Larry ten Voorde has pocketed yet another record: He is the first Supercup driver to post four pole positions in Monaco. Repeating last year’s qualifying performance, the Dutchman relegated Britain’s Harry King to second place. South African Keagan Masters set the third fastest lap around the 3.337-kilometre Formula 1 circuit in the streets of the Principality. Dutchman Kas Haverkort will tackle the second Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race of the season from fourth place on Sunday (26 May, 12:00 CEST).

Larry ten Voorde dominated the 30-minute qualifying session. The two-time Supercup champion, who joined the French team Schumacher CLRT last winter, was significantly faster than his 23 rivals on the first set of tyres. With fresh tyres, the 27-year-old increased the gap by more than half a second. By the end of the session, he had set a new qualifying record for the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup with a time of 1:32.846 minutes, more than two tenth of a second faster than his own existing record. “In Monaco, it’s very easy to go from hero to zero. Everything went perfectly today. I’m thrilled to hand my Team Schumacher CLRT this pole position,” he grinned.

Just like a year ago, Larry ten Voorde shares the front grid row with Harry King. The BWT Lechner Racing driver from the UK was just 0.191 seconds shy of the fastest time. “I had to abandon my last attempt at pole position due to a red flag,” said King, referring to the premature end to the qualifying following an accident. “But the main thing is that I start from the front row. The past has proven what’s possible from the second spot on the grid.” He was recalling last year’s race in Monaco when he overtook Larry ten Voorde in the sprint to the first corner and celebrated his first Supercup victory 17 laps later.

Keagan Masters achieved his best qualifying result to date in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. The South African, who competes in the 375 kW (510 PS) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for the second time in Monaco, was third-fastest. The 24-year-old also competes for the Italian team Ombra in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia, where he has already clinched victories. “Of course, I want more than third place,” he said, looking ahead to Sunday’s race. “But I also realise that it will be very, very difficult to put some pressure on the two guys in front of me.”

Kas Haverkort (Uniserver by Team GP Elite), the fastest of the Supercup rookies, secured his place on the grid alongside Keagan Masters. “Best rookie is obviously a great result,” beamed the 24-year-old Dutchman. “But I could’ve done even better. I played it safe on the first set of tyres and was faster on the second set. But I probably pushed the tyres too hard, causing the air pressure to rise a bit too much.”

Simulators and videos – preparing for an unfamiliar racetrack
The Circuit de Monaco is the only circuit on the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup calendar where testing is impossible. As a result, around half of the starting field lapped the 3.337-kilometre street circuit in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for the first time during the at times drizzly practice session. The Supercup newcomers tackled this challenge with different approaches.

“I prepared relentlessly in the simulator. But training on a wet track was nerve-wracking nevertheless. The computer can’t simulate driving over the curbs and handling the bumps,” said the German Monaco newcomer Alexander Tauscher (Proton Huber Competition). For this reason, Robert de Haan (BWT Lechner Racing) opted against using the simulator from the outset. “I concentrated on onboard videos from previous years to learn the track layout. Then, I did the rest in practice,” said the Dutchman, who at 17 is the youngest in the field. “It wasn’t such a bad thing that the track was still wet at the start. After all, it might rain during the race.” Robert de Haan finished ninth in qualifying, while Alexander Tauscher crossed the line in 14th.

In contrast to de Haan and Tauscher, rookie colleague Kas Haverkort is already familiar with the Circuit de Monaco – albeit from experience in the cockpit of a single-seater racing car. The 20-year-old Dutchman even finished on the podium in 2022. “It’s obviously an advantage that I’m very familiar with the bumps. I also know which lane markings and zebra crossings are particularly slippery in the wet,” revealed Haverkort. “But you attack the curbs much more aggressively in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. And the braking distances are much longer than with the comparatively lighter single-seater.” Haverkort’s previous experience proved invaluable: as fourth fastest, he clearly outpaced the other rookies.