Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, round 2 at the Formula 1 race in Barcelona/Spain
Sean Edwards grabs points’ lead with pole-to-flag victory
Stuttgart. The Porsche Mobil1 Supercup has a new points’ leader: Sean Edwards from Great Britain, driving the Abu Dhabi by tolimit squad’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, won round two of the world’s fastest international one-make race series in Barcelona. His compatriot Nick Tandy (Konrad Motorsport) claimed second, 5.581 seconds behind. Putting in a strong drive, Kuba Giermaziak (VERVA Racing Team) brought home a surprising third place and became the first Pole to climb the podium in the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup.
Taking up the race from pole position, Sean Edwards settled in at the head of the field and in summery temperatures managed to pull away from his opponents in the first laps. Kuba Giermaziak also made a clean start, passing Nick Tandy in the process to snatch second. The Briton also had to let a surprisingly strong Kévin Estre overtake, a Supercup newcomer from France driving for Hermes Attempto Racing. However, at around the halfway mark in the 14-lap race on the Grand Prix circuit near the Catalonian city, Nick Tandy, the 2010 vice-champion, put the situation right again. First he overtook Kévin Estre, who went on to finish a strong fourth and extend his lead in the BBS rookie classification, then used a braking error to slip past Kuba Giermaziak. By this time, Sean Edwards was long gone at the front of the field.
Trailing the leading quartet in fifth was Jeroen Bleekemolen (Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit) from the Netherlands ahead of Slovakia’s Stefan Rosina, who seems to have recovered some of his old form in the 911 GT3 Cup fielded by VERVA Racing. Driving for the VELTINS Lechner Racing squad, title defender René Rast (Germany) had to settle for seventh. His Austrian teammate Norbert Siedler saw the flag in eighth. Christian Engelhart (Konrad Motorsport), winner of the season-opening round in Istanbul, crossed the finish line in ninth, with Supercup record winner Patrick Huisman (Netherlands) securing tenth for his Bleekemolen team.
In the cockpit of Konrad Motorsport’s 911 GT3 Cup, Mathias Lauda, the Barcelona-based son of racing legend Niki Lauda, put in a faultless drive to finish within striking distance of the top ten in 14th position.
Sean Edwards (winner): “A fabulous race. My start was great and I was able to build up a comfortable lead in the first laps. Now I’m looking forward to my home race in Monaco and hope we can do as well there too.”
Nick Tandy (second): “Congratulations to Sean on his first win this season. And thank you to my team. We matched the pace of the front-runners and I’m thrilled about that. Last year we didn’t do so well on this track, this time we were right up there. This makes me very optimistic for the rest of the season.”
Kuba Giermaziak (third): “What a great race. My start was good and I kept up with Sean in the first laps. But then it got tricky when Nick attacked from behind. I tried to hold him off but I didn’t want to risk too much. We were determined to bring home a podium result. Even if I had ten Supercup wins under my belt, I still would have found it hard to relinquish my position.”
Race result
1. Sean Edwards (GB), Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, 26:33.468 minutes
2. Nick Tandy (GB), Konrad Motorsport, + 5.581 seconds
3. Kuba Giermaziak (PL), VERVA Racing Team, + 8.348
4. Kévin Estre (F), Hermes Attempto Racing, + 12.754
5. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, + 13.372
6. Stefan Rosina (SK), VERVA Racing Team, + 16.759
Drivers’ classification after 2 of 9 races*
1. Sean Edwards (GB), 36 points
2. Nick Tandy (GB), 36
3. Christian Engelhart (D), 29
4. Kuba Giermaziak (PL), 25
5. Norbert Siedler (A), 24
6. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), 22
Kévin Estre (F), 22
* It has yet to be decided if and when there will be a replacement for the cancelled Formula 1 race in Bahrain with two rounds of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup.
Round 3 of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup takes place on 29 May as support to the Formula 1 race in Monte Carlo/Monaco.
Public Relations and Media
Motor and Sports Press
Oliver Hilger
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