New Zealander Ryan Yardley is eyeing up a big weekend in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America as the series passes its halfway point with a pair of races at Road America.
The Kiwi has recently tested at the venue with Topp Racing and was happy with how it went.
“It should be a good round,” Yardley told Velocity News. “We tested here a few weeks ago, and it was pretty successful and we showed good speed.
“Last year, we had some good speed at Road America, too. This year, we’ve shown speed every round except for qualifying in Canada, which was my own doing.
“In Sebring, we got two podiums; in Miami, we got a podium; and at Watkins, we got a race win and a podium. In Canada, we were P2 in practice before I made my mistake in qualifying.
“It’s nice to know we’ve rolled out fast at every track, so the race here at Road America should be no different.
“I’m just excited. It’s another huge IMSA weekend, so it’s nice to be racing in front of plenty of fans and in front of the big Weathertech teams that, hopefully, one day, I’ll get a drive for.
“It’s another iconic course and track, and we’ll be looking to build on what we’ve done over the last couple of rounds and continue to push forward for hopefully another race win and some podiums.
“We’ll have some important practices, and then it’s all eyes on qualifying. Hopefully, we’ll put it on the front row, which will make our weekend much smoother.”
Yardley sits fourth in the standings entering the round, buoyed by his maiden race win last round at Watkins Glen.
He also claimed his fifth podium of 2024 in Race 2 to remain firmly in the Championship hunt.
“It’s a nice feeling, not only for myself but for the whole team,” he said. “We’re not a massive team compared to some of the others, so it’s nice for a small team like us to show week in and week out that we can fight with those guys and get race wins. It gives the entire team a massive amount of confidence.
“Our performance this season has been a massive step up from last year. We’re still in the fight for a championship, and we’re only one point off third and 12 points off second.
“P1 is a little bit up the road, but it’s not out of reach. It’s only the halfway point of the championship; we’ve still got four rounds to go, so there’s plenty to play for.
“(Loek) Hartog’s got a big of a lead on everyone now, but one DNF or one bad qualifying from him and it’s game on.
“We’ll take it one race at a time. If we keep winning races and getting podiums, the championship will start taking care of itself. It’s definitely not over yet. There’s plenty to play for, and we need to have a good, consistent four rounds and eight races. Come COTA at the end of the year; who knows where we’ll be.
“I have every confidence in myself and the team that we can fight for victories and the championship.”
Race 1 for Round 5 of the Porsche Carrera Cup North America begins at 4.40 am NZST on Sunday, followed by the finale at 4.30 am on Monday.
Racing can be streamed live and free on IMSA.TV.
Header Image: Supplied.
