Frenchman Marvin Klein has won the extremely turbulent sixth round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at Spa-Francorchamps. The Frenchman secured his first win of the season from pole position on the Belgian Grand Prix circuit. Dutchman Huub van Eijndhoven took second place. In the duel for third place, Harry King outpaced championship leader Larry ten Voorde. With two races left on the calendar of the international one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, ten Voorde now only holds a seven-point lead over King. Klein follows in third place overall with a further five-point gap.

The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps remained true to its reputation: The 31st race in Supercup history on the longest racetrack on the one-make cup’s calendar (7.004 kilometres) treated the fans to gripping action. Multiple duels and spectacular overtaking moves dominated the very first lap. Even polesitter Marvin Klein had anything but a free run to the top of the podium. The Frenchman also had to defend his lead on two restarts after safety car periods.

“Twice I eked out a small lead, twice the safety car negated it again,” reported the driver from team Schumacher CLRT. “Thankfully, the car was so good today that I managed to pull clear of the field again on the third restart without any issues.” After twelve laps, Klein crossed the finish line just under three seconds ahead of Huub van Eijndhoven.

The Dutchman had started from the third grid position behind Larry ten Voorde, but swept past his Dutch compatriot with a spectacular manoeuvre on the first pass through the famous ‘Eau Rouge - Raidillon’ part of the track. “That was nerve-wracking. Larry and I drove door-to-door through Eau Rouge. I came out slightly ahead and got the jump on him,” described van Eijndhoven from the Uniserver by Team GP Elite. “I’ve had a few bouts of bad luck this season. Now, I’m just happy to be on the Supercup overall podium for the first time,” grinned the 24-year-old.

Harry King utilised Van Eijndhoven’s slipstream to squeeze past ten Voorde as well. The overall runner-up from England and the championship leader from the Netherlands continued to battle it out in almost every corner. On the final lap, they, too, drove side-by-side through Eau Rouge. The two nine-eleven race cars made slight contact on several occasions but ultimately, King had the upper hand. “We both knew what was at stake and always gave each other enough space. That was a thrilling duel,” said the Briton from the BWT Lechner Racing team.

Behind ten Voorde, his Schumacher CLRT teammate Alessandro Ghiretti finished fifth. The Porsche Junior from France battled with South African Keagan Masters from Team Ombra throughout the race. In the end, Ghiretti came out on top by a slim margin of around one second.

Larry ten Voorde remains on top of the overall standings. However, his lead over Harry King has been further diminished to just seven points. With two races left to go this season, Marvin Klein also has a shot at the title with a twelve-point deficit.

The top of the Rookie standings is also inching closer together after round six of the season. Championship leader Kas Haverkort (Uniserver by Team GP Elite) was left empty-handed after a collision. His rival Robert de Haan (BWT Lechner Racing), on the other hand, celebrated his third victory in the Rookie classification of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. “I’ve made a few mistakes recently,” admitted the 18-year-old Dutchman. “Today, I just concentrated on getting it all together. That’s how it has to continue from now on.”

Alongside de Haan, Ariel Levi (Uniserver by Team GP Elite) from Israel finished on the podium for the first time as the second-best rookie. Third place went to Frenchman Louis Rousset (Martinet/Forestier Racing).

“Congratulations to Marvin Klein on his first win of the season. The race at Spa-Francorchamps once again offered not only the spectators of our one-make cup action at its finest. After Larry ten Voorde’s run of four straight wins at the start of the season, suddenly we have a three-way fight for the title – which proves how evenly matched things are at the top of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. That makes the rest of the season so much more exciting,” commented Oliver Schwab, Project Manager Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.

Drivers and teams now get to enjoy a summer break. The Porsche 911 GT3 Cup’s circa 375 kW (510 PS) six-cylinder boxer engines will not rev up again until the weekend of 23 to 25 August 2024, when they will contest round 7 as support to the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort.

Result round 6 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Spa-Francorchamps (B)
1. Marvin Klein (F/Schumacher CLRT), 12 laps
2. Huub van Eijndhoven (NL/Uniserver by Team GP Elite), +2.777 seconds
3. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), +4.732 seconds
4. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Schumacher CLRT), +5.334 seconds
5. Porsche-Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (F/Schumacher CLRT), +7.609 seconds
6. Keagan Masters (ZA/Ombra), +8.663 seconds

Overall standings Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (after 6 of 8 races)
1. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Schumacher CLRT), 123 points
2. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), 116 points
3. Marvin Klein (F/Schumacher CLRT), 111 points

Full results and championship standings on the Porsche Motorsport Hub:
https://motorsports.porsche.com/international/en/category/mobil1supercup/