Dylan Pereira has secured pole position for the first round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season. At the wheel of the approx. 375 kW (515 hp) Cup-911, the Luxembourger of the BWT Lechner Racing team set the fastest qualifying lap at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, northern Italy.
Pereira shares the front row with defending champion Larry ten Voorde (Team GP Elite), who was 0.249 seconds away from the pole-setter. Pereira’s BWT Lechner Racing teammate and fastest rookie Bastian Buus from Denmark, as well as Germany’s Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich (SSR Huber Racing) tackle the season-opening race on Sunday from position three and four. The race starts at 12.05 pm just before the Formula 1 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
“Just to be sure, I didn’t push too hard on my first set of tires and only set the third fastest time,” explains Pereira. “I took more risks on my second attempt, got my tires to the ideal temperature and took every curb perfectly.” Larry ten Voorde was also satisfied with his second starting position. “My second flying lap was not as fast as I had hoped, but I start from the front row and from there anything is possible in the race,” the Dutchman said confidently.
Ambassador Larry ten Voorde is going for the triple with GP-Elite.
The 33-strong field of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars went chasing top times in sunny weather. As a guest driver in the VIP car No. 911, five-time world motorcycling champion Jorge Lorenzo competes for his second car race. “As a Supercup newcomer it is very short to have just 30 minutes on track, which was also interrupted at one point. I didn’t get a clear run,” reported the Spaniard, who drives with an Italian racing license and whose Cup-911 thus carries the country’s tricolor flag.
In 1993, the Porsche Supercup made its world debut on the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit. Little has changed on the legendary circuit in the hills of Emilia-Romagna since then. The 4,909-kilometer stretch of asphalt has 17 turns with roller coaster passages that are somewhat unusual for modern Formula 1 circuits. Following the pandemic-related spectator restrictions, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup now competes for crowded stands for the first time in two years. “It’s fantastic to see so many spectators. The grassy fields on the hills add to the great atmosphere of this tradition-rich circuit”, grins pole-setter Dylan Pereira. “The Autodromo is also quite old school in other respects: when you fly off the track, you end up in a gravel bed instead of an asphalt area. The track is relatively fast and the extreme curb hopping gives fans a great show.”
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2022, Imola
Ex-Supercup Champion Jörg Bergmeister is the “Driver Steward”
In 2001, Germany’s Jörg Bergmeister took home the Porsche Supercup crown. En route to the title, the current Porsche ambassador won seven races, including the season opener at Imola. This weekend, Bergmeister returns to Emilia-Romagna – in a one-time role as “Driver Steward” for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. In this position, he mediates between the drivers and the race director in controversial disputes on the track.
“I have good memories of Imola: this track is demanding but a lot of fun. In 2001 qualifying I managed to get a perfect run and was significantly faster than everyone else. Winning the race was a perfect start to the season,” recalls the German, who, over the course of his career, achieved victories in racing versions of the Porsche 911 at the 24-hour races at Le Mans (France), Spa-Francorchamps ( Belgium) and Daytona (US). Bergmeister knows the latest Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from his job as a development driver. “The current Cup-911 is much more of a race car than the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from 2001,” he enthuses. Technologies that are well known today, such as shift paddles on the steering wheel, were unknown in the Supercup 21 years ago: “Back then we had an H-pattern shifter like in the production 911.”
The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup on TV and the internet
The 14-lap season opening round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup kicks off on Sunday (April 24, 2022) at 12:05 PM CEST. The TV channels Eurosport2 and Sky Sport and the streaming service f1tv.formula1.com, among others, broadcast the race live. Eurosport will broadcast a replay of the entire race from 12 noon on Monday (April 25, 2022). Fans can follow the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup on the social media networks Twitter (@PorscheSupercup and @PorscheRaces), Instagram (@PorscheSupercup) and Facebook (@PorscheSupercup).
Result Qualification, Race 1, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Imola (I)