Kiwi driver Ryan Yardley sweeps race wins in America

New Zealand driver Ryan Yardley picked up a clean sweep of race wins in the latest round of the USA Formula Pro Western championship in Portland.

For Yardley, the meeting was his first time racing the USA Formula Regional car and his first in a fully blown Formula 3 car since his time in the Toyota Racing Series in 2018.

“We had a two-day test in the car before the weekend,” Yardley told Velocity News.

“We didn’t really know what to expect but we knew the level of competition was going to be tough.”

The Kiwi Motorsport driver had also never raced at the Portland International Raceway circuit before the weekend.

However, he was quickly on the pace and, in qualifying, secured pole position for race one and second for race two.

“I made a small mistake in qualifying two with a yellow flag,” Yardley said.

“I slowed down more than I needed to and was P2 by half-a-tenth.”

Yardley was embroiled in a heated battle with the two championship contenders in race one but found himself leading the pack at mid-race distance.

Once in command of the race, Yardley stretched his legs and took the chequered flag first.

Race two was an equally, if not a more dominant display from Yardley.

Jumping ahead of the polesitter on the dash to turn one, Yardley stormed to his second successive win.

“The car was amazing, and I managed to extend the gap each lap and take another win,” Yardley said.

“There is still a lot to work on. It had been a long time since I had driven an F3 car, about three years since TRS.

“So, it was all about getting my confidence back and not doing anything stupid.”

Yardley has been in the United States the last six months driver coaching and testing with the Kiwi Motorsport team.

He will be racing in the next round of the Formula Pro Western championship at Laguna Seca next month.

From there, Yardley has no firm commitments but plans to continue his racing in America.

“I want to spend as much time here with Kiwi Motorsport as I can.

“It was amazing to get back racing here in America. A lot of people have made this happen for me and I’m extremely grateful for that.”