Luke Youlden will celebrate one year with Tekworkx Motorsport this weekend at Townsville in round three of the Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Series.
Youlden currently sits seventh in the Mobil Pro standings. Last time out at The Bend, the 2017 Bathurst 1000 winner was in position for a podium before being shuffled to fourth in that race and finishing the round in fifth overall.
“That was really encouraging at The Bend, to be fifth for the round, after some teething issues at Sandown,” said Youlden.
“There was a podium chance for sure, if I had settled for third, we probably could have got it, but I pushed on trying for second and got shuffled out. So, we know the pace for a podium is there.”
The 61-day gap between rounds two and three of the season has allowed the Gold Coast-based team to undertake a thorough service of the 911 GT3 Cup Car.
“We’ve stripped the whole car down and actually found a couple of issues that we have now rectified and that should hopefully give us a bit more speed at Townsville,” Youlden said.
“I’m looking forward to getting back to Townsville, that was where I made my debut with the team 12 months ago and we have come a long way since then.”
When considering the challenges of a street circuit, Youlden is unfazed by the concrete canyon given an extensive history of racing that included many street circuit events.
“It can equalize the field just a bit, as no one can test at these places unlike the permanent tracks,” he said.
“I did get to drive a Gen 1 Cup car there last year in the Aussie Tin Tops which gives me a reference for the first practice session at least.
“I’m still improving my own driving each round, as I figure out the best way to extract the speed out of the Porsche. It’s just a case of adapting what I know and ensuring I’m not trying to drive it like a Supercar.” Practice for Carrera Cup commences on Friday.
