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Faulkner celebrates clear flag to flag victory
Porsche Mobil1 Supercup, round 9 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Race report: Faulkner celebrates clear flag to flag victory
Stuttgart. Reigning vice-champion Damien Faulkner (Ireland) claimed his second victory of the season at the ninth round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup on the Hungaroring near Budapest. With this result, the 31-year-old SAS Lechner Racing team pilot moved up the points’ ladder into second.
After putting in an immaculate drive during qualifying to secure pole position, Damien Faulkner proved unbeatable in the 14-lap race. Right from the start he held onto the lead to take the flag after 26:14.060 minutes. Current points’ leader Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands) was the only other driver to match Faulkner’s pace. The 26-year-old former DTM pilot, driving for Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, crossed the finish line approximately one second behind the winner.
Around eight seconds shy of the top time, Patrick Huisman (Netherlands) secured third on the Hungarian Grand Prix circuit. The quadruple Supercup champion got away well at the start of the race from fifth position. After just several hundred metres the Irwin Racing team pilot pulled alongside Marco Holzer (Germany) and Jaap van Lagen (Netherlands), who had taken up the race from positions three and four respectively. In the first corner the 41-year-old former DTM pilot swept past his two rivals to slip into third, which he held onto until the finish.
Behind the Dutchman came Danny Watts (Great Britain) and David Saelens (Belgium) in fourth and fifth. Both Watts, Faulkners’ team mate in the SAS Lechner Racing team, and Saelens, who like Huisman drives for Irwin Racing, made an excellent start from the grid. After the first corner the pair caught Jaap van Lagen from Damac Kadach Racing. In lap four the two profited from Dutchman’s bad luck when he was forced into retirement with a damaged radiator.
UPS-Porsche junior driver, Marco Holzer (Germany), brought his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup across the finish line without mishap. The 20-year-old youngster gave an impressive performance in qualifying which earned him third. After the lights went off for the race, Holzer didn’t get away well and had to let four opponents overtake him in the sprint to the first corner. The German then proceeded to put in an immaculate drive to secure sixth. His team mate, Martin Ragginger, however, was not so lucky. Through no fault of his own, the 20-year-old Austrian’s race ended in the first lap.
Damien Faulkner (winner): “First I want to say a huge thanks to my team. They put a perfect car on the track for me today and made my second win of the season possible. We’ve not had much luck with our results recently, which makes this victory ever sweeter. I did the best I could today and didn’t make a mistake. My start was good and I brought victory home.”
Jeroen Bleekemolen (second): “I’m happy with my result today. Unfortunately my start wasn’t that great and I had no answer to Damien. During the race I could match his pace but it was just too late to do anything about it. He earned this victory. In fact, Damien was in strong form over the whole weekend. It would have been hard to beat him today. And I didn’t want to take any risks considering the championship standings. I now lead with a 38-point advantage and that feels good. But from now on I’ll be going full attack for a few more victories.”
Patrick Huisman (third): “Third place marks the first podium result for my Irwin Racing team so far this season. We have really worked very, very long for this. David in particular has fought hard in the last races for a podium result. Today he experienced bad luck and I was the lucky one. Budapest is one of my all-time favourite circuits. I did well here last year. I knew it was important to get away well at the start in order to have a chance. I did that and afterwards it was relatively easy to bring home third. For the rest of the year I’d like to secure a few more podium results for our team. Maybe my luck has turned.”
Marco Holzer (sixth): “My start was anything but optimal. I made a mistake and hit the brakes. Afterwards I couldn’t manage a good start. The race ran well. Lance was putting pressure on from behind but I was able to hold him off. I also had to deal with David Saelens ahead of me. It certainly wasn’t boring today. I learned a lot.”
Race result:
1. Damien Faulkner (IR), SAS Lechner Racing, 26:14.060 min. (140.184 km/h)
2. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, + 0.928 seconds
3. Patrick Huisman (NL), Irwin Racing, + 7.689
4. Danny Watts (GB), SAS Lechner Racing, + 9.063
5. David Saelens (BE), Irwin Racing, + 11.798
6. Marco Holzer (D), UPS-Porsche-Junior-Team, + 12.286
7. Lance D. Arnold (D), SPS Performance – PZ Aschaffenburg, 14.156
8. René Rast (D), VELTINS MRS Racing, 14.538
9. Jörg Hardt (D), Schnabl Enigneering-LKM-KplusK, 17.671
10. Chris Mamerow (D), Damac Kadach Racing Team, 21.259
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