Ryan Yardley has moved to within five points of second place in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America standings after winning this morning’s race at Road Atlanta.
Yardley’s win comes less than 24 hours after he finished third in the opener at the same venue.
Just one round remains in the 2024 competition, which comes in support of the United States Grand Prix at Circuit of the Americas next weekend.
Yardley hit the ground running in Georgia, where he was third fastest in first practice, his maiden appearance on the famed Road Atlanta circuit. He then backed up his performance by topping Practice 2.
JDX Racing’s Alex Sedgwick, who sits second in the championship, qualified on pole for the opener, stopping the clocks at 1:20.998 as the only driver to break into the 1-minute, 20-second bracket.
Runaway championship leader Loek Hartog was second, ahead of Yardley, who qualified third, alongside Zach Vanier.
Vanier hit the front on a frantic opening lap, first passing Sedgwick and then Hartog.
The top five, which also included Ryan Yardley and Dan Clarke crossed the line three-wide after the opening lap, but Vanier maintained the advantage that he never relinquished for the remainder of the race.
Yardley passed Sedgwick on the main straight, and those top three – Vanier, Hartog, and Yardley – maintained those positions to the checkered flag.
The 40-minute race was disrupted by a long yellow flag period after Madeline Stewart ran wide at Turn 10a after being passed by Michael Cooper. Stewart suffered a half spin, and she and Sabre Cook made contact, putting both cars out of the race.
Yardley’s second-best time in qualifying put him on pole for the finale, with Hartog in second. The Kiwi was forced to defend over the opening laps, until Race 1 winner Vanier got past Hartog for second in the opening 10 minutes.
The championship leader then came under pressure from Sedgwick but held firm before bursting to life mid-race and re-taking second off Vanier.
As this unfolded, Yardley had extended his advantage up front to over two seconds.
Hartog worked hard to reduce the margin and had a nervous moment when he ran wide along the front-straight grass. He lost time in the incident, but maintained second.
Up front, Yardley held on for a lights-to-flag win, while Hartog’s second place results in him being crowned provisional champion after 14 of 16 races.
Vanier completed the podium ahead of Sedgwick, who remains second in the championship but has his advantage over the Kiwi reduced to just five points ahead of the final two races next weekend.
Stewart did not make the start of Race 2 due to the damage sustained in the opener.
Header Image: Jessica Johnk (Porsche)
