Ryan Yardley begun his 2023 Porsche Carrera Cup North America campaign at Sebring with a charging 11th in Race 1 and an unfortunate 20th in Race 2.
More importantly, the 24-year-old showed he has the pace to be up or near the front following the opening round of competition with the results not necessarily painting a full picture of what transpired.
Yardley had shown great pace in the buildup to the event, finishing ninth in first practice in a massive 41 car field. The Kiwi then qualified on Thursday morning, taking 15th spot on the grid in an extremely tight mid-field battle.
“Qualifying was super, super tough,” Yardley told Velocity News. “P15 in qualifying but something like three and a half tenths would have got me up to P5 so it’s super competitive.”
Friday morning’s season-opener was the first opportunity to see how the field stacked up on race pace. A difficult start saw the Kiwi drop back once the lights went green but he quickly got to business to work forward with a charging drive seeing him take back the positions he lost and then some.
“Race 1 was definitely an eye opener,” he said. “I’ve watched a lot of the Carrera Cup Racing in America on the TV and live at the track in previous years but it’s very, very aggressive. I was probably a little too timid in that first race but for me it was important to not do anything crazy and make sure the car was straight by the end of the race.
“I knew the pace was going to be super fast and competitive, so that didn’t surprise me. Coming from an open-wheeled background and series that are sanctioned by the FIA you have standing starts, so this was my first real rolling start since Go Karts.
“It’s a slightly different process and I was caught napping a little bit off the initial launch in Race 1 and didn’t position the car well enough and got boxed in on that opening lap which shuffled me back a little bit.
“We were way to timid and soft on the first two laps and found ourselves back in 20th position,” he added. “I managed to drive forward though and finished the race 12th, and after a post-race penalty [for another competitor] I ended up 11th.
“It was a nice, solid result for the first race of a championship, 11th out of 41 cars. I was happy with that and the team were happy with that which was nice as well.
A second and final race that afternoon gave the Kiwi a further chance to get up to speed with the series, something he did well to hold his position convincingly until the dying stages when disaster struck.
“For me it was a big learning curve,” said Yardley. “Thankfully I learnt from that and we were able to make a better start in Race 2, which we for sure did. I don’t think we lost a position on the opening lap of Race 2 which was crucial.
“We ended up starting 12th because qualifying for that race goes off your second fastest lap from qualifying, so it was nice to get a couple of rows further up. For me it was just making sure I was super aggressive on those first two laps.
“We had a good start and a really good race until the final five minutes, unfortunately, when I got turned around at Turn 16 with about three or four minutes to go.
“A bit of a shame to end the weekend like that, it would have been nice to get a result just outside the top 10 and finish in a solid spot and get some more points. It wasn’t to be but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.
It was series veteran Riley Dickinson who won both races, and convincingly so. McElrea Racing’s introduction to the North American scene also started well with Tom Sargent finishing second twice, the duo running clear of the pack on both occasions.
Yardley is aware of the credentials of the others, and expects to be up at the front in the near future after getting up to speed in a tintop series following recent open-wheeled campaigns.
“I think the front three or four are very, very quick but from fifth back to the back of the pro field is extremely tight,” he said.
“We just need to qualify better. Riley [Dickinson] was very dominant this weekend. He’s done the championship for three years so he’s very experienced in these cars. I guess it’s the same for Tom Sargent who won the Porsche Sprint Challenge in Australia [last year] and has been driving these cars for a couple of years now.
“That’s no excuse, we just need to do a better job and do our homework a little more and focus and try mix it with those front guys. It all starts with qualifying. Our race pace is good enough to run up the front so for us it’s just about maximizing qualifying and trying to understand this car a little more, like what it takes to maximise a new tyre.
“It was definitely tough,” he adds, “we just need to execute a little bit better at the next round to make sure we’re at the front end of that pack but for the first round and first qualifying session in those cars I think it was an OK effort.
“This is my first year in sports cars so it’s only the start of the journey, so I’ve got to learn as much as I can this year, put in some solid results and show what I can do and we can go from there. There’s still a long way to go.
“It’s nice to tick the the first weekend off of the championship which we’ve shown some good pace. Full focus now to Long Beach in about a months time.”
That Long Beach round will see the field race in support of IndyCar of the Streets of Long Beach over the weekend of April 14-16.
Images: Ryan Yardley (Supplied)
