Coming off his best performance of the 2025 Porsche Carrera Cup North America season thus far, Ryan Yardley landed atop the field once again after two practice sessions at Watkins Glen International.
Yardley, who scored his first victory of the season and a runner-up finish at Montréal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve less than one week ago with Topp Racing, showed that his pace is here to stay with Thursday’s fastest lap at one minute, 48.881 seconds.
Yardley’s time, set in the morning session, was more than a half second quicker than Jimmy Llibre’s fastest time in Practice 2. A quartet of drivers also joined in the top-three times during both sessions – championship leader Riley Dickinson, Jared Thomas, Zachary Vanier and Tyler Maxson.
“I feel really happy and excited because we were working so hard with the team, my engineer, Adam, and also my mechanic, Tom,” said Llibre. “Here at Watkins Glen, we showed the performance again and we’re going for everything.”
Patrick Mulcahy with GMG Racing began his quest for redemption at Watkins Glen by topping both Carrera Cup practices on Thursday. Mulcahy – who finished second by .074 seconds to championship leader JP Martinez in Race 2 at Montréal – had the quickest lap time in class at one minute, 50.608 seconds in the afternoon session.
Martinez followed Mulcahy in both practices, with Porsche veterans Marco Cirone and Alan Metni splitting third place throughout the day.
“It felt really good,” said Mulcahy, who moved from sixth to fourth following his Montréal heroics. “I think everybody was just getting used to the conditions and being the first practice, you’ve got to push the limits really quickly. But it felt pretty good there out on the track.”
In the Masters class, championship leader Scott Blind will have his dominance tested at Watkins Glen with a field of nearly 10 cars. While the Ruckus Racing driver posted the fastest lap of the day at one minute, 51.375 seconds in Practice 2, he was second best to Peter Atwater in Practice 1.
“The car is great, the track is great,” said Blind, who swept the Carrera Cup weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. “We were here last week practicing, so we’re fast. We’re ready.”
Alongside Blind and Atwater, Richard Edge joined the top-three in both Masters practice sessions at The Glen on Thursday.
Race 1 for Porsche Carrera Cup North America at Watkins Glen International is scheduled for Friday, June 20, at 2 p.m. ET. The second race of the weekend follows on Saturday at 8 a.m.
All Carrera Cup races, including replays from Watkins Glen International, will be shown live on IMSA and Porsche Motorsport North America YouTube Channels, IMSA TV, Peacock, and the Porsche Motorsport North America social channels on Facebook, Linkedin, Threads and X.
PRACTICE 1
Pro:
- #78 Ryan Yardley
- #91 Riley Dickinson
- #96 Jared Thomas
Pro-Am:
- #54 Patrick Mulcahy
- #4 JP Martinez
- #84 Marco Cirone
Masters:
- #12 Peter Atwater
- #45 Scott Blind
- #18 Richard Edge
PRACTICE 2
Pro:
- #2 Jimmy Llibre
- #9 Zachary Vanier
- #77 Tyler Maxson
Pro-Am:
- #54 Patrick Mulcahy
- #4 JP Martinez
- #99 Alan Metni
Masters:
- #45 Scott Blind
- #18 Richard Edge
- #12 Peter Atwater
