Huge surprise ahead of race four of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup on the Hungaroring: Guest driver Marvin Klein turned the fastest qualifying lap in the 911 GT3 Cup fielded by the CLRT team. “I only found out on Monday that I’d compete in Budapest. I’m completely amazed that I managed to post the top time under such circumstances,” admitted the Frenchman, who will take up the race on Sunday from pole position. His teammate Florian Latorre rounded off the exceptional team result for CLRT with third place. The second fastest lap time in qualifying was set by the New Zealander Jaxon Evans (Martinet by Alméras). Points’ leader and defending champion Larry ten Voorde (Team GP Elite) from the Netherlands claimed the fourth grid spot, with the third row occupied by Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (BWT Lechner Racing) from Turkey and Germany’s Leon Köhler (Nebulus Racing by Huber).

The CLRT squad, based in the port city of Les Sables-d’Olonne on the French Atlantic coast, is one of the comparatively smaller teams contesting the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup: In Budapest, the two 911 GT3 Cup driven by Marvin Klein and Florian Latorre are maintained by just two engineers and three mechanics. This weekend, team owner Côme Ledogar is contesting the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps. “And our regular driver Steven Palette is competing at an event in France, so he too wasn’t able to be here,” said engineer and team manager Benjamin Floch, explaining the current shortage of personnel. “That’s why we asked Marvin to drive at short notice. It looks like we made a perfect choice...”

However, neither the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup nor the new ca. 375 kW (510 PS) 911 GT3 Cup car based on the 992 generation are completely unknown to Marvin Klein: Last year, the 22-year-old contested the entire season of Porsche’s international one-make cup and ultimately claimed second place in the rookie classification. This year, Klein tackles the French Porsche Carrera Cup, in which the latest generation Cup car is also campaigned. With three victories under his belt so far, the CLRT driver currently ranks second in the standings. “I’m really proud of the team. We didn’t test here at the Hungaroring,” he revealed. “Nevertheless, we’ve made huge progress since Friday’s free practice session.” His teammate Florian Latorre took being beaten by a guest driver in his stride: “I think we have a good chance to bring home a one-two result,” declared the 24-year-old seasoned Supercup driver confidently.

Round four (15 laps) of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup gets underway at the Hungaroring on Sunday, 1 August 2021, at 12:10 pm CEST. TV channel Sky Sport and the streaming service f1tv.formula1.com provide a live broadcast. Fans can also follow the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup action at any time on Twitter (@PorscheSupercup / @PorscheRaces), Instagram (@PorscheSupercup) and Facebook (@PorscheSupercup). Full results and the overall championship standings under this link: https://motorsports.porsche.com/usa/en/article/2021/03/12/pmsc-2021-results

Qualifying result, race 4 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Budapest (H)
1. Marvin Klein (F/CLRT), 1:46.976 minutes
2. Jaxon Evans (NZ/Martinet by Alméras), +0.143 seconds
3. Florian Latorre (F/CLRT), +0.145 seconds
4. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), +0.225 seconds
5. Ayhancan Güven (TR/BWT Lechner Racing), +0.226 seconds
6. Leon Köhler (D/Nebulus Racing by Huber), +0.419 seconds