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Sven Müller (GER)

Race report

Sven Müller (GER)
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, round 5, Formula 1 race in Budapest/Hungary, Race report
Victory for Porsche-Junior Sven Müller

It was the perfect weekend for Sven Müller: On the Hungaroring race track not far from Budapest, the Porsche Junior celebrated his first win of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season. After claiming pole position in qualifying, he went on to dominate the fifth championship round at the wheel of his 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to cross the finish line after 14 laps with a 6.1-second advantage. “I’ve worked hard for this victory and it’s paid off. What a perfect race weekend: pole position, victory and the fastest race lap. It can continue like this for the rest of the season,” said Müller with a grin. Positions two and three were occupied by Supercup rookie Côme Ledogar (F/Martinet by Almeras) and Christian Engelhart (D/MRS GT-Racing).

Müller made a cracking start from pole on the 4.381-kilometre circuit and immediately pulled clear of the field. Ledogar also leapt off the line and immediately picked off Engelhart and Michael Ammermüller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East) at the start. With this, the top spots were taken. Müller continued to build his lead and drove unchallenged to the flag to bring home his second Supercup win after Monza in 2014. Trailing the Porsche Junior, the 24-year-old Ledogar had his hands full with Engelhart, with the youngster valiantly fending off the seasoned specialist. “My start was great and I was running second, but over the entire 14 laps I saw my pursuer looming large in the rear vision mirror. I told myself: just don’t make any mistakes. And it worked,” reported a very happy Ledogar.

In the penultimate lap, Kuba Giermaziak (PL/VERVA Lechner Racing Team) managed to squeeze past Alex Riberas (E/The Heart of Racing by Lechner). Giermaziak finished in fourth with Riberas trailing closely on fifth just two-thousandths of a second behind. The championship leader, Philipp Eng (A/Market Leader Team by Project 1), saw the flag as sixth. After starting from third, Ammermüller struggled with his race fate to finish on seventh. Robert Lukas (PL/Förch Racing by Lukas Motorsport) was flagged off in tenth place.

Porsche Junior Matteo Cairoli (I/Market Leader Team by Project 1) came eleventh. “I’ll just tick that race off to experience. At one point I was left the track slightly and had to fight my way back. Under these conditions, eleventh is okay,” said the 19 year old. Porsche Junior Connor de Phillippi (USA/VERVA Lechner Racing Team) took up the race from the 14th grid spot to ultimately take 13th: “It’s always tough starting from the midfield and this was evident today. Now we’re going testing and hopefully I’ll return stronger.” A total of 25 drivers from 14 countries took up the challenge in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup this weekend in Hungary. Amongst them was 17-year-old Pedro Piquet, the son of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet. A collision in lap six, however, sidelined the youngster.

In the overall classification of the most international of Porsche’s 20 one-make race series which is run exclusively as support to the Formula 1 weekends, Eng still tops the points table. The Austrian has earned 80 points with his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup based on the lightweight 911 GT3 sports car, and thus leads ahead of Engelhart (70 points). Riberas ranks third with 68 points. The most successful rookie driver of the weekend was honoured on Sunday by actor and Porsche ambassador Richy Müller. The detective in the German TV series “Tatort” handed the trophy to Ledogar, who achieved his best result so far in the Supercup in Budapest and now leads the rookie classification. Sitting in second amongst the newcomers is Porsche Junior Cairoli ahead of Swiss Jeffrey Schmidt (The Heart of Racing by Lechner).

Coming up next on the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup calendar is the Spa-Francorchamps round held from 21 to 23 August. The Belgium race circuit hosts two rounds: race six on Saturday, and race seven on Sunday. This marks a home event for the Speed Lover and Allure squad. The team is based not far from Antwerp and campaigns drivers not only in the Supercup but also in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Benelux. With Jean Glorieux and Pierre Piron in the team, two Belgian drivers represent their country in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Team principal André van Hoof also comes from Belgium and spends a total of 38 weekends at various race tracks over the 2015 season.

Result

Round 5 Budapest
1. Sven Müller (D/Team Lechner Racing Middle East),
2. Côme Ledogar (F/Martinet by Almeras)
3. Christian Engelhart (D/MRS GT-Racing)
4. Kuba Giermaziak (PL/VERVA Lechner Racing Team)
5. Alex Riberas (E/The Heart of Racing by Lechner)
6. Philipp Eng (A/Market Leader Team by Project 1)
7. Michael Ammermüller (D/Lechner Racing Middle East)
8. Robert Lukas (PL/Förch Racing by Lukas Motorsport)
9. Jeffrey Schmidt (CH/The Heart of Racing by Lechner)
10. Christopher Zöchling (A/Fach Auto Tech)

Points’ standings after 5 of 11 races
Drivers
1. Philipp Eng (A/Market Leader Team by Project 1), 80 points
2. Christian Engelhart (D/MRS GT-Racing), 70
3. Alex Riberas (E/The Heart of Racing by Lechner), 68

*Results and points are preliminary



All reports on the previous season can be found in our archive.