His rivals had been warned. “I’ll get off the line perfectly and immediately put some space between me and the rest of the field,” Dylan Pereira revealed his race strategy already before the start. On Saturday, the Luxembourger posted a pole position for the Supercup race at Spa-Francorchamps.
A perfectly implemented plan
For Sunday’s race, Pereira then implemented this plan perfectly. Immediately after the start, he defended his front spot at the wheel of his ca. 375 kW (510 PS) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fielded by the BWT Lechner Racing team. Lap by lap, he then continued to pull clear of his pursuers. At the finish line after twelve laps, Pereira had built up an almost seven-second advantage over Dutchman Larry ten Voorde – a small eternity by Supercup standards. The defending champion from the GP Elite squad managed to overtake the second-placed Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich (SSR Huber Racing) on the final lap.
“I even managed to conserve my tires because I wanted to be ready for the restart after a safety car phase. I only picked up my pace a little on the last laps. Then it was just a matter of not making any mistakes,” declared Pereira. Thanks to his third win of the season, he has extended his championship lead to twelve points. “My chances of winning the title look really good now. At the moment, I think we’re strong enough as a team to tackle the last two races feeling optimistic.”
15 points gap and 2 races left.
All hopes for title defender Larry ten Voorde are pinned on the upcoming home race in Zandvoort. With two races left on the calendar, he lies 15 points behind Pereira. “If I want to have a chance against Dylan, I have to win next weekend,” said the Dutchman. “But we need to do better. He was simply too fast at Spa-Francorchamps.” With an impressive overtaking manoeuvre, the GP Elite driver snatched second place from Germany’s Laurin Heinrich. “I figured Laurin had problems. When he braked for the hairpin corner at the end of the start-finish straight, he opened the door for me and I grabbed my chance,” says ten Voorde, describing the decisive moment.
Heinrich took it in his stride: “My whole race didn’t go so smoothly. I knew Larry would try to attack near the end. If I’d fended him off once, I’m certain he would have succeeded the next time. Under such circumstances, I’m pretty happy with third place.” The 20-year-old from Germany maintains his second place in the standings.
Oliver Schwab, Project Manager of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, looks ahead to the remaining Supercup races at Zandvoort in the Netherlands and Monza (Italy) with interest: “As the 30th Supercup season draws to a close, a three-way fight is unfolding. Three drivers from three different teams are very close in the overall standings. We’re sure to witness a very interesting final phase.”
The possible title decision in the rookie classification was deferred. Denmark’s Bastian Buus from the BWT Lechner Racing team continued his flawless streak and set a new record with his sixth straight victory. Finishing sixth overall, Buus, however, did not collect enough points to take home an early crown. Lorcan Hanafin threw a proverbial spanner in the works. The UK driver from the FACH AUTO TECH squad delivered his best performance to date with seventh place. As a result, Hanafin still has a chance, albeit small, of catching Buus in the race for the rookie trophy.
First place in the ProAm category went to Aaron Mason from the Pierre Martinet by Alméras team for the second time this season. Mason’s Norwegian teammate Roar Lindland defended his lead in this class with third place.
You can find the full race results and championship standings here : https://motorsports.porsche.com/international/en/category/mobil1supercup/pmsc-2022-results
You can find the complete 2022 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup calendar here :
Result race 6 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Spa-Francorchamps (B)
1. Dylan Pereira (L/BWT Lechner Racing), 28:49.835 minutes
2. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), +6.943 seconds
3. Laurin Heinrich (D/SSR Huber Racing), +8.077 seconds
4. Marvin Klein (F/CLRT), +9.031 seconds
5. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), +9.963 seconds
6. Bastian Buus (DK/BWT Lechner Racing), +14.144 seconds
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Edited Porsche Factory Press Release
Pictures courtesy Porsche AG
