Taking a maiden win is a dream for any driver. But three in one weekend? “Incredible,” said Joshua Rogers, after his stunning Knockhill triple.
In just his third round in the championship,
The
Rogers mastered the challenging Scottish circuit in both dry and wet conditions, with the breakthrough weekend in Scotland coming after his
Speaking after the weekend, Rogers said he "wasn't expecting it at all, really,” explaining that he had gone into the weekend feeling “always just a little bit behind Joe [Marshall].”
But once he had established solid results in qualifying - “the absolute most important part of the weekend” at a track like Knockhill, where overtaking is difficult - his confidence was boosted.
Taking his maiden pole for the opening race of the weekend ahead of Marshall, Rogers was able to maintain a confident lead throughout to take his first Sprint Challenge victory.
Sunday’s opening race was conducted in tricky wet weather conditions. Rogers got away cleanly, again from pole, before a Safety Car in the second half of the race. He controlled the restart perfectly to successfully defend from Marshall to claim his second victory of the weekend.
The final race of the weekend was back to dry conditions, and Rogers crossed the finish line first once more to complete a clean sweep, putting him on 59 points, with Marshall on 87.
Rogers said: “Obviously, it's incredible. One would have been enough, but three? Yeah, it was pretty crazy.
“I’m so proud of everyone in the team and everyone that put so much work into this season and every weekend. Without those people there, none of what we did would have been possible. It's been such a big learning experience so far.
“There’s still plenty to learn from last week, even though on paper it's a perfect weekend, there's still so many areas to improve. So I'm looking forward to carrying that into the next rounds. But we'll for sure carry the momentum of having an entire clean sweep all weekend and back-to-back-to-back wins.”
Rogers’ Knockhill breakthrough came off the back of a tougher weekend at Oulton Park - though one from which he was able to learn lessons which ultimately took him to victory the following round.
Though Rogers said he had “comfortably the quickest car,” a lack of confidence in a wet-to-dry qualifying session meant he lined up sixth and eighth for the first two races.
Despite this, he was able to finish second in Race One - something he said was “pretty crazy for me” given the lack of overtaking opportunities.
With “a couple of penalties and a few little incidents,” Rogers said that round “really showed the importance of consistency in this championship.”
He said: “I gained a greater understanding of how to race in the championship, how to also better read the track conditions, and gain a better understanding on that to give me that confidence.
“So a lot of the learnings on how the car wants to be driven and how to extract speed out of it came between Donington and Oulton Park and at Oulton Park itself.
“But there were so many learnings from Oulton Park that I was able to carry into Knockhill, especially in the mixed conditions. It's being able to do those little things and work on what was learned from the previous rounds to continue moving forward.”
Rogers continued: “I'm stoked with the progress, honestly. I think for me, from my side, while the championship is the goal, a lot has to go my way. I think for that to be realistic, ultimately, I pretty much need to win everything, fastest lap in everything, pole everything, and then maybe there's a chance.
“So for me, I just want to learn as much as I can and take each race as it comes, but it's really good for the confidence, obviously. But at the same time, the work isn't done, and I have to keep pushing and keep learning and keep developing, because the moment you you stand still, that's when everyone else catches up.
“For some in the championship after the last round, they'll probably be working a bit harder than maybe they were before. So it's great for the confidence, but we have to keep pushing, keep learning, keep developing.
“I'm really happy with the progress - all of this has come around much quicker than I ever thought it.”
While Rogers has been making strong progress on asphalt, he has also been busy in the sim racing world, helping the Porsche Coanda Esports Racing Team to
The team competed in four rounds, claiming three victories and eight podiums, before heading into the online final in fourth place.
There, they fought through four Hero races, taking a win and two podiums, before fighting hard in the Team Stage. In a dramatic final race at Daytona Road Course, Rogers won, clinching the crown.
Though swapping between his two racing campaigns can be challenging, with a variety of machinery requiring different skills, Rogers said it helps to keep him sharp and focused.
He said the R1 season was “really positive. We were able to really show our strengths as a team, put everything together when we needed to most, and a lot of prep went into it.”
Rogers continued: “It was nice to be able to finish that season on a high and also carry the momentum that we had from the championship event in the beginning of the year, where we also were able to win. Now going into the full season, hopefully we can continue that momentum.
“I think as a team, we're working really well together, and we're able to extract a lot out of ourselves very efficiently in shorter amounts of time than maybe we were able to previously. So it's a big step forward.
“It’s always stressful being in that final race situation, and knowing that it all rests on your shoulders in a way, but I try and block that out as much as I can, and just do my job and try and bring it home.
“I suppose it was a little bit similar in Knockhill, when the only way you can lose the race is making a mistake.”
Looking ahead to the remainder of the Porsche Carwow Sprint Challenge GB season, Rogers said the championship is “still the goal,” despite the points deficit to his team-mate.
But he says his key goal is continuing to learn “as much as I can, take each race as it comes, focus on myself, do my job as best as I can, and whatever else happens is out of my control.”
With Croft the next circuit on the calendar, Rogers said: “[It] is an entirely different circuit. Anything can happen. I feel comfortable there, confident, but we have to just take each race as it comes.
“[Winning is] a very nice feeling, of course, and nice to be able to celebrate with the team and everyone that put so much into it.
“But at the same time, next time I'm out on track, I'll try and forget because it's better to go into the race with a clear mind and a clear focus for just that one.”
The Porsche Carwow Sprint Challenge GB returns on September 5 and 6 at Croft for Races 10, 11 and 12.
Three weeks later, the series is back, racing on Silverstone’s National circuit on September 26 and 27.
The season finale takes place with three races at Brands Hatch GP on October 10 and 11.
