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