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
Scott McKenna 