It was a Dutch 1-2 in France
Stuttgart. Great success for the Netherlands at the sixth round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup on the Circuit de Nevers. At the 14-lap race on the French Grand Prix track, first and second went to two Dutchman, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Jaap van Lagen, ahead of Stefan Rosina from Slovakia. For Bleekemolen, this marks his second win in France within one week. Last Sunday, the 25-year-old claimed class victory at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours at the wheel of the Porsche RS Spyder sports prototype.
For Frenchman Nicolas Armindo, however, the race in Magny-Cours was plagued with bad luck. After the 26-year-old claimed pole position in his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup run by tolimit Motorsport, he stalled the engine of his vehicle at the start and fell back to ninth place. Bleekemolen slipped into the lead, having started from second on the grid, followed by his compatriot Jaap van Lagen (Damac Kadach Racing Team) and Stefan Rosina (Slovakia, Lechner Racing Bahrain). With an immaculate drive, Jeroen Bleekemolen left his pursuers no chance to pass and took the flag after 24:38.828 minutes. Van Lagen and Rosina saw the chequered flag in second and third position.
The fight for the following positions created a great deal of excitement. Patrick Husiman (Netherlands, Irwin Racing) made an excellent start. The four-time Supercup champion took up the race from eleventh to snatch fourth at the first corner. Portugal’s Pedro Petiz (Racing Team Jetstream PZ Essen), who had qualified his Porsche on fourth, spun in the first lap and retired. Behind Huisman came a top class line-up of pursuers, led by Danny Watts (Great Britain, SAS Lechner Racing), followed closely by Chris Mamerow (Germany, Damac Kadach Racing Team), Uwe Alzen (Germany, SPS Performance – PZ Aschaffenburg), Nicolas Armindo, René Rast (Germany, VELTINS MRS Racing) and Jan Seyffarth (Germany, Konrad Motorsport). After many changes of positions which saw Porsche specialist Alzen sometimes hold fourth position, Huisman finally finished fourth. Ranking fifth and sixth were Watts and Alzen, who delivered an exciting duel to the final lap. Chris Mamerow crossed the finish line in seventh, followed by Jan Seyffarth and Nicolas Armindo. The youngster Rast was sidelined in the eighth lap with damage to his radiator after he hit the rear of Danny Watts’ Porsche. Tenth position went to René Rast’s team mate, Norbert Siedler (Austria).
The next championship round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup takes place on 6 July in Silverstone (Great Britain) as support to the British Grand Prix.
Jeroen Bleekemolen (winner): “In contrast to our soccer squad who lost yesterday, I can return to the Netherlands with my head held high. But seriously, the race went perfectly. Nicolas stood still at the start and suddenly I found myself in the lead. That was somewhat strange. Jaap put a lot of pressure on me from behind. But I was slightly faster and could hold him at bay. I compliment him. He drove a very fair race. I’m happy it turned out like this. This result is great for the championship.”
Jaap van Lagen (second): “One thing is certain: Holland played much better today than yesterday. Two Dutchmen on the podium – that’s great. My start was perfect and I could move into second at the first corner. Then I just concentrated on what was in front of me. I had no chance against Jeroen. He gave a brilliant performance for Holland, drove wonderfully and gave me no chance to overtake. I’m happy with second position.”
Stefan Rosina (third): “I’m pleased I could bring home a good result as thanks for my team’s great work. We have worked together for the last 18 months. It’s fantastic that we’ve finally achieved a podium result.”
Race result:
1. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, 24:38.828 Min. (149.883 km/h)
2. Jaap van Lagen (NL), Damac Kadach Racing Team, + 0.308 seconds
3. Stefan Rosina (SK), Lechner Racing Bahrain, + 1.601
4. Patrick Huisman (NL), Irwin Racing, + 5.325
5. Danny Watts (GB), SAS Lechner Racing, + 6.466
6. Uwe Alzen (D), SPS Performance – PZ Aschaffenburg, + 7.102
7. Chris Mamerow (D), Damac Kadach Racing Team, + 8.053
8. Jan Seyffarth (D), Konrad Motorsport, + 9.354
9. Nicolas Armindo (FR), tolimit Motorsport, + 11.105
10. Norbert Siedler (AT), VELTINS MRS Racing, + 15.730
Driver standings after six of twelve rounds:
1. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), 96 points
2. Jan Seyffarth (D), 84 points
3. Chris Mamerow (D), 68 points
4. Uwe Alzen (D), 67 points
5. Damien Faulkner (IR), 64 points