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

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

Success So Close For Scott In Scotland

BRDC Rising Star Scott McKenna narrowly missed out on a sensational maiden victory in the BTCC-supporting Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship at Knockhill last weekend (29/30 August).

Teessider McKenna entered the visit to Scotland buoyed by a second visit to the podium of his rookie season at Oulton Park just one week prior, looking to add more silverware to his collection in the fourth meeting of the Carrera Cup GB season.

Battling a deluge in initial testing, the Redline Racing man showed his pace in Friday’s official free practice sessions by taking the fight to championship leader Harry King in much more admirable conditions by setting the second fastest time of the day.

Saturday’s qualifying session was unfortunately blighted by a late red flag stoppage with just under four minutes available to pump in a good lap time. McKenna was sat eighth in his Porsche 911 at the time before his final attempts to make progress up the order, but the session did not restart, limiting the Stokesley man to eighth on the grid for the first race on Sunday morning.

The opening 30-minute race brought a reversal of fortune thankfully for McKenna, as he took advantage of retirements ahead of him to climb up the order. After offs for two Porsches ahead of him, McKenna moved up into fifth place and gave chase to Redline team-mate Dorian Mansilla for much of the race. Two safety car interruptions brought him back into the mix, but the youngster came home fifth to score more crucial points and finish as second best of the rookie class drivers.

The partially reversed grid was again kind to the Redline driver who was put on pole position for race two, and he made sure of his escape by easing out to a lead of over five seconds before the danger man, King, made his way through to be the chaser.

McKenna threw the kitchen sink and more to hang on as the faster Parker car closed in, setting up a final lap shoot-out. McKenna rebuffed the series leader for a full lap, but lost grip on the dirty line and slid wide at Clark corner, hanging on for second place and another Rookie Cup win – his fourth of the season and third overall podium.

Despite victory being narrowly denied, McKenna moves up to fourth in the overall Carrera Cup GB standings and second in the Rookie points during a standout maiden campaign.

The Stokesley man next heads to Thruxton on 19/20 September for the latest pair of races. Sunday races will be broadcast LIVE on ITV4 in support of the British Touring Car Championship.

Scott McKenna (#82 Redline Racing):
“So close and yet so far! We gave it absolutely everything we had in the cars on Sunday. I was on the limit trying to build as big a gap as I could to be sure that I had a chance when the faster car came through the field.

“We’re definitely closing in now on that first Carrera Cup win though and that gives us a big boost having the experience to run up front in clear air and fight for the top spot.

“We’ve got lots of work to do and improvements in our locker as our experience grows, but some good progress has been made and we made a strong recovery from qualifying to show our fight after we were hard done by with some bad timing of the red flags. On pace, we were often the closest to spoiling the party.

“Thank you to Redline, my family and sponsors and everybody for their support again, and we’ll go again at Thruxton next month after a break and come back fighting.”

Photo Credits: Dan Bathie/Porsche

Promise, Pace And Points For McKenna In Brands Hatch Battles

BRDC Rising Star Scott McKenna was denied more Rookie Cup silverware by misfortune in the BTCC-supporting Porsche Carrera Cup GB championship at Brands Hatch GP last weekend (8/9 August).

The North Yorkshire youngster entered the famous Kent circuit keen to kick on from an eye-opening maiden weekend at Donington Park where he picked up a podium finish for fellow Teesside-based team, Redline Racing.

Last year’s Ginetta GT5 Challenge champion started strongly in official testing on Friday, trading the top spot with Northumberland team-mate Matty Graham to put himself in the mix for a good showing in qualifying the following day.

Qualifying became a tight affair for the field, with rookie McKenna battling inside the top six throughout. Despite a late charge in scorching temperatures, the Eighty One Powerdrink, Rocket Medical and Watchgecko-backed driver finished sixth by the end of the session but only a mere 0.123s from sealing a front row spot.

On Sunday, McKenna arrived ready to make up that time in the day’s two races alongside the BTCC, and found himself in the middle of the fight for top-five spots as the safety car emerged in the final 10 minutes. Battling with Sam Macleod for fifth, the latter made contact with McKenna which unfortunately sent the Redline racer plummeting down the order to 14th by the flag, when fifth place was on target.

Left back in 13th to start the second race, McKenna set about making his recovery. After dodging a first accident neatly at Paddock Hill Bend, McKenna’s reactions were again tested by a multi-car collision ahead of him at the rapid Hawthorns right-hander, climbing up the order to seventh.

Chasing after GT racer Ryan Ratcliffe in the closing stages after another tag from Macleod cost him time, McKenna salvaged ninth place with a late attack, results not a true reflection of the team’s pace at Brands Hatch.

McKenna still sits fifth in the overall Carrera Cup GB standings, but only eight points adrift of the top of the Rookie standings with more wins from the opening two rounds. The Stokesley man next heads to Oulton Park in Cheshire in two weeks’ time (22/23 August) for the latest pair of races.

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

Scott McKenna (#82 Redline Racing):
“One of those weekends unfortunately. Two collisions ruined our weekend when we were in a position to mix it for potentially another podium or two. The pace we showed in testing in the run-up to the weekend was very promising. If we can transfer that into qualifying in the next few rounds then it will give us a shot like we had at Donington.

“After plenty of travelling in a short space of time, I’m looking forward to a short relax now to regroup and get myself ready to attack at Oulton Park, a circuit where Redline has plenty of success around – let’s try and keep that success going!”

Photo credits: Dan Bathie/Porsche Motorsport GB

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