Yardley Targeted Consistency En Route to “Unbelievable” Title

Photo: Jessica Johnk/Porsche

Ryan Yardley said he targeted consistency, maximizing points and podium finishes over a large number of wins, in order to overthrow Riley Dickinson in winning a breakthrough Porsche Carrera Cup North America championship.

The Topp Racing driver, who entered last weekend’s title-deciding event at Circuit of The Americas tied with Dickinson for the points lead, swept the final two races of the season with controlling runs from pole in both 35-minute races.

While two of his three wins of the season came on the final weekend of the year, Yardley scored 14 podium results, including eight runner-up finishes, in the 16-race campaign.

“We knew coming into the season we had our work cut out for us, as we always do, up against the powerhouse of Kellymoss, probably the most successful Porsche one-make team, maybe in the world, but definitely here in North America,” said Yardley.

“Of course Riley being a previous champion and a Porsche Motorsport North America Selected driver, and himself, maybe one of the most experienced Porsche one-make drivers in North America.

“I knew this year we had to have no DNFs, no mistakes. If we couldn’t win a race we had to finish second and I knew every point mattered.

“We won three races this year. Of course you always want to win more but I think 14 podiums out of the 16 races was incredible.”

Yardley’s championship came in his third season in Porsche’s premier single-make series in North America, after finishing runner-up to Hartog last year.

“There’s so much hard work behind the scenes,” he said. “When I first joined Topp Racing I think the first year together I had one podium and we finished seventh in the championship.

“Last year we were building. I think we had ten podiums and we finished second in the championship.

“To come back this year and win this championship is incredible.

“There’s so many people that have been involved in this championship, Todd [Oppermann] the team boss, David Baker from TCS and all the mechanics at the shop and the fly-ins.

“There’s so many people to thank for this opportunity.”

Yardley said he specifically targeted second place finishes on weekends he knew he wouldn’t have been able to win.

“Of course you enter every race with the belief that you can win every race,” he said. “This was something for sure this year that I knew I could do if we put ourselves in the right position.

“For sure the top five, six, seven, eight drivers are super competitive in this championship.

“It’s hard if you don’t get the right start and you finish Lap 1 P2 or P3 or P4, it’s very hard to advance to the front row and lead the race.

“For me, if I couldn’t win the race I had to finish second, that was always my mindset.

“Basically coming down to the last half of the season, if it wasn’t Riley winning, as long as I finished second I was scoring points over him.”

The 27-year-old Kiwi said the turning point in his championship quest came at the fifth and sixth events of the season, where he was able to outscore Dickinson in all four races, in rounds that 2024 champion Loek Hartog, who drove for Kellymoss, dominated last year.

“I earmarked Road America and Indianapolis as two events that we struggled at last year,” said Yardley. “I think Loek won Road America by like 15 seconds and Indy by 12 seconds.

“I knew those two events were going to be key to winning this championship and we beat Riley in all four of those races.

“After those two weekends, I knew we were in for a fight.”

Yardley Targeting Step Up to WeatherTech Championship in 2026

After joining the likes of Seb Priaulx, Parker Thompson, Dickinson and Loek Hartog as a Carrera Cup North America champion, Yardley is now targeting a step up to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition.

“It’s pretty cool to be alongside them now,” he said. “Parker Thompson was also an instrumental part of my championship.

“He coached me for the last two years and has always been my first point of call if I had any questions. What an unbelievable guy and an unbelievable friend as well.

“To have my name alongside him now, of course, the goal is to keep moving forward in the future.

“The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is where I want to be. I fell in love with American racing when I first came to America in 2018.

“Those iconic events like Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, the list goes on and on. That’s the dream. That’s the goal.

“I’m going to celebrate this for the next few days and then get back to work and make sure we can try to be on the grid at Daytona.

“We’re well away from making that happen. That’s the goal and that’s where I’d love it to be.”

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