Yardley Takes Title With COTA Weekend Sweep

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

Ryan Yardley claimed the Porsche Carrera Cup North America Pro class championship with a sweep of the weekend at Circuit of The Americas.

The Topp Racing driver took a lights-to-flag win in Race 2 on Sunday, earning his third win of the season in a 35-minute contest that saw title rival Riley Dickinson finish third.

Dickinson applied pressure to the No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Zachary Vanier at the start, although the Canadian managed to finish the race second, 0.905 seconds behind Yardley.

The Texan later came under attack from the No. 77 Topp entry of Tyler Maxson, although Dickinson consolidated his position in the second half of the race, re-applying pressure to Vanier.

The No. 24 Kellymoss Porsche of Aaron Jeansonne completed the top-five, with Yves Baltas, who ran as high as sixth, having been hit with two penalties for track limits violations.

Michael McCann dropped out of the race in the final ten minutes when his No. 8 McCann Racing Porsche suffered right-rear suspension damage, although he managed to limp the car to a place of safety.

Pro-Am class honors in the race initially went to the No. 54 GMG Racing Porsche of Patrick Mulcahy, who made a final lap pass on Alan Metni, who had led from pole.

However, Mulcahy’s car failed post-race technical inspection due to the car’s suspension components not being in compliance, handing the win to Metni, who finished runner-up in the class championship to JP Martinez.

Scott Blind, in a spare Porsche chassis following his race-ending accident on Saturday, took top honors in the Masters class, ending his championship-winning season on a high note.

Topp, meanwhile, broke Kellymoss’ previous stranglehold in the series by winning the entrant’s championship for the first time.

A post-race blocking penalty for Maxson in Race 1, meanwhile, gave Jeansonne rookie-of-the-year honors that was clinched in the stewards’ room on Saturday.

RESULTS: Race 2

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