A massive weekend of motorsport is on the cards at Long Beach this weekend, with New Zealander Ryan Yardley returning to action for Round 2 of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
The TOPP Racing driver heads into the event sitting 15th in the Pro standings, having scored five points in the season-opener at Sebring last month.
A long gap between rounds has allowed some time for reflection and recuperation, with Yardley making the most of the time off to further his development.
“I’ve been lucky enough to spend a lot of time on the simulator in between rounds,” Yardley told Velocity News. “I actually managed to jump in the car for a few laps as well, about a week ago, which was nice—just preparing as much as I can outside the car, too, with physical training and a lot of sim time.
“I’m just trying to learn as much as I can with the track notes the team has from previous years and just soaking in as much information as I can before I get on the track on Friday.”
A full grid of 35 cars will take to the Streets of Long Beach, with 20 competing in Yardley’s Pro class. The weekend will also mark the Cantabrian’s first time on a street circuit, meaning Friday’s two practice sessions are crucial.
“It’s going to be a new challenge, for sure. Long Beach is a tough street track, and there’s very, very little margin for error,” he said.
“If you make a mistake, you’re going to most likely end up in the wall. It’s going to be about learning, especially in the first two practices, as to where the grip will be on the track, and also trying to understand how the track will evolve over the weekend with IndyCar and IMSA on track as well. Our second race on Sunday is actually after the IndyCar main race as well.
“The first practice is just going to be about learning, learning the track and learning the curbs. It’s quite bumpy by the looks of things as well, so I’ll take my time in practice one and really push on.”
Qualifying takes place on Friday afternoon and has been recognised as an area for improvement by Yardley ahead of the round, who recognises a good qualifying result will enable him to battle with the front-runners.
“It’s going to be important to qualify at the front. We didn’t maximise that at Sebring, so we’ll need to maximise that this weekend.
“We just need to qualify in the front three or four rows. If we can qualify in the top six or top eight, I think that’s going to put us in a position to race. I’m well aware of how challenging it’s going to be.
“The front three or four are super, super competitive, so I just need to string the laps together in qualifying and put myself in the best position to start up the front, keep the nose clean and race on from there.
Yardley will also have some hometown support at the event, his mum, dad and sister making the long journey over the Pacific.
“I’m looking forward to an action-packed weekend, and it’s pretty cool I’ll have my family here this weekend as well,” he said. “I’ll have support from my mum, dad and sister this weekend, which will be nice.
“My dad came over last year for one of my Formula Regional races, but my sister and mum haven’t watched me race since about 2018, so it’ll be cool to have them at the track again,
The Carrera Cup joins a stacked schedule which features both IndyCar’s Grand Prix of Long Beach and IMSA’s SportsCar Grand Prix for three full days of action.
There’ll also be other Kiwis competing at Long Beach, with Marcus Armstrong, Scott Dixon, and Scott McLaughlin competing in IndyCar and Tom Blomqvist competing in IMSA.
“It’s definitely a pretty crazy schedule this year, and being alongside IndyCar this weekend [is great]. We also have Formula 1 and NASCAR later on in the calendar, so it’s an amazing calendar, and I’m looking forward to watching IndyCar live.
“Hopefully, I catch up with some of the Kiwis that are going to be in the paddock this weekend; it’ll be nice to watch a few of their sessions and learn as much as possible when you’re outside the car and watching how those cars handle the bumps and brake zones and things like that. There’s always stuff to learn.
The Porsche Carrera Cup North America will race twice over the weekend, the first on Sunday at 12.15 pm (NZ Time) and then again on Monday at 11.20 am.
Qualifying and both races will be streamed live on the Porsche Carrera Cup North America website (link attached).
“Really looking forward to the weekend ahead, it has almost been a month since the last round, and I’m just rearing to go; I can’t wait,” says Yardley.
Images: Ryan Yardley (Supplied)
