Luke Youlden has expressed that he still finds himself falling into his old Supercar driving habits after 20 years around the category, as he prepares for round four of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Championship with TekworkX Motorsport.
In his first full season of racing in over 10 years, Youlden has impressed with his raw pace aboard the all new Type 992 Cup Car after spending much of his career amassing over 40 starts in the Supercars Championship. Across 10 races over three rounds so far, Youlden has notched up six top ten results and a personal best of fifth in Winton. Youlden however, is confident there are podiums just around the corner.
“I’d be lying if I said this year has gone to plan, even with us now sitting inside the top ten in the points,” said Youlden.
“We have had quick cars at all three rounds but there are some pretty fine margins in this category, and we’ve been on the wrong side a couple of times. I’ve unfortunately been hit through no fault of my own in all three rounds as well.
“Our car should be on the podium at least. I keep saying, because it’s true, as soon as we have a smooth round we’ll be right up there.”
Youlden completed nine races in the 2021 Carrera Cup Championship, but his progress in learning the intricacies of racing in the category were unwound with his long awaited call up to contest two solo rounds in the Supercars Championship prior to his co-drive in the Bathurst 1000.
“I’ve been racing a Supercar in some form for 20 years now, so the driving habits of those cars are ingrained in my brain at this point. It is very easy to fall back on those habits especially visiting tracks I’ve only ever raced before in a Supercar.
“This weekend though we head to Townsville which is a place I raced most recently in a Porsche, so I have some valuable experience in hustling these sorts of cars around the Townsville streets.”
Youlden’s 2021 visit to the Reid Park Street Circuit was highlighted by a storming drive from 21st to 10th in race two of the weekend.
“I’m looking forward to this weekend, we had some issues early in the event last year, but we had some really good car speed which I was able to demonstrate in races two and three.
“It’s exciting to be part of a championship as close as this, qualifying is more important than it’s ever been with half a tenth covering half a dozen spots. With everyone so closely matched it then becomes very hard to get an edge in the race to move forward.
“We have had a couple different qualifying formats this year but we are back to the 10 minute hit-out we had in Winton which was pretty tough. The key lies in practice, everyone will bolt on a fresh set of tyres in practice two in a bid to be up the front of the queue leaving pit lane in qualifying.
“If you can get out first and maybe snag an extra lap in the session it will be pretty crucial with how long these tyres take to warm up properly,” concluded Youlden.
Youlden and TekworkX Motorsport will hit the track with the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Championship from July 8-10, with two practice sessions on Friday preceding the all-important qualifying on Saturday morning before three races across the event.
Championship Standings:
1. Harri Jones – 477
2. David Wall – 363
3. Dylan O’Keeffe – 350
4. Dale Wood – 341
5. Max Vidau – 304
6. David Russell – 293
7. Christian Pancione – 262
8. Luke Youlden – 200
9. Ryan Suhle – 178
10. Simon Fallon – 156