McKenna quick to look ahead to 2011
Wednesday September 08 2010
SWORDS speedster Patrick McKenna is already making plans for next season, with one event still remaining in the Cooper Tires USF2000 series.
After finishing fourth and seventh in rounds nine and ten of the series in Elkhart Lake two weekends ago to maintain his second place in the championship, McKenna turned his attention to opportunities presenting themselves for the 2011 US racing season. Dubliner McKenna travelled to the Indycar race at Chicagoland Raceway last weekend for meetings with the principals of his current USF2000 squad Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing about the next step in his career.
As one of just two drivers left in the hunt for title honours heading to the final USF2000 round, McKenna has certainly made a strong impression in his debut season in US racing and has attracted attention from a number of teams. With race wins in Indianapolis and New Jersey in the USF2000, McKenna has already established himself as one of the top up and coming drivers on the important feeder series which is part of the ' Road to Indy' and Mazda Motorsports Driver Development programme.
After qualifying fourth in Elkhart Lake, McKenna finished the weekend's first of two races in that position. He then ran as high as second in race two before a minor gearbox glitch contributed to a missed gear and he slipped down to an eventual seventh place finish. McKenna remains second in the points standings with 135 points, 55 behind Sage Karam with a total of 66 points on offer at the final event.
And while it's a tall order to beat his rival to the title, McKenna is not going to stop fighting until the final chequered flag of the season.
' It's been a good first year in the US and we'll keep pushing all the way to the end,' said the Motorsport Ireland/ Willsborough Transport supported driver.
' We struggled a bit on set up in Elkhart Lake, but we still scored good points in race one and would have had a solid second in race two but for that little mistake.
' The team are really focused heading into the final event and we're already discussing plans for next year so it's a very positive time.
' We have a little time to reflect ahead of the final event and we'll go into that fully prepared and raring to go!'
