HARRY KING FASTEST IN PORSCHE SUPERCUP QUALIFYING AT MONZA, POLE POSITION FOR MARVIN KLEIN

Harry King turned the fastest lap in a Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup qualifying session for the first time in Monza, Italy. However, due to a penalty incurred at the previous race in Zandvoort, the UK driver will tackle the last race of the 2022 season from the fourth grid spot. Instead, pole position goes to the second fastest qualifier, Frenchman Marvin Klein. The three favourites for the title, Luxembourger Dylan Pereira, Larry ten Voorde from the Netherlands and Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich from Germany, secured positions three, five and seven on the grid. The final round of the Supercup season is contested as support to the Italian Grand Prix and gets underway on Sunday (11 September) at 11:50 am.

Championship leader Dylan Pereira has moved one step closer to claiming his first title in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Driving for the BWT Lechner Racing team, the Luxembourger tackles the season finale of the international one-make cup with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from P3 – and thus in front of his two title rivals. Dutchman Larry ten Voorde from the GP Elite squad, the Supercup champion of the last two years, clocked the fifth fastest time in qualifying. Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich from Germany planted the ca. 375 kW (510 PS) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup fielded by SSR Huber Racing on the seventh grid position.

“My goal isn’t to win, I just can’t afford to retire. I have teammates around me on the grid who will watch my back. It doesn’t get better than that,” says championship leader Pereira ahead of the 15-lap race on Sunday. “It’ll be very difficult for me but I’ll do my very best,” vowed Larry ten Voorde. Ranking second in the standings, the Dutchman must finish at least second in the final race to have a chance of catching Pereira. Laurin Heinrich, on the other hand, is likely to focus on catching ten Voorde in the bid for second place. “I was at the top of the time sheets for a long stretch with my first set of tyres. When the others were even faster on fresh tyres, I didn’t catch a decent slipstream at the decisive moment,” reports the Porsche Junior, who tackles the final round ranking third overall, but has only an outside chance of taking home the title.

The fastest qualifier was Harry King from the BWT Lechner Racing squad. “I’ve come close a couple of times this season. I saved the best for last. It’s a real shame that I can’t start the race from pole position,” commented the Englishman. King received a penalty at the previous Supercup race in Zandvoort due to a collision and was subsequently demoted to fourth place on the grid at Monza.

As a result, Marvin Klein, the second fastest qualifier, inherits pole position. “In Zandvoort, I started from pole and won. I hope I can repeat that here in Monza,” said the Frenchman from the CLRT squad. Driving for the BWT Lechner Racing team, the Danish rookie Bastian Buus secured P3. Lining up on the third grid row alongside Larry ten Voorde is another rookie, Dutchman Loek Hartog, who competes for the Italian team Ombra.

The maths behind the title decision
Ahead of the last race of the year, championship leader Dylan Pereira holds an 18-point advantage over Larry ten Voorde. Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich follows another two points behind in third place. Ten Voorde must win the final round (25 points) or come second (20 points) to even catch Pereira. Heinrich only has a chance at claiming the title if he wins.

If ten Voorde finishes first, Pereira will be crowned champion with ninth place (7 points) or better. Should ten Voorde finish second, Pereira needs at least 14th place (2 points). If Pereira and ten Voorde are tied for points, the title goes to Pereira, as he has one more win to his credit (3:2).

Should Heinrich win his second race of the season, the title is Pereira’s as long as he crosses the finish line at least 11th (5 points). If Heinrich finishes second, Pereira retires and ten Voorde fails to win, then Heinrich and Pereira will be tied for points. In this case, Pereira will still be the 2022 Supercup champion due to the higher number of victories over the season.

If Dylan Pereira fails to score points on Sunday, a win would hand Larry ten Voorde his third Supercup title in a row. Second place would also be enough for the Dutchman if Heinrich does not win.

Qualifying result, race 8 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Monza (Italy)
1. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), 1:48.753 minutes*
2. Marvin Klein (France/CLRT), +0.092 seconds
3. Bastian Buus (Denmark/BWT Lechner Racing), +0.117 seconds
4. Dylan Pereira (Luxembourg/BWT Lechner Racing), +0.398 seconds
5. Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite), +0.403 seconds
6. Loek Hartog (Netherlands/Ombra SRL), +0.415 seconds

* starts the race from P4 due to a penalty

Source. Porsche