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

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

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

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