Top 10 finishes & Hard Charger Award at COTA for Aidan Yoder & Henry Drury in GR Cup
Precision Racing LA’s driving duo of Aidan Yoder and Henry Drury competed in the Toyota GR Cup Series North America event at the Circuit of the Americas. They both found themselves in the front half of the field after the Saturday morning qualifying session. Yoder slotted himself into the 12th position with a lap time of 2:28.950, while Drury was just one position behind at 2:29.299.
Rolling off the grid from rows six and seven, Aidan Yoder being involved in an incident early on that ended his race. Drury, who started 13th on the grid, fell to 19th when the checkered flag flew as both drivers shifted their focus to Sunday.
“Mixed emotions after race one. I had a strong start and was running well, but I made a mistake and unfortunately undid our hard work,” explained Drury. “It’s a frustrating way to end the day, but the Precision Racing LA w/ PT Autosport team was absolutely on it today, and I love that I’m the one who needs to improve. No excuses, just need to get to work and keep learning!”
Yoder added, “We will regroup for race two tomorrow.”
Sunday, Aidan Yoder would switch to a backup car and utilize the older #43 Precision Racing LA machine as he and Henry Drury hit the track early to qualify to set the grid for race two. Picking up where he left off the day prior, Yoder secured the 13th place qualifying lap with a 2:28.992, he would start 17th on the grid due to the incident in race 1. While Henry Drury would roll off from row eleven with a qualifying time of 2:30.501.
Yoder, with the Precision Racing LA backup machine, drove his way into the top ten, finishing a provisional 9th in race 2 to build some momentum as he closed the weekend. Drury, who started 20th on the day, had a spirited drive forward to cross the line 10th, just behind Yoder, claiming the Hard Charger Award to close a successful day.
“Overall, I'm glad we ended our weekend at COTA on a high note with some championship points,” explained Yoder. “We were disappointed to end race one the way we did, but we rebounded very strongly in race two. Hopping into a car that was new to me on Sunday wasn't easy, but I love a challenge and worked to adapt quickly. The Precision Racing LA engineers made some big setup gains this weekend, and I look forward to building on this momentum at the VIRginia International Raceway. I'm happy to leave COTA on a high note!”
“Polar opposite ends of the spectrum this weekend, what a way to end,” explained Drury. “I started the weekend with FP1, and I thought the car wanted to kill me. I thought the entire weekend was a waste to complete race two and earn the hard charger award. It shows how hard the team worked to make such a massive difference quickly. Thank you to everyone, especially Mario and Daniel, for the opportunity, Carlos my car chief, Alex my engineer, the other Alex my coach, and Ryan, my other coach. It was just awesome and the perfect weekend in a way other than a mistake in the race and not starting in the best place. The progression throughout the weekend was great, and if we keep this momentum up, we can fight for the podium at VIR.”
