The BWT Lechner Racing squad has locked out the front grid row for round four of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at its home race on the Red Bull Ring. The Luxembourger Dylan Pereira takes up Sunday’s race at 11.50 am CEST from pole position. British racer Harry King planted another Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fielded by the Austrian team on the second grid spot. Behind them on the second row: series leader Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite) and Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich (D/SSR Huber Racing).

The top four drivers in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup standings have locked out the first two grid rows at the Red Bull Ring for round four of the season. Dylan Pereira, currently third overall, set the fastest time. “The race director voided my first flying lap because I went off the track at one point. So during my second attempt, I concentrated even more on the ‘track limits’ – and that worked perfectly,” said the Luxembourger with a smile. “There are no points for qualifying, so I’m very pleased,” stated Harry King. The Brit, who also qualified on the front grid row, was just 71-thousandths of a second slower than his teammate Pereira. “First and second place is great for BWT Lechner Racing. Now we need to do this again in the race,” concluded King.

Larry ten Voorde was also satisfied with his third qualifying result. “I came 13th in Friday’s free practice, which showed that we didn’t have things sorted at that point. It went better in qualifying. Before the race we’ll tweak other details on the car – obviously, I’m not going to reveal exactly what those details are,” laughed the reigning Supercup champion and current leader of the overall standings. He shares the second grid row with his closest rival, Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich. Ahead of the race on Sunday, the SSR Huber Racing driver lies nine points behind ten Voorde in the overall standings.

Ski star Aksel Lund Svindal gets a taste of the Supercup ambience
Aksel Lund Svindal has achieved everything on skis: The Norwegian has been crowned world champion fives time, he has won two gold medals at the Olympic Games and the overall World Cup twice. Moreover, Svindal is a real ‘petrolhead’: this season, the Porsche ambassador drives a 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport in the Porsche Sprint Challenge Scandinavia – as the teammate of another successful skier, Ingemar Stenmark from Sweden.

At the Red Bull Ring, Svindal got his first breath of Supercup air and was impressed by the high level of competitiveness in the international one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. “The fact that the fastest 21 drivers are within one second shows the professionalism of the teams and that the cars are all really on the same level,” analysed the 39-year-old. The friendly atmosphere among the drivers also left a deep impression on him: “Out on the track, they fight for every centimetre and hundredth of a second, but when they step out of the cockpit, they have great fun together, no matter what nationality they are. That reminds me of my time in downhill skiing,” observed Svindal, who has won 36 World Cup races throughout his career.

Of course, Svindal is also a Formula 1 fan. “But the performance of these cars is beyond the imagination of a normal driver. Spectators can assess a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup on the racetrack much better. I can relate to the driver and his reactions,” he describes. Svindal has an astonishing explanation for why skiers are usually quick to improve on the racetrack. “In a racing car, like in downhill skiing or slalom, it’s all about correctly assessing the grip conditions. You adjust your line at every turn according to the grip of the tyres on the track or the skis on the snow.”

First Supercup champion Altfrid Heger visits the Red Bull Ring
In 1993, Altfrid Heger won the Porsche Supercup in the first year of its existence. At the Red Bull Ring, the German from Essen caught up with the current state of affairs in the international one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, which is now in its 30th season. “One of the main differences compared to 1993 is the car: the 911 Carrera RS that we drove back then was more or less a production car. It was wild to drive. The latest 911 GT3 Cup is a real racer that requires precision driving,” said the 64-year-old, who still occasionally climbs into a racing cockpit. “One thing hasn’t changed: Just like in my era, the Supercup serves as a stepping stone into higher levels of motorsport.”

With his Hegersport agency, the maiden Supercup champion organises the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland and has also supervised the popular Porsche Sports Cup racing series in Germany for the last 18 years. “I’m proud that youngsters from the Porsche Sports Cup keep making it into the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup,” explains Heger. The latest example of this is the current Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich, who contested the 2019 Porsche Sports Cup at the wheel of a 911 GT3 Cup.

Round four of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup on TV and the Internet
The 18-lap race on the Red Bull Ring takes off on Sunday (10 July 2022) at 11:50 am CEST. The streaming service f1tv.formula1.com shows the Supercup race live.

Qualifying result, round 4 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Spielberg (A)
1. Dylan Pereira (L/BWT Lechner Racing), 1:30.286 minutes
2. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), + 0.071 seconds
3. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), + 0.089 seconds
4. Laurin Heinrich (D/SSR Huber Racing), + 0.302 seconds
5. Simone Iaquinta (I/Dinamic Motorsport), + 0.342 seconds
6. Marvin Klein (F/CLRT), + 0.379 seconds

Full qualifying results:
https://motorsports.porsche.com/germany/de/category/mobil1supercup/pmsc-2022-results