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

McKenna Takes Ginetta GT5 Challenge Title At Donington

North East racer Scott McKenna clinched his first major National championship by securing the British GT-supporting Ginetta GT5 Challenge title at Donington Park, as he looks towards a step up into GT racing in 2020.

The Yorkshireman went into the final three races of the ultra-competitive one-make series leading the championship after six wins and 10 podium finishes, knowing that a solid and consistent weekend would be enough to seal the deal for himself and fellow North East team, Xentek Motorsport.

Saturday’s qualifying session set the tone as McKenna briefly held the top spot in the closing minutes around the popular Leicestershire circuit, only to be bumped down to second place on the grid by Gordie Mutch by 0.147s in a tight session.

The opening race of the weekend was Scott’s first chance to clinch the championship, and he duly completed his goal in a race that was stymied by a lengthy safety car interruption.

Surpassing the G40 of pole man Mutch heading into the chicane for the first time, McKenna settled into second place behind a charging Geri Nicosia, the latter moving by the Xentek Motorsport racer at Redgate on lap two. Behind, a four-car incident took time to clear, meaning the race ended behind the safety car after just one lap of racing.

Second place was enough to put the title out of reach for his competitors, leaving Scott free to celebrate with his friends, family and sponsors on an emotional podium as Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion, including father Andrew, mother Alison and brother Ben.

Not willing to risk an incident and any potential points penalty that could come the following day, McKenna opted out of competing in the second and third races of the weekend, but his objective had been achieved.

Scott McKenna (#27 Xentek Motorsport):

“Honestly, words can’t describe it. Every time I go to talk about it I start crying! Three years have made up to this and without my family there and my sponsors, we would not be here. To be here now having just won the championship, I’m lost for words, and a lot of the hard work was done earlier in the season.

“I can’t explain how much it means to me, my Mum, my Dad, my brother and all those that have helped me. It’s mad. I let the others do what they want, just to get it done and get to the end. It’s been an amazing season. Just a huge, huge thank you to all of the people and sponsors that have supported me.

“All of the people at Xentek Motorsport have been brilliant and loyal to me, and we’ve put everything into this to achieve our dreams – I can’t thank them enough. I also had a test in a McLaren British GT car recently, and that was something else. It’s something we’re looking towards, and what I want to be doing a lot more of next season!”

McKenna Moves To Top Of Ginetta GT5 Table With Thrilling Donington Win

North East racer Scott McKenna continued his fine form by clinching a third victory in the most recent Ginetta GT5 Challenge meeting at Donington, moving to the top of the standings as a result.

A thrilling contest on Saturday went the way of the 17-year-old from Stokesley, North Yorkshire, who made it three victories on the spin after a fine brace earlier in the month at Silverstone.

Battling older tyres all weekend, McKenna then fought to a brace of solid fifth place finishes on Sunday to cement his title push, moving into the lead of the championship for the first time.

Sharing the bill with British GT at the full-length Donington Park GP circuit in Leicester, the Xentek Motorsport youngster earned another pole position ahead of the weekend’s triple header after a tight qualifying session, hindered by traffic late on as times began to tumble.

Later that Saturday, McKenna took the fight to fellow front row starter Geri Nicosia in a tense eight-lap opening race. Part of a five-car lead battle, the two title protagonists swapped places on numerous occasions in the final laps, McKenna making the crucial move stick at McLeans on the last tour to make it three wins on the bounce.

Starting seventh on the grid for race two on Sunday morning, McKenna held his ground on older rubber and advanced to sixth place on the road, promoted to fifth after a technical infringement excluded the winner.

The final race was another hotly-contested encounter. Starting from fifth, McKenna used his ice driving experience on worn tyres to haul himself into the lead battle and finish a strong fifth, keeping title rivals Adam Smalley and Gordie Mutch in sight.

A purple patch in form for McKenna now vaults him into the lead of the GT5 Challenge Drivers’ Championship, while Xentek Motorsport grabbed the Teams’ Championship lead with three meetings remaining. The next of those is a visit across the waters to Zandvoort in Holland on 6/7 July.

Scott McKenna (#27 Xentek Motorsport):

“We got a good lap in that put us on pole, but we didn’t get a second quick time in down to traffic which is just bad luck. Race one was such a good battle. The last three laps; it was just Geri and myself overtaking each other – it was proper racing. I got a better exit out of the Old Hairpin, then had to out-brake him which was risky, but it worked. Then it was defend, defend, defend like my life depended on it!

“We started fifth for the last race and I was hanging on, as we went on older tyres all weekend. We’re trying to work it out so we can use brand new tyres for the rest of the season. It bit us back [at Donington], as the tyres level off after heat cycles, and I had to graft to get those fifth place results.

“It’s more points at the end of the day and it was massive for us. We’re in a good position now for Zandvoort and Silverstone. Hopefully the next few rounds will be strong for us.”