The 31st driver’s title in the Porsche Supercup goes to Bastian Buus. In the turbulent season finale at Monza, 13th place was enough for the 20-year-old Porsche Junior from Denmark to claim the overall win with a five-point advantage over Larry ten Voorde. Driving for GP Elite, the Dutchman crossed the finish line second on the Formula 1 racetrack in northern Italy behind Harry King, Bastian Buus’s teammate at BWT Lechner Racing. The Austrian squad took home its 13th team classification title in the international one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Although he failed to reach the finish line, Frenchman Alessandro Ghiretti clinched the rookie title.

The last round of an already gripping 31st Porsche Supercup season could hardly have been more turbulent. The fight for the overall crown and the Rookie title was literally made in the final metres of the finale in Monza in northern Italy. A mere 0.4 seconds decided the title fight between Bastian Buus and Larry ten Voorde, with the Porsche Junior from Denmark ultimately winning. Australia’s Harri Jones missed out on clinching the overall Rookie trophy by less than 0.3 seconds with the title going to Alessandro Ghiretti from France.

“That was the toughest race of my life mentally, a real rollercoaster ride,” revealed Bastian Buus after the 14-lap thriller on the Formula 1 racetrack near Milan. It looked simple before the start: An eleventh place would be enough for him to win the title. Given his ninth spot on the grid, this sounded like a relatively easy task, however, a spin caused by a collision threw Buus to the back of the field during the second lap. “I stalled the engine and it felt like an eternity before I could continue,” he said, describing the seconds he spent off the track. However, over the next laps, he succeeded in ploughing his way through the field. Nevertheless, eleventh place remained out of reach, due also to a three-second time penalty. “Luckily, I saw on the trackside monitors that Harry King was leading the race. That calmed me down a bit.”

All of Buus’s hopes now rested on his British teammate at BWT Lechner Racing, who had started from pole position. Hot on King’s bumper was the second title contender Larry ten Voorde, who had promptly catapulted into the slipstream of the leader from fourth on the grid. The Dutch GP Elite driver could only have claimed the title with a win. But King kept his cool and held on to the narrow lead to the finish line – and thanks to this result, Porsche Junior Bastian Buus was finally crowned the new Supercup Champion, the youngest in the history of the series. “I’m lost for words, I’m simply over the moon,” beamed Buus, to the wild cheers of his entire family.

“Every time I put a little space between me and Larry, the safety car took away the advantage. But my car was fast enough today not to really give him a chance,” said King, in praise of his engineers’ work. The 26-year-old won three races over the season, more than any of his competitors. However, a run of bad luck in the other races meant he had to settle for third place in the final standings.

Larry ten Voorde, the Supercup champion from 2020 and 2021, demonstrated his sportsmanship despite losing the duel against King: “I tried absolutely everything, never gave up and fought like a lion to the end. But Harry cleverly defended his lead. Congratulations to Bastian, he truly deserves the title.”

Clinching the third podium spot in Monza, local hero Simone Iaquinta treated spectators to even more nail-biting race action. “This is the perfect end to the season,” grinned the Italian, who drives for the German Huber Racing squad. Scoring his best result of the season, he inadvertently decided the title fight in the Rookie class. Throughout the race, Iaquinta locked horns with Harri Jones (BWT Lechner Racing), with the two swapping positions several times. Third place would have been enough for Jones, the reigning champion of the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, to take home the Rookie crown. He crossed the finish line as the best-placed Rookie but finished the race only fourth overall by a car length. Thus, the title went to Alessandro Ghiretti (Martinet by Alméras).

The Frenchman had to retire early after a collision. “As a spectator, I had to watch Simone and Harri take turns in third place – I almost went crazy. But now I’m proud of the Rookie title,” said the 21-year-old from the southern French town of Montauban. Ghiretti was also celebrated as the best in the rankings of the in-house Rookie Programme, which, in addition to race results, also assesses areas like physical fitness or the quality of each driver’s written race reports.

Ex-Formula 1 driver Timo Glock put in a strong drive at the German’s second guest outing this year in the VIP-911 of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Heading into the race from the second to last grid row, he avoided several collisions and spins from rivals around him. The fact that he was able to advance to ninth position in this tumultuous race underlines the vast experience of the 41-year-old, who now covers the Formula 1 World Championship as a TV commentator.

BWT Lechner Racing once again dominated the Teams’ classification, with Porsche Junior Bastian Buus and Harry King scoring points. Founded by the legendary Walter Lechner, the team based in Austria has now notched up its 13th team title in the Porsche Supercup. “I've experienced a lot, but this finale felt like something straight out of Hollywood,” commented team principal Robert Lechner. “I’m incredibly proud of Bastian Buus, the youngest Supercup champion of all time. Harry King also had a very strong season and contributed hugely to our title with his three victories.”

Thomas Laudenbach was also delighted. The Vice President Porsche Motorsport witnessed the season finale of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at the track in Monza and presented the trophies to the race winner Harry King and Rookie winner Harri Jones: “This super suspenseful finale and the entire 2023 season have once again underlined why the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is the pinnacle of our one-make cups. All three titles were only decided in the last race of the season. This is motorsport at its absolute best. That’s exactly what we want and that’s exactly what the high level of professionalism of the drivers and the teams shows.”

Oliver Schwab, Project Manager Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, added: “Congratulations to Porsche Junior Bastian Buus, who has now added the overall title to his list of achievements after winning the Rookie title in 2022. BWT Lechner Racing also improved their record with their 13th title in the Teams’ classification, a truly impressive performance. The Rookie title goes to France this year. Congratulations to Alessandro Ghiretti. I’d also like to thank all the other drivers, the teams and every one of their members for an incredibly exciting and highly professional Supercup season.”

The new Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup champion Bastian Buus
At the age of just 20, Bastian Buus was crowned the youngest champion in the history of the Porsche Supercup, which was founded in 1993. In addition, the 1.87-meter-tall Dane is the third Porsche Junior to win the overall trophy of the international one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, after the New Zealander Earl Bamber (2014) and Germany’s Sven Müller (2016).

Raised near Kolding on the Danish Baltic Sea coast, Buus came to karting through his racing father Morten. During this time, he also evolved into a first-class sim racer. It was with this skill that he convinced the German team Allied-Racing to enter him in the GT4 European Series with the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport. Together with team boss Jan Kasperlik, Buus won the ProAm title. In 2021 and still a student, Buus joined the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland with Allied-Racing, in which he still has a chance of winning this year’s title. In the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Buus set a new record in 2022: He won the Rookie classification in all eight races and easily secured the title in the entry-level class. To date, he has won three races overall.

Buus, who names his fellow countryman and seven-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen as a role model, has now graduated from high school. And he has already set himself a medium-term goal: the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in the new LMDh racer, the Porsche 963.

Race results, round 8 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Monza (I)
1. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), 30:29.288 minutes
2. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), +0.432 seconds
3. Simone Iaquinta (I/Huber Racing), +3.589 seconds
4. Harri Jones (AUS/BWT Lechner Racing), +3.848 seconds
5. Morris Schuring (NL/FACH AUTO TECH), +4.056 seconds
6. Alexander Fach (CH/FACH AUTO TECH), +4.747 seconds
. . .
13. Porsche Junior Bastian Buus (DK/BWT Lechner Racing), +13.937 seconds

Final standings 2023 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (after eight races)
1. Porsche Junior Bastian Buus (DK/BWT Lechner Racing), 122 points
2. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), 117 points
3. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), 108 points
4. Morris Schuring (NL/Fach Auto Tech), 103 points
5. Dorian Boccolacci (F/CLRT), 79 points

Full results and points standings:
https://motorsports.porsche.com/international/en/category/mobil1supercup/pmsc-2023-results