Pole position and fighting finish for McKenna at Brands Hatch

BRDC Rising Star Scott McKenna grabbed a maiden Porsche Carrera Cup GB pole position and was unlucky not to round out his rookie season with more silverware in the final two rounds at Brands Hatch Indy circuit last weekend (14/15 November).

The North Yorkshire youngster travelled to Kent still in contention for the closely-fought Rookie Championship with two races to go, also hoping to add to his three podium finishes from earlier in the season.

The Redline Racing man was greeted with changeable conditions throughout the weekend, but showed strong top-four pace in testing as the track dried out to signal intent ahead of the main action over the weekend. That pace was converted in spectacular fashion on Saturday afternoon when McKenna set a hot lap in wet conditions good enough to grab pole position by 0.002s, in doing so becoming only the second driver all season to clinch the coveted top spot on the grid in qualifying.

With the advantage heading into the first of the weekend’s two races, McKenna battled worsening conditions in an intense opening contest. Battling to hold the lead into turn one, McKenna lost the lead into Druids for the first time, but chased after the new leader on cold tyres.

Last year’s Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion fell to third but showed his defensive skills to fend off rookie rival Lorcan Hanafin for many laps before the latter lost control and spun into the gravel, resulting in a safety car interruption. On the restart, McKenna settled into third place with a podium finish on the cards, but found himself closing on the tense lead fight between Harry King and Matty Graham.

Graham attacked on the wide line at Druids and as McKenna hugged the kerb to evade the battling duo, he and Graham made contact as the latter returned to the inside line, resulting in a puncture for McKenna and a spin for Graham in an unfortunate end to the lead dice. 16th place meant McKenna was forced to start from the back row of the grid for the drier second race the following afternoon, and he would be among three charging rookies looking to make up ground from the rear of the field.

From last place at the first corner, McKenna quickly found his feet and passed three cars in the opening two laps, soon making his way around the remaining Am Class competitors into 12th place. He then moved his 911 ahead of Esmee Hawkey and Ryan Ratcliffe and swiftly clawed onto the tail of Graham and Hanafin.

A safety car had closed the field up prior to that and gained McKenna another spot into eighth place, before a superb double overtaking move on the inside of Aaron Mason and Graham caught the battling pair unaware heading into Paddock Hill Bend to advance the BRDC Rising Star to sixth place on the road after a stellar drive. Sixth on the road, a track limits time penalty dropped McKenna to seventh but did not divert from the fact he gained 10 spots in the race – the most of anybody on the grid.

Despite flirting with further podiums, McKenna ended a fine rookie season on three podiums and sixth place in the overall championship standings, fourth of the rookies in a close and highly competitive maiden season in the one-make series.

Scott McKenna (#82 Redline Racing):
“I think we can all be proud with how we’ve done in out first season of Carrera Cup GB. We’ve been in the mix for a lot of it, we almost won at Knockhill and we’ve finished it with great pace and a pole position which sets us up for more positives in the near future.

“It’s gutting what happened in race one; conditions were crazy, but we were sitting pretty and looking on for another podium – maybe even a win – until receiving contact from my team-mate at Druids which unfortunately left myself with a puncture sending me to the back of the race.

“What I can take away from the weekend is that I was the only other driver to take a pole position this season, which felt amazing and I’m proud to have achieved that for the team who have supported me all season, along with all my loyal sponsors that have allowed us to go racing in this unique season. 

“I gave it everything in the second race and the car felt great all the way through. It just got faster and faster and I found my way through the traffic in some great battles. A good race to end on and more positions gained in a single race than any other driver in Carrera Cup this season. It’s a shame fans weren’t able to be there to see it in person.”

Photos: Dan Bathie/Porsche GB

Rookie Class Podium For Charging McKenna At Snetterton

BRDC Rising Star Scott McKenna battled tricky conditions at Snetterton’s 300 circuit to grab a rookie class podium in the penultimate round of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB season.

The North Yorkshire youngster travelled down the country to Norfolk looking to threaten for a fourth overall podium finish of the season, and chase after his closest two rookie championship rivals to make it a three-way fight heading towards the season’s conclusion.

McKenna’s Redline Racing team worked hard to ensure his Porsche 911 Cup car was fit to fight after a brief gearbox scare in Friday testing, and the rookie entered Saturday hoping to place his car among the frontrunners once more.

Top-six pace was converted into qualifying late on Saturday afternoon as McKenna put in a lap good enough to seal a top-five starting spot, heading up row three for the first race on Sunday with a time just four tenths from pole position.

Overnight showers failed to relent, making for a damp surface for drivers to deal with the following morning as race day beckoned. Race one was declared wet, with all cars taking on wet Michelin tyres for the 13-lap contest.

Starting from fifth, McKenna battled the greasy and slippery conditions early on and held onto sixth spot in a pack of jostling 911s. The Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion lost out on two further spots, but soon found his pace in the final third of the race. With Mark Kimber the first in his sights, the flag came just moments too early as the Redline man narrowly missed out on seventh as he challenged on the run to the line.

Drier conditions thankfully greeted drivers for the second encounter of the day, and McKenna found his groove with a fine performance in the late 14-lapper.

A strong start moved the Teessider up from eighth place on the grid into the top six, where he set about his chase of the podium places in a train of cars formed behind Will Martin’s Porsche. Latching onto the tail of Lorcan Hanafin, a moment for Martin left him open to attack, McKenna slicing by at turn three with a decisive move to advance to fifth place.

Now in the rookie class podium positions, McKenna chased the duo ahead of him but came him a solid fifth on the road, picking up the points and a top three in the competitive rookie battle.

Those scores keep McKenna sitting fifth in the overall Carrera Cup GB standings, also remaining a comfortable third in the rookie standings with two races remaining and a gap of 22 points covering the three title contenders.

McKenna next heads to the Brands Hatch Indy circuit for the final pair of races on 14/15 November. Races will again be broadcast LIVE on ITV4 in support of the British Touring Car Championship.

Scott McKenna (#82 Redline Racing):
“Firstly, I want to thank Redline Racing for their support and efforts to get us back out on track during a tricky period for many of us in this very unique season.

“We arrived at Snetterton hoping to get back on it instantly and our pace in qualifying at least put us in and around the battles that we wanted to be a part of on Sunday.

“Weather wasn’t kind to any of us and we struggled in the first race with the conditions being as they were, so it was very tricky to make progress. However, we recovered a good result with a much stronger showing in the second race, which was much more like the performance I was expecting and we could push and move forward.

“We’re still in the running for good finish in the championship in our first year, so we’ll keep pushing and aim to end the year on a high at a great circuit next month.”

Snetterton also marked the 200th appearance for new sponsor SACRED Cafe on a Porsche, the company now working with Redline Racing.

Photo Credit: Dan Bathie/Porsche GB

McKenna Fights Forward In Tight Silverstone Scraps

BRDC Rising Star Scott McKenna fought back from a difficult qualifying to claim a brace of top-seven finishes at Silverstone and keep in the hunt for a strong finish in his maiden Porsche Carrera Cup GB season.

The North Yorkshire rookie looked to bounce back from narrowly missing out on a podium finish a week prior at Thruxton, and testing times showed promise for the Redline Racing driver earlier in the week.

McKenna sat second in the times in mixed conditions at the shorter National layout of the famous Northampton circuit, matching his strong pace shown in testing prior to the season back in the spring.

While Friday brought optimism, Saturday’s qualifying session was another tightly-bunched affair. Unfortunately, track limits were the talking point for many, McKenna among those to have had times deleted during the session as he qualified ninth on the grid, despite being a mere 0.3s from pole position.

The first of two 27-lap races took place later that Saturday afternoon, with the Teessider fully focused on recovering ground at the 1.64-mile circuit. A good getaway gave the 19-year-old his shot at recovering places, and he duly made his way up two spots to seventh place by the time the safety car emerged to slow the field after an incident further back in the field.

On the restart, McKenna latched into an entertaining seven-car battle for second spot. The rookie tailed team-mate Matty Graham and moved ahead of Josh Webster through a time penalty for the latter to climb into the top six, briefly losing out to Mark Kimber late on.

McKenna would not be denied however, snatching the spot back with a fine move to seal a hard-fought sixth spot, narrowly missing out on the reverse grid pole position for race two the following day.

McKenna’s Porsche 911 started sixth in front of the ITV2 cameras on Sunday and looked to have moved up to fifth as the Redline racer nosed inside Will Martin at Becketts. Stuck on the wrong side heading into Brooklands, a tag from Webster sent McKenna wide and down to eighth place as he recovered well from the unplanned sideways moment.

Determined to recover, McKenna settled into the race and soon caught up to Sam MacLeod, lunging inside his rival at Becketts successfully to grab seventh place. Chasing Kimber to the flag, last year’s Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion just missed out in another tight race, finishing only four seconds from the podium.

Salvaging solid points keeps McKenna sitting fifth in the overall Carrera Cup GB standings with third place still well within sight, also remaining a comfortable third in the rookie standings with four races remaining.

McKenna next heads to the Snetterton 300 circuit in Norfolk for the latest pair of races on 24/25 October, a track he won at in Ginettas last year in front of the BTCC crowds. Races will be broadcast LIVE on ITV in support of the British Touring Car Championship.

Scott McKenna (#82 Redline Racing):
“We started well and showed great pace in our cars throughout testing. We went into the weekend knowing that we could fight towards the front again.

“Saturday unfortunately was a tough day for us and it started with qualifying. We were all so close, but a few lap times taken off us meant we got a late time to our name which left us playing catch up.

“In both races we were in the fight, but it’s hard to overtake cleanly around here when there’s not much in it. I got a few chances and had a great battle with Mark in the first race, then almost grabbed fifth at the start of the second before we were eased out and had to fight back again.

“Snetterton has been kind to me in recent years so I hope it’s the same again this year! We’ve again shown we can be up there, so I’ll be focusing on a good qualifying to get us back in the hunt for trophies.”

Photos: Dan Bathie/Porsche GB

Rising Star McKenna Denied Podium In Thruxton Puncture-Fest

BRDC Rising Star Scott McKenna looked set to add his fourth podium finish of the Porsche Carrera Cup GB season at Thruxton last weekend (19/20 September) until he was cruelly denied by a late puncture.

The North Yorkshire rookie travelled south to the ultra-quick Hampshire speed bowl looking to go one better than his second place at Knockhill most recently, having already clinched three visits to the podium in the modified 2020 season.

The Redline Racing driver, who turned 19 today, set about creating the opportunity for an early birthday present by putting in the miles early in the week in Friday testing, pumping in 46 laps at an average speed of over 114mph on his quickest.

Saturday’s qualifying session was again a tightly-bunched affair with teams wary about the abrasive nature of the high-speed strip of tarmac. Looking for a front row spot, Despite being victim to a time deletion at one stage, McKenna found clear air and put in a lap narrowly short of his target, qualifying fifth and just a couple a tenths from a front row spot.

Sunday brought sunny skies for race day, but McKenna had to show fight in the opening race after losing ground on the opening lap of the race and slipping to eighth place. Last year’s Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion knuckled down and started picking off his rivals, moving onto the rear of a train of cars ultimately battling for third spot with the leaders slowing each other up ahead.

McKenna caught the pack but could not quite find his way around the two cars ahead of him, finishing less than a second away from a fourth podium finish and securing a rookie class podium in the process.

The charge did warrant an opportunity to profit from the partial reverse grid for race two, and McKenna’s Porsche 911 was again drawn onto pole position for the second race of the afternoon in his quest for a maiden victory.

In front of the ITV2 cameras alongside the British Touring Car Championship, McKenna battled experienced sportscar racer Ross Wylie on the opening lap and soon settled into a rhythm inside the top three after a puncture for the race leader. That set the tone for the second half of the race, as McKenna followed Wylie and Josh Webster’s cars while keeping fellow rookie Lorcan Hanafin safely at bay.

A podium was within range with a handful of laps remaining, until a spate of left-rear punctures threw the race into uncertainty. McKenna kept the car on the island but, just as he was about to grab second place from a slowing Webster, the Redline Racer’s left-rear gave way with just two laps remaining. Ice Driver experience on the frozen lakes helped him wrestle the 911 into the pitlane for repairs, but the failure sadly proved terminal.

Despite the setback, a solid opening race result keeps McKenna sitting fifth in the overall Carrera Cup GB standings and only five points adrift of third place, also closing to within four points of the rookie class lead with three meetings and six rounds remaining.

McKenna next heads to Silverstone’s National circuit this weekend (26/27 September) for the latest pair of races. Sunday’s races will be broadcast LIVE on ITV2 in support of the British Touring Car Championship.

Scott McKenna (#82 Redline Racing):
“What can you say. We gave it all we could in those races and we were so close to another podium. We can look away from that though and take the positives from our performance and come back stronger as a result with more data in our pocket.

“It’s gutting to have a good result taken away from you like that, especially when you feel like you’re so nearly there and you’re managing the car home trying to avoid the kerbs and looking after the tyre.

“We still ran at the sharp end where we should be and I’ll be coming out fighting at Silverstone. We ran well in testing there both personally and as a team, so we can hopefully hit the ground running and fight for a few more trophies.”

Photo Credit: Dan Bathie/Porsche GB

McKenna Bags Second Porsche Podium At Oulton Park

Teesside’s BRDC Rising Star Scott McKenna grabbed his second podium finish of the season in the BTCC-supporting Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship at Oulton Park last weekend (22/23 August).

The North Yorkshire youngster shook off an unlucky outing at Brands Hatch two weeks prior with a determined display in the fifth and sixth races of the season at Oulton Park, held in difficult and changeable weather conditions.

The Redline Racing driver carried his Ice Driver experience from the frozen lakes of Norway over into the weekend in Cheshire, and looked to start strongly in Saturday’s qualifying session held in wet conditions.

Backed by sponsors including Eighty One Powerdrink and Rocket Medical, the 18-year-old started strongly by topping the times in the wettest conditions before times began to tumble in the final minutes, McKenna eventually grabbing seventh on the grid in a late flurry of changes.

A good start in the opening race of the weekend later that afternoon put the rapid Porsche rookie ahead of Ross Wylie into sixth place when the lights went out, chasing a three-car dice ahead of him for the final podium spot.

Fighting a damaged Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car and evading an incident ahead, McKenna came home sixth overall to narrowly miss out on another rookie class podium, something he aimed to put right in Sunday’s race.

In front of the ITV4 cameras alongside the British Touring Car Championship, a partially-reversed grid shifted McKenna’s #82 Porsche onto pole position for the 15-lap second race.

A strong start in wet conditions kept him ahead of team-mate Matty Graham, and for two laps McKenna held his nerve at the head of the field. Former champion Josh Webster moved ahead at Old Hall on lap three, but McKenna held his own by retaliating on the outside briefly when eventual winner Harry King attacked for second spot at Druids.

McKenna settled into a solid third spot, surviving a late safety car interruption to hang on and secure a hard-earned second podium finish of his rookie season in only six races, adding to his Donington rostrum visit in Round Two.

McKenna also took his third rookie cup win of the season to move to within 10 points of the class lead, sitting fifth in the overall Carrera Cup GB standings and only three points adrift of third place. The Stokesley man next heads to Knockhill in Fife this weekend (29/30 August) for the latest pair of races.

Sunday’s races will be broadcast LIVE on ITV2 in support of the British Touring Car Championship.

Scott McKenna (#82 Redline Racing):
“I’m absolutely buzzing to be back on the podium again. Brands Hatch left us a bit disappointed through no fault of our own, and on Sunday we showed what we could do and got back to how we felt at Donington.

“Through my work with Ice Driver I know what it’s like to drive a Porsche in tricky conditions, and we were on the limit trying to keep in the fight towards the end when it was so greasy. We had damage on Saturday which held us back, but the reverse grid gave us the chance to recover. We showed our pace during Sunday’s race and I’m delighted with the result.

“A massive thanks to the guys at Redline and all of those backing and supporting me, and we’ve got to kick on now and believe that we can be the ones to challenge for the top three again in Scotland which is a tight and exciting track to visit.”

Photo Credits: Jakob Ebrey Photography

Podium On Porsche Debut For Rising Star McKenna At Donington

BRDC Rising Star Scott McKenna secured a sensational podium in his first weekend in the BTCC-supporting Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship at Donington Park last weekend (1/2 August).

The North Yorkshire youngster joined fellow North East team Redline Racing for the new Carrera Cup GB season – which had been postponed for over three months due to to global COVID-19 pandemic – and set out to prove a point with the multiple championship-winning squad.

After showing promising pace throughout the week’s official test sessions, the Eighty One Powerdrink-backed rookie put himself firmly in contention for the two races on Sunday with a lap time good enough for fourth on the grid in a tight qualifying session the previous day.

With the top three in his sights, McKenna gave chase among the leading five-car pack in the opening 23-lap race. In the closing laps, the 2019 Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion looked to grab the final podium spot from Esmee Hawkey but came just short, holding Lorcan Hanafin at bay at the final corner to seal fourth place on his debut.

Best of the Redline Racing contenders, McKenna was hungry to leave the Leicestershire circuit with silverware starting from pole position in front of the ITV4 cameras for race two as a result of a partially reversed grid.

A strong start kept the 18-year-old ahead as the field headed down Craner Curves, but he lost out to fellow former Ginetta racer Harry King at McLeans on the opening lap. McKenna kept his head as former series champion Josh Webster closed in, but could not prevent the celebrations as McKenna sealed second place by 0.5s.

A brace of top-four results leaves McKenna sitting pretty in third spot in the PCCGB standings, just seven points adrift of the series lead as the Stokesley man heads to Brands Hatch in Kent this weekend (8/9 August) for two more races.

Races will once again be broadcast LIVE on ITV4 in support of the British Touring Car Championship.

Scott McKenna (#82 Redline Racing):
“What a day! I am so happy for both myself and the team. To come away from my Carrera Cup GB debut with a podium and two rookie wins is a near perfect result.

“I’m over the moon with how race two went. Josh was closing in and closing in at the end, and I think that was just his experience of longer races compared to me. That experience will come for us, and to come away with a trophy is mega. I’m having a lot of fun in these cars already, and it’s a dream come true to start that way.”

Photo Credits: Dan Bathie/Porsche Motorsport GB