Yardley Breaks Through for Maiden Win at Watkins Glen

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

Ryan Yardley broke through to claim his maiden Porsche Carrera Cup North America victory with a flag-to-flag win in Friday’s opening round of the weekend at Watkins Glen International.

Yardley took his No. 78 Topp Racing Performance Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race car to the win over Pro class points leader Loek Hartog, which ended under yellow following an accident for Angel Benitez Jr.

Having started on pole, Yardley stretched out into a narrow lead over Hartog, who ran side-by-side with JDX Racing driver Alex Sedgwick, who later faded after a strong start by Michael Cooper in the No. 88 Baby Bull Racing Porsche.

A late-race yellow for Masters class competitor Scott Blind and Pro-Am runner Kenton King, who both spun into the gravel, set up an initial seven-minute shootout to the finish prior to Beneitz Jr.’s crash into the wall that ended any chance of a green flag finish.

Yardley became the fifth different winner in seven races this year.

Dan Clarke passed Cooper for fourth on Lap 9 to complete the podium in the No. 64 MDK Motorsports Porsche.

Cooper was fourth at the line, followed by the No. 9 JDX entry of Zachary Vanier in fifth and Sedgwick fading to sixth.

Jimmy Llibre crossed the line in seventh but was assessed a ten-second post-race penalty due to exceeding track limits on multiple occasions.

It relegated Llibre to 14th in class and 20th overall.

Pro-Am class honors went to the No. 99 Kellymoss Porsche of Alan Metni, who got around ACI Motorsports driver Marco Cirone just prior to the halfway mark.

Efrin Castro ended up finishing second in class, with Pedro Torres completing the podium in third.

Richard Edge, meanwhile, picked up the Masters class victory after a challenge from Blind, who spun into the gravel to bring out the race’s first yellow.

Matt Halcome finished second in class.

Race 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. EDT with live coverage on PorscheCarreraCup.us, Peacock and IMSA.tv.

RESULTS: Race 1

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John