Tipperary's Nicole Drought makes motorsport history in Spain
Racing driver Nicole Drought win Spanish GTX AM Championship title
Tipperary racing driver Nicole Drought has made motorsport history by securing the Spanish GTX AM Championship title during the season finale at the iconic Circuito de Jerez.
The Roscrea woman wrapped up the crown with a race to spare following a breakout debut campaign in international GT racing.
Having won the UK-based TDC title in 2024, Nicole, who is Finance Manager at the Mondello Park race track during the week, moved to European-based GT racing for 2026 and teamed up with the Portuguese based Protech Motorsport squad, in what proved to be hugely successful campaign. Ahead of this weekend's final races of the season Nicole had taken a podium finish at every round, despite never having raced at any of the circuits before.
After struggling initially in Friday testing, Nicole and co-driver Lucas Fothergill, along with the Protech team engineers, decided on a change of set-up before qualifying. This proved to be a clever move, as the car was far better, allowing Nicole to claim GTX AM pole in Saturday morning qualifying.
At the start of the race, she pulled clear of her title challenger's McLaren and forged her way past a number of Porsche GT3 Cup cars to hand over to Lucas with a strong class lead. Lucas managed the gap to the second placed car to take the chequered flag for a hugely popular victory, with the duo amassing enough points to assure them of the coveted championship title.
Nicole Drought said: “I'm delighted to have got the job done today. The Balance of Power did not suit the Porsche this season, and we have had to work so hard on set-up and strategy to make this happen.
“It's a great championship, though, and I am so lucky to be able to race a Porsche at these amazing venues. A big thank you to Protech, to Lucas and of course to all of my wonderful partners and supporters. I think we have made good steps this weekend in terms of set-up and will be pushing as hard as we can to make it two championship wins, when we visit Estoril in December."
The Jerez event brings the Spanish 2026 campaign to a close, with Drought now a seven- time motorsport champion, spanning three different disciplines.
The Iberian series however, has one more round, at Estoril in Portugal in early December, with Drought and Fothergill hoping to better their current position of third in that series.