Porsche Supercup action at the Hungaroring

Thirty drivers took part in last Sunday’s round of the Mobil 1 Porsche Supercup action at the Hungaroring. This was the fifth Supercup meeting of the season (although the sixth race), and coincided with the Hungarian Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend. The thrilling Hungarian track, located north of Budapest, has seen interesting battles and dramas in the past because of its particular layout. The first Supercup race at the Hungaroring was organised in 1993, and was won by former F1 champion Mika Hakkinen.

Just like Monaco, the qualifying position is crucial, as there are very few overtaking opportunities for the drivers, but one such opportunity is at the end of the start/finish straight. Points leader, Michael Ammermüller (Lechner MSG Racing Team), set the best time during the qualifying session (1:46.926) and started from pole position for the second time of the season (after Monaco). British Carrera Cup points leader and Le Mans Carrera Cup winner, Dan Cammish (Ammermüller’s team mate), set the second fastest lap time (1:47.107). The experienced Austrian Team Lechner – with its multiple entries in Supercup – seemed to have found the perfect set-up, with three cars occupying the first three places. Ammermüller and Cammish were followed by title contender and Porsche Carrera Cup Germany points leader, Norwegian driver Dennis Olsen (Walter Lechner Racing Team) (1:47.192) and by the Polish driver Robert Lukas (Olimp Racing by Lukas Motorsport) with a time of 1:47.268.

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At the green light, Dan Cammish made a very good start, despite being located on the dirty side of the track with less grip than on the racing line, and after a door–to-door duel with Ammermüller, he managed to keep the lead through the first corner. Behind, Robert Lukas also made a good start and overtook Olsen at the second corner for third place in the race. Young Italian Mattia Drudi (son of GT Star Luca Drudi, ex-Le Mans and Daytona GT class winner with Porsche) from Dinamic Motorsport, was right behind them in fifth place.

Further back in the field, a collision at the first corner between Chris Bauer (FORCH Racing), Tom Sharp (IDL Racing) and Ryan Cullen (Walter Lechner Racing Team), resulted in all three cars and drivers exiting the race prematurely.

After the yellow-flag period, due to evacuation of the track, Cammish launched an attack as evidenced by a series of fastest laps, the fastest lap of the race, a time of 1:49.016, was set on the sixth lap. But at the same time, Ammermüller applied a lot of pressure and indicated his intention of overtaking to recover his first place. He eventually achieved this on the eighth lap, when he completed his overtaking manoeuvre at the second corner. In the meantime, Olsen had passed Lukas on the fourth lap after a mistake of the Polish driver (braking too late for corner 12). He then profited from the battle in front of him and managed to gain ground on Ammermüller and Cammish, being only 1.2 sec behind the leader by lap 9. At the end of lap 10 (out of 14), Olsen attacked at the last corner and with a better exit, he kept his speed to the start/finish line taking second place from Cammish. The Briton seemed to have been struggling with his tyre management during the race.

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Towards the end of the race, an interesting battle for seventh place developed between Josh Webster (Fach Auto Tech) and Porsche Junior driver Thomas Preining (Konrad Motorsport). Unfortunately, the two collided on lap 12 after a risky overtaking attempt from Preining at turn 8. It is interesting to note the number of young drivers coming through from single seaters, and seeking an official opportunity with Porsche, as the Mobil 1 Supercup has proved to be a good recruiting series for future champions.

Ammermüller leads Olsen in the German Carrera Cup championship, and with this fourth win of the season so far, he increased his lead over Olsen in the overall Supercup standings. A disappointing result came by 2017 race winner, the Australian Matt Campbell (fifth in qualifying), saw him finishing in the middle of the field, in 16th place, having suffered with a clutch problem before the start of the race.

Roar Lindland (MRS Cup-Racing) won the amateur class (B) with an eighth-place overall finish, but was disqualified at the end of the race and stripped of victory, which then went to Egidio Perfetti (MOMO Megatron).

Hungaroring, Round 6 of 11:

Overall classification:

The next Porsche Supercup race is scheduled during the Belgian Formula 1 GP meeting, on Sunday 27 August 2017.

Written by: Lucian Sonea
Images by: Porsche Motorsport