Dylan Pereira claims pole position with a perfect strategy
Third race, third polesitter – Dylan Pereira (BWT Lechner Racing) secured the best grid spot for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup round at the Hungaroring. For the first time this season, the Luxembourger starts from first place. In cool and dry weather conditions, he was almost three-tenths of a second faster in the qualifying session than Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (TR/Martinet by Alméras). By contrast, the next three-tenths of a second were shared by four drivers. “I got a perfect free run,” said Pereira, explaining his unusually large advantage by Supercup standards.
Güven, the polesitter of the previous race at Austria’s Red Bull Ring, was content with position two. “Starting from the first row of the grid is very important at the Hungaroring. I’ve achieved that goal. If it rains on Sunday, the cards will be reshuffled anyway.” The two rookies Marvin Klein (F/Martinet by Alméras) and Leon Köhler (D/Lechner Racing Middle East), as well as Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), qualified behind Güven. The sixth grid position is occupied by Jaxon Evans (NZ/BWT Lechner Racing). The second Porsche Junior scored pole position at the season opener on the Red Bull Ring. The fastest driver in the ProAm classification was Roar Lindland (N/Pierre Martinet by Alméras) on 13th.
Dylan Pereira dominated the qualifying right from the outset. Already at his first attempt at pole position, the current series leader was significantly faster than his rivals. “I still had reserves and knew that I had room for improvement,” he reported. As usual, Pereira returned to the pits about halfway through the 30-minute session to get a fresh set of slicks and have the suspension tweaked. “I wanted the rear axle to be less twitchy so that the tyres didn’t overheat and could function perfectly over two laps.” His plan worked, and the No. 2 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup lapped the 4.381-kilometre racetrack faster than all others twice.
“The second attempt is normally faster than the first because a lot of rubber is left on the track, which gives the asphalt better grip,” explains Pereira. Although Formula 1 and other racing series have been practicing on the Grand Prix circuit just outside Budapest since Friday, only the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup uses Michelin tyres. “That might sound strange, but the tyre rubber from other racing series doesn’t give us much of an advantage,” reveals Dylan Pereira. He has one wish for Sunday’s race, which starts at 12:30 p.m. local time: “I didn’t do as well in the rainy practice on Friday, so I’m hoping for dry weather.”
Fans can watch round three of eight 2020 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup races via a live stream on F1.com.