The Porsche Carrera Cup North America round at Road America, packed with spins and off-track excursions, produced contrasting results for Ryan Yardley, who was handed a penalty at the start of Race 1.
Meanwhile, Madeline Stewart held steady in 13th, consistently fending off challenges from competitors higher up the order.
Qualifying:
Rookie Aaron Jeansonne continued his impressive form, topping qualifying for the second consecutive weekend with a 1:21.136 to claim pole for Race 1, narrowly ahead of Riley Dickinson, who secured pole for Race 2.
Ryan Yardley was fourth fastest in both sessions, posting a 1:21.388 to finish just behind teammate Tyler Maxson in third. Madeline Stewart also put in a strong qualifying effort, setting a 1:21.966 in a tightly packed field, which placed her 13th for Race 1 and 15th for Race 2.
Race 1:
At the start, Yardley ran side by side with Dickinson before getting momentarily held up behind him. A few turns later, Yardley moved past, lightly brushing Dickinson as he claimed third. The stewards took note of the incident, and Dickinson subsequently ran off track, losing multiple positions.
Meanwhile, Stewart was overtaken off the line by Sabre Cook but managed to fend off the rest of the field, maintaining 14th.
By lap 2, Yardley executed a clean overtaking move on Maxson to take second, while Jeansonne stretched out a 1-second lead at the front. Shortly after, Yardley closed in on Jeansonne, who defended aggressively to keep the Kiwi from the lead. Maxson also caught up but chose not to challenge Yardley, leaving him a shot at the top spot.
Further back, Stewart battled to hold off Michael McCann, who ran consistently just 0.2 seconds behind her, while keeping Cook’s gap ahead under 0.5 seconds, maintaining her position in a tight midfield battle.
Around the halfway point, Yardley received a 10-second post-race penalty for causing damage to Dickinson’s car in the opening laps. Meanwhile, Sabre Cook suffered a technical issue that forced her into a runoff area, ending her race early and promoting Stewart up to 13th.
With the penalty looming, Yardley ran a more cautious race, avoiding risky moves on Jeansonne to prevent further incidents.
Elsewhere, Master’s driver Joel Johnson spun and ended up facing backwards off track at Turn 7, but managed to recover without bringing out a safety car. Another 10-second penalty was handed to Zachary Vanier for blocking, which would ultimately benefit both Kiwi drivers in the final classification.
After struggling to close the gap on Jeansonne for most of the race, Maxson was instructed to pass Yardley to give him a shot at challenging for the lead. With eight minutes remaining, Maxson made a move on the inside of Turn 7 but was nudged by Jeansonne as he attempted to take the front. Yardley stayed close, looking for an opportunity, but wisely held position in third to avoid contact.
Shortly after, Johnson spun at the top of the hill, causing a local yellow as he became stuck in a tight spot in traffic.
Maxson soon pulled clear at the front, building a multi-second lead over second and third, while Yardley continued to shadow Jeansonne, searching for a chance to join his teammate at the front.
Tyler Maxson crossed the line for the provisional win, with Yardley dropping to sixth after his 10-second penalty was applied. Stewart had a steady race, finishing 13th, the same position she started after being overtaken at the start.
Race control ultimately deemed the contact between Maxson and Jeansonne a racing incident, leaving both drivers’ finishing positions unchanged.
Race 2:
Yardley attempted a daring three-wide move through Turn 1 to overtake two competitors but became stuck behind them, remaining in fourth. Meanwhile, Vanier in fifth started applying pressure from behind, while pole-sitter Dickinson began pulling away from the pack.
Stewart successfully defended her position at the start, fending off Patrick Mulcahy, the leading pro-am driver. At the rear, Todd Parriott spun into the grass on the opening lap but avoided contact with other cars. Sitting 13th, Matheus Leist received a 10-second penalty for a starting infringement after positioning slightly outside his column.
Dickinson dominated early, building a 1.5-second lead over the tightly bunched field within the first five laps. Vanier tried to overtake Yardley, running side by side through several turns, but Yardley held his position. The pair eventually fell a second behind the podium contenders.
Stewart remained comfortably half a second behind Cook, waiting for an opportunity like in Race 1, while Alan Metni led the pro-am class nearly five seconds behind the Kiwi. Vanier later ran through the grass on a straight while chasing Yardley but recovered quickly to rejoin the battle.
Peter Atwater lost control over a curb, running sideways into a tyre barrier front-on. The cars behind navigated around him, and he slowly limped to the pits. Along the front straight, Stewart made a move on Cook, running alongside her but unable to complete the pass, maintaining 15th.
At the front, Dickinson steadily extended his lead to three seconds, comfortably controlling the race and setting consistent fast laps to pull further ahead of the field.
Yardley managed to get a car length in front of Vanier but couldn’t shake him, as Vanier soon moved back up behind Maxson in third. With 10 minutes remaining, Stewart briefly overtook Cook, but the move saw her tap Cook, earning an incident responsibility warning.
Though she wasn’t penalized, Stewart had to be cautious with subsequent passing attempts.
At Turn 6, McMann lost control and spun backwards, dropping from 11th to 15th and allowing Stewart to gain a position. In the final two minutes, Vanier tried to overtake Yardley, but the Kiwi anticipated his moves and held position.
Late in the race, Maxson fell back, giving Yardley the opportunity to move past and secure a podium spot. Vanier also ran off into the grass, clipping a sign before rejoining and overtaking Maxson. After a hard-fought battle with Cook, Stewart finished 13th following Leist’s penalty.
The championship battle now sits tied between Yardley and Dickinson, setting up an exciting showdown at Dickinson’s home race in Texas next weekend.
Header Image: Topp Racing
