After finishing runner-up in the Pro championship in Porsche Carrera Cup North America last year, Topp Racing’s rapid New Zealand racer Ryan Yardley has his sights set on going one better in 2025.
In the most competitive season ever in Carrera Cup in North America, Yardley not only was a model of consistency, but he also took three victories including two wins in the last two weekends at Road Atlanta and Circuit of The Americas.
It was a giant-killing performance from Yardley and Topp Racing. While many of the leading teams in the series arrive with a fleet of cars, Topp Racing’s two-car Pro class effort (plus the Masters entry of Jeff Mosing) last year proved they are ready to tackle the ‘top dogs’ of the championship.
“It’s great to be back with Top Racing and TCS Fuels for another year of Carrera Cup North America. The goal is pretty simple – go and win a championship this year,” Yardley said.
“I’m super excited to get the year started. I love Sebring, so it’s pretty cool to start the year there, and I am really looking forward to getting going.
“I know it is going to be a tough and fiercely competitive year as always but I’m excited to get back out there.”
Yardley landed in the US in 2018 with a dream. A standout in karting and single-seaters in New Zealand, his career had come to a halt due to a lack of funding. Chasing the American dream was going to be hard – especially since he arrived without a budget, without a ride and only armed with a fierce desire to succeed.
“I jumped back on a plane in 2018 and never really thought this would happen – coming into my third season of Carrera Cup in a row. I always hoped I’d get the opportunity to get back in a race car here in America. Still, I never knew how hard it was going to be and how hard the road is – not only New Zealand drivers – but drivers from around the world trying to stay relative and stay in a race car.
“I never ever would have dreamed of being in this situation and obviously it’s great to have some incredible people surrounding me and supporting me. I’m super happy to be back with Topp Racing and TCS. They are the ones that have made it happen for the last two years and to continue that into a third year is amazing.
“We showed last year that we were serious contenders for the championship and could fight for wins and podiums every race of the season. So it’s super cool to get the same group back together for another year, and let’s see if we can go one better than we did last year and finish the year on top.”
Yardley really began to showcase his potential in the final race of the 2023 season when he finished second at Circuit of The Americas. That was a precursor to an incredible season in 2024 when he recorded 10 podiums and 14 top-ten finishes.
“My first year in Carrera Cup in 2023 was my first season in a sports car. Most of my stuff before that had been in single-seater racing, whether that be Formula Ford, F4 or Formula Regional. So it was definitely an eye opener coming to sports cars,” Yardley said
“It’s a move that I’d always wanted to make. In 2023 I was just learning and adapting and trying to understand what this car needed. There are not very many setup changes you can make to the Carrera Cup car so it really does come down to the driver, adjusting driving style and adapting to the conditions.
“It definitely took a while to get going. We had glimpses of good results nothing like standing on a podium until the last race of the year at COTA.
“I think that’s one thing we did really well last year was putting complete weekends together.
“We’d roll out for practice one and be straight at the top or in the top three. Being competitive straight away flowed on to qualifying and then starting in the first couple of rows. That puts you in a position to fight for race wins and podiums.”
Yardley’s performances in Porsche Carrera Cup North America are starting to be noticed back home in New Zealand. This season he will have added support from the Giltrap Group – a leading importer, distributor, and retailer of vehicles in New Zealand.
European Motors Limited is part of the Giltrap Group and has been the exclusive distributor of Porsche cars in New Zealand since 1977.
Yardley joins an impressive list of young drivers who have been supported by the late Sir Colin Giltrap’s organization. Scott Dixon, Brendan Hartley, Earl Bamber and Liam Lawson also received vital career boosts as young drivers.
“It’s an awesome thing to join Giltrap Group this year. They helped me out a little bit a few years ago when I did my Formula Regional here in the States, but to join them properly this year is fantastic.
“They have been instrumental for New Zealand drivers all around the world and I am super proud to represent them this year.”
Not only is Yardley starting to achieve career firsts in Porsche Carrera Cup North America – his team Topp Racing is equally rising through the ranks.
“To achieve all this success with Todd Oppermann and all the guys at Topp is very rewarding,” Yardley said.
“I think that’s one of the coolest things about coming back for a third year. My results have gotten better over the last two years and so has the team. It was pretty exciting last year to get the team’s first pole position, the team’s first race win, and then to finish second in the championship – Topp had never achieved a result like that before.
“It’s been a huge effort from the team, from Todd and all the boys in the shop as well. I think we showed last year that we’re definitely getting better and better each time we go out on track.
“What’s exciting about this year is that we know we can hit the ground running. We’ve got set ups now from every track and we’re on the same Yokohama tire. Last year’s move to Yokohama was a big learning step for me since I was heading into only my second year in sports car racing.
“Same team, same car, same tire and same great support from TCS Fuels – I feel pretty privileged to have such an awesome group of people behind me.”
