Jan Seyffarth takes his first Porsche Supercup win
Stuttgart. Jan Seyffarth (Germany) won the third round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup at the Spanish Grand Prix. Driving for Konrad Motorsport, the 21-year-old former UPS-Porsche junior took up the 14-lap race from pole position and after a faultless race saw the chequered flag first after 26:16.910 minutes. For Seyffarth, this success on the 4.63 kilometre Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona (Spain) marks the first in a Porsche brand trophy.
Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands) crossed the finish line in second almost three seconds behind the young German talent. The former DTM pilot started from third on the grid and slipped in behind Seyffarth already after the first corner. Driving for Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, the 26-year-old Dutchman retains his lead in the drivers’ classification of the world’s fastest international one-make series. Jan Seyffarth moves up into second position overall.
The UPS-Porsche-Junior pilot Martin Ragginger (Austria), who secured second in qualifying, experienced a bad start. He lost two positions and fell back into fourth behind René Rast (Germany, VELTINS MRS Racing) where he came under attack from Frenchman Nicolas Armindo (tolimit Motorsport). After many attempts to reclaim third, the Austria was finally successful in the ninth lap. Ragginger then set about putting some distance between himself and his pursuers to cross the finish line in third eight seconds behind the winner.
After the UPS-Porsche junior’s overtaking manoeuvre, Nicolas Armindo passed René Rast to claim fourth, with the 21-year-old following in fifth. Rast had secured pole position at both championship rounds in Bahrain.
Danny Watts (Great Britain, SAS Lechner Racing) and Stefan Rosina (Slovakia, Lechner Racing Bahrain) finished in positions six and seven respectively. Reigning vice-champion Damien Faulkner (Ireland, SAS Lechner Racing Bahrain) as well as two Porsche specialists Patrick Huisman (Netherlands, Irwin Racing) and Uwe Alzen (Germany, SPS Performance – PZ Aschaffenburg) fought for eighth place, with Huisman taking eighth at the flag ahead of Faulkner and Alzen in positions nine and ten.
Jan Seyffarth (winner): “Wow, it works. I proved I could do it in qualifying and now I’ve shown in the race that I’m someone to be reckoned with. I’ve finally got the hang of it. Now we will really go for it. The race itself ran very well. My start was fantastic and after the first corner I was able to pull away. I then just concentrated on driving an immaculate race and on bringing home victory. That was a perfect weekend for me.”
Jeroen Bleekemolen (second): “Second place is good. I’m particularly pleased to still hold the points’ lead. It was a wonderful race and Jan was really strong. I had no chance to pass him. In fact, I had my hands full in the first laps defending my second position.
Martin Ragginger (third): “My start was not really good. I experienced wheel spin and made no headway. Still, I’m thrilled. This is my first podium result in a Porsche makes cup. I hope to continue like this now. We were actually very fast during the whole Carrera Cup season last year but we couldn’t turn that into good qualifying results – here it all came together.”
Race result:
1. Jan Seyffarth (D), Konrad Motorsport, 26:16.910 minutes (148.491 kph)
2. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, + 2.723 seconds
3. Martin Ragginger (A), UPS Porsche Junior Team, + 7.923
4. Nicolas Armindo (F), tolimit Motorsport, + 9.478
5. René Rast (D), VELTINS MRS Racing, + 12.582
6. Danny Watts (GB), SAS Lechner Racing, + 12.962
7. Stefan Rosina (SK), Lechner Racing Bahrain, + 14.339
8. Patrick Huisman (NL), Irwin Racing, + 15.611
9. Damien Faulkner (IR), SAS Lechner Racing, + 16.213
10. Uwe Alzen (D), SPS Performance – PZ Aschaffenburg, + 17.339
Drivers’ classification after three of twelve rounds:
1. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), 54 points
2. Jan Seyffarth (D), 50 points
3. Chris Mamerow (D), 34 points
4. Damien Faulkner (IR), 34 points
5. René Rast (D), 34 points