Bleekemolen (right) won and increased his title lead
Stuttgart. Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands) secured the maiden Porsche victory at the harbour of Valencia. At the tenth round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup on the new street circuit, the current points' leader controlled the field right from the start and left his opponents no chance. With his third win of the season, the Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen pilot further increased his lead in the championship.
Taking up the race from pole position, the 26-year-old Dutchman pulled away from his pursuers right at the start and won the sprint to the first corner. After an impeccable race over 14 laps Bleekemolen crossed the finish line after 30:52.469 minutes as victor. The former DTM pilot had qualified his 911 GT3 Cup for second position but had taken the pole after Sean Edwards's Porsche (Great Britain) was found to have too little fuel left in the tank for the technical scrutineering after the qualifying session. The regulations stipulate a remaining quantity of two litres, which the Konrad Motorsport pilot did not have. Hence, his result was disallowed and he took up the race from the back of the grid. Edwards finished the race ranking twelfth.
Occupying the podium positions beside Jeroen Bleekemolen were Jörg Hardt (Germany, Schnabl Engineering-LKM-KplusK Motorsport) and Damien Faulkner (Ireland, SAS Lechner Racing). The 27-year-old Hardt had started from sixth on the grid to claim fifth after the first corner. Stefan Rosina (Slovakia, Lechner Racing Bahrain), Faulkner and Chris Mamerow (Germany, Damac Kadach Racing Team) sat in positions two to four.
In the eighth lap, the 31-year-old Faulkner finally overtook Rosina, who then had to yield to Jörg Hardt one lap later. In the final third of the race Hardt applied huge pressure and two laps later passed Damien Faulkner to claim second at the flag. His gap to the race leader was approximately six seconds. Faulkner saw the chequered flag in third more than ten seconds behind Bleekemolen.
Stefan Rosina received the flag in fourth, followed by Chris Mamerow und René Rast in fifth and sixth respectively. Seventh went to the quadruple Supercup champion Patrick Huisman (Netherlands, Irwin Racing) with eighth claimed by Pedro Petiz (Portugal, Racing Team Jetstream PZ Essen) – his best result so far this season. Local racer Lucas Guerrero (Spain) swept across the finish line in ninth, with Norbert Siedler from Austria rounding off the top ten.
Jeroen Bleekemolen (winner): “I had a great start today which allowed me to pull away right from the beginning. My team put a great car together for me today and it ran smoothly right to the finish. We already realised yesterday that it'd be a fast race here in Valencia. We found a very good set-up. I missed out on winning the title by just one point today. That's a shame, but I think we'll have reason to celebrate in Spa.“
Jörg Hardt (second): “My team did a fantastic job. My car had one of the best set-ups that I've ever experienced in racing. In the final third I made up a lot of time. It was a dream. The only problem was the heat. I'm thrilled with second place. A huge thank you to my team.“
Damien Faulkner (third): “Today's race was extremely tough. The conditions here are brutal, especially the heat. Apart from that I had to work really hard to pass Stefan. Once I had managed this Jeroen had already built up an enormous gap. I didn't have a chance to catch him. Then I simply had to let Jörg past. He was too fast for me. Still, another podium result is great. It would be even better to bring home another one in Spa.“
Race result:
1. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, 30:52.469 min. (147.434 km/h)
2. Jörg Hardt (D), Schnabl Enigneering-LKM-KplusK, + 5.912 seconds
3. Damien Faulkner (IR), SAS Lechner Racing, + 10.494
4. Stefan Rosina (SK), Lechner Racing Bahrain, + 12.884
5. Chris Mamerow (D), Damac Kadach Racing Team, + 13.667
6. René Rast (D), VELTINS MRS Racing, + 14.115
7. Patrick Huisman (NL), Irwin Racing, + 16.271
8. Petro Petiz (PT), Racing Team Jetstream PZ Essen, + 20.786
9. Lucas Guerrero (ES), Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, + 21.175
10. Norbert Siedler (AT), VELTINS MRS Racing, + 25.134