racing’s Charlotte Traynor returning for her first full-time campaign after earning the Mazda Women Scholarship. Traynor had already shown promising pace during a part-time programme in 2025 and arrived in Florida looking to continue her development.
Joining her on the grid is Ellie Gossett of BSI Racing, who made an impressive debut at Daytona. Gossett topped the female classification in both races at the opener and secured a best finish of 27th in a highly competitive 45-car field, immediately establishing herself as a promising rookie in the category.
For both drivers, St. Petersburg represented an entirely new challenge, as neither had previously raced on the tight street circuit. A 40-car grid assembled for the second round, once again producing extremely tight margins throughout the field. In the sole practice session, Gossett set the early benchmark among the female drivers with a 1:28.894 lap, placing 33rd overall, while Traynor completed the session in 39th as both drivers focused on learning the temporary circuit.
Both competitors made encouraging progress in qualifying. Gossett improved significantly to record a 1:25.283 lap, earning 27th on the grid, while Traynor also closed the gap with a 1:25.680 effort that secured 34th starting position.
Race 1 began early Sunday morning under damp conditions, with a low sun and a slippery track surface creating immediate challenges for the field. At the end of the opening lap, Gossett had climbed to 26th while Traynor ran 32nd. However, as drivers searched for grip in the tricky conditions, both slipped slightly down the order, Gossett to 28th and Traynor to 34th.
Disaster struck on lap two when Gossett spun on the wet main straight and made contact with the inside pit wall, ending her race prematurely in an unfortunate accident triggered by the treacherous conditions.
Traynor, meanwhile, continued circulating cautiously as the race fell under caution. When green-flag racing resumed with 32 minutes remaining, another incident quickly followed as Stretch hit the wall after contact with Mishko, prompting another neutralization. Traynor navigated the chaos cleanly and advanced to 30th.
After a lengthy cleanup, racing resumed with 16 minutes left on the clock. The track remained extremely slippery despite improving conditions, with multiple drivers struggling for control. Traynor kept her composure and moved up to 29th as Ebben and Ockey hit trouble.
Further incidents soon brought out another caution period. Forced to take evasive action when the track became blocked ahead, Traynor locked up and temporarily dropped to 32nd but avoided damage. As more cars encountered issues, she recovered positions and returned to 30th as the race was again neutralized.
With the sun emerging and the track gradually drying, the final restart produced more drama across the field. Traynor stayed out of trouble once again and climbed to 28th entering the final lap. A late crash for Luque ensured the race finished under yellow, allowing Traynor to secure 28th place overall and claim the Highest Place Female Driver award.
Photo credits: Ignite Media Photo
Sunday afternoon’s second race offered another opportunity to tackle the demanding street circuit. Traynor lined up 32nd, while Gossett started from 40th after her Race 1 retirement.
All 40 cars launched cleanly through Turn 1, but incidents unfolded moments later as Fletcher and Novak made heavy contact with the wall, while Luque suffered damage and fell a lap down. Traynor advanced to 31st, while Gossett produced an excellent start, gaining eight positions to run 32nd before the early caution was deployed.
Racing resumed with 26 minutes remaining, and the midfield battle quickly intensified. Both Traynor and Gossett briefly lost positions before recovering ground as Mactutus and Stretch encountered problems on lap 11.
Traynor began closing in on Hutter, matching lap times in the 1:26.7 range and maintaining pressure within one second. Gossett, however, faced defensive battles behind and was passed by Robinson for 32nd position.
As the race progressed, Gossett continued to struggle slightly with pace due to lingering technical issues, allowing Jacobs through and dropping to 34th with ten minutes remaining. Ahead, McGee crashed into the tyre wall with eight minutes left, promoting Traynor to 30th and Gossett to 33rd under caution.
Following a quick cleanup, the race restarted with four minutes remaining, but further incidents involving Jacobs and Ockey immediately triggered another yellow flag. Traynor capitalized before the caution to move into 26th, while Gossett advanced to 29th.
The race ultimately finished under caution, sealing another strong result for Traynor, who secured back-to-back Highest Place Female Driver awards across the St. Petersburg weekend. Gossett, meanwhile, completed her first street circuit event with a clean finish despite technical issues that affected her pace during Race 2.
After surviving the demanding events track hosting the second round, both drivers leave St. Petersburg with valuable experience gained. The Mazda MX-5 Cup season resumes at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 5-7, while teams will first participate in a collective test at the Indianapolis Grand Prix circuit scheduled for April 14-16.