Alzen will line up 8th in Bahrain
Stuttgart. To open the season, René Rast (Germany) secured pole position for the first round of this year’s Porsche Mobil1 Supercup in Bahrain. At the second qualifying session, which determines the grid line up for the second round of the series on Sunday, the 20-year-old again set the quickest time. At his debut in the world’s fastest international one-make cup, the new-comer takes up both championship rounds from the front of the 26-strong field.
The German secured pole position for the first race in a time of 2:04.373 minutes, undercutting last year’s time (2:05.244 minutes) by approximately one second. Behind René Rast, a total of eleven drivers qualified within one second. The new top times are predominantly made possible by the modified Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, which this season features 420 hp instead of 400 and an aerodynamically optimised rear section. Lining up alongside Rast on the first row is Damien Faulkner (Ireland). The 31-year-old, who won the race here last year in Bahrain, narrowly missed out on the pole by seven hundredths of a second.
Occupying ranks three and four on the grid are Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands) and Danny Watts (Great Britain). Both contest their first full Supercup season in 2008, with the 26-year-old Dutchman in particular regarded as a hot favourite: Last year he claimed three victories and climbed the podium five times. Chris Mamerow (Germany) takes up the 12-lap sprint behind Bleekemolen. Despite 2008 being a debut Supercup season for the 23-year old, he is not short on experience at the wheel of a Porsche. In 2004 he contested the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland for the first time and in 2007 finished the season in fourth overall.
On positions six and seven sit the former UPS-Porsche junior Jan Seyffarth (Germany) and Nicolas Armindo (France). Uwe Alzen (Germany), the reigning champion of the German Carrera Cup and the 1994 Supercup champion, planted his Porsche in eighth on the grid. Trailing the German are Jiri Janak (Czech Republic) and Stefan Rosina (Slovakia).
To determine the grid for the second round which takes place on the Bahrain International Circuit on Sunday, the second fastest qualifying time was taken for each of the 26 pilots. René Rast and Jeroen Bleekemolen share the first row, with Chris Mamerow and Nicolas Armindo behind them on positions three and four. Fifth on the grid is Damien Faulkner, followed by Danny Watts and Uwe Alzen. Jan Seyffarth posted the eighth quickest time with Sebastiaan Bleekemolen (Netherlands) and Stefan Rosina rounding off the top ten qualifying positions.
René Rast (pole sitter): “My first time in the Supercup and two pole positions – wow! My last lap was almost perfect. Now I’m at the front of the grid I can hardly believe it. My car was prepared wonderfully. The team did a fantastic job. I’m very happy. Now let’s see what I can do with it.”
Damien Faulkner (second and fifth in qualifying): “What strange qualifying session. My first set of tyres allowed me to post a great time, then I changed to the second set and had no chance. I simply couldn’t repeat this performance. At least for race one I start from the first row.”
Jeroen Bleekemolen (third and second): “That was okay. René Rast was simply unbeatable. He did a great job today. With third and second respectively we are in a good position to bring home a good result. Victory would be wonderful. My minimum objective is to secure podium results from both rounds and as many points as possible.”
Chris Mamerow (Fifth and third): “Compared to the others I lapped the circuit with very consistent times. Both qualifying results are almost identical. That makes me optimistic for the race. I had to risk a lot in qualifying because I don’t know the circuit that well. For the race I hope to give chase and gain some positions. A place on the podium would be nice.”
The television stations “Premiere” and “Eurosport” broadcast the first race live on Saturday (5th April) from 11.20 hrs (CEST). The second championship round takes place on Sunday (6th April) and is shown on “Premiere” and “Eurosport 2” live from 11.10 hrs (CEST).
Qualifying result (1st championship round):
1. René Rast (D), VELTINS MRS Racing, 2:04.373 minutes (156.651 km/h)
2. Damien Faulkner (IR), SAS Lechner Racing, 0.069 seconds behind
3. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, 0.435
4. Danny Watts (GB), SAS Lechner Racing, 0.097
5. Chris Mamerow (D), Damac Kadach Racing Team, 0.438
Qualifying result (2nd championship round):
1. René Rast (D), VELTINS MRS Racing, 2:04.683 minutes
2. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, 0.105 seconds behind
3. Chris Mamerow (D), Damac Kadach Racing Team, 0.146
4. Nicolas Armindo (F), tolimit Motorsport, 0.328
5. Damien Faulkner (IR), SAS Lechner Racing, 0.406