Armindo on his way to victory
Stuttgart. The final race of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup in the Italian city of Monza could hardly have been more thrilling. On the damp high-speed circuit, Frenchman Nicolas Armindo (26) navigated his 420 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup through the notorious chicanes and brought home the team title for his Konrad Motorsport squad. Second went to Joerg Hardt (Germany) driving for Schnabl Engineering-LKM-KplusK Motorsport. The new champion Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands), competing for the Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen team, saw the chequered flag in third position.
Already at the start of the 14-lap race, Joerg Hardt catapulted his 911 GT3 Cup under difficult conditions from fourth on the grid to the front of the field. Pole-setter René Rast (Germany, VELTINS MRS Racing) emerged in second from the Variante Rettifilo chicane. Behind him came Jeroen Bleekemolen and Lance David Arnold (Germany, SPS Performance – PZ Aschaffenburg). UPS-Porsche Junior Martin Ragginger (Austria), who had taken up the race from second on the grid, was the only driver amongst the front-runners to gamble on wet tyres. But the expected heavy showers didn't come. Ragginger's wet tyres overheated and he slipped further down the field.
From the seventh lap onwards, a gripping fight for the lead developed amongst the front pack. Firstly it was René Rast ahead of Hardt heading into the eighth lap. At the end of the finish straight, Nicolas Armindo shot from fourth to relegate Rast and Hardt to second and third. Stefan Rosina (Slovakia, Lechner Racing Bahrain) moved into fourth after starting from seventh.
In lap eleven the fight for positions continued amongst the leading group: Rosina replaced Hardt in second, Arnold overtook Rast to tackle the next lap as fourth. At the very start of the twelfth lap, Stefan Rosina attacked Frenchman Armindo on the straight and edged him out in the following chicane. The new leader held onto his position until the next corner combination. Nicolas Armindo counter-attacked, moved into first place and pulled away from the field to take the chequered flag first.
In the final two laps a three-way battle ensued for the further podium places. With a spin in the penultimate lap forcing René Rast down the pack, Supercup champion Jeroen Bleekemolen again found himself back near the front. In the final lap, Hardt edged past Rosina to claim second. Bleekemolen then put the Slovakian under pressure, overtook him and crossed the finish line in third ahead of Stefan Rosina in fourth.
Fifth position went to Pedro Petiz from Portugal (Racing Team Jetstream PZ Essen), for whom this marked his best result of the season. Sean Edwards (Great Britain, Konrad Motorsport) and Lance David Arnold ranked sixth and seventh respectively. However, when an inconsistency was found in the fuel of Arnold's Porsche after the qualifying, the sports commission disqualified him from the race. An appeal has been lodged by his SPS Performance – PZ Aschaffenburg team. Arnold contested the race conditionally. Until the final decision of the sports council has been reached, the race result remains preliminary.
Albert II, Prince of Thurn and Taxis (Germany), who competed as a guest of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, received the flag after an immaculate race in 18th. The 25-year-old had taken up the round from 27th on the grid. At the pit wall, his mother, Mariae Gloria, Princess of Thurn and Taxis, kept her fingers crossed for her son before she later made the presentations at the awards ceremony.
Nicolas Armindo (winner): “That was a fantastic win. I only heard last Wednesday that I'd be racing here this weekend. So to win today is simply unbelievable. Konrad Motorsport and I had a lot of work to do. After all, they had to set up the car after the requirements of a totally new driver in the team. They did a great job with this and gave me a super car. I've already shown often enough that I can win. It works if you've got a good car.”
Jörg Hardt (second): “What a crazy race but it was great fun. Perhaps some of our moves were a little high-spirited, but it all went well. My start was a dream, then I fell back before finally catching up again. I'm absolutely delighted. Most of all, I'm pleased for my team that we were able to finish the season with a top result.”
Jeroen Bleekemolen (third): “I've never had to fight for positions as hard as I did today. What a great race – truly a worthy season final. It's a great feeling to celebrate the last round with another podium result.”
Albert II, Prince of Thurn and Taxis (18th position): “Today was the first time I've driven with slicks on a wet track. That's a totally new experience. I was able to make up nine positions during the race. I'm pleased. All in all, the weekend was fantastic – great fun! My team worked professionally from the first to the last minute. It's wonderful to be given such a chance.”
Race result:
1. Nicolas Armindo (FR), Konrad Motorsport, 28:46.149 min. (168.499 km/h)
2. Jörg Hardt (D), Schnabl Engineering-LKM-KplusK Motorsport, + 1.272 seconds
3. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Jetstream Motorsport PZ Essen, + 1.618
4. Stefan Rosina (SK), Lechner Racing Bahrain, + 1.966
5. Pedro Petiz (PT), Racing Team Jetstream PZ Essen, + 2.611
6. Sean Edwards (GB), Konrad Motorsport, + 3.287
7. Lance David Arnold (D), SPS Performance – PZ Aschaffenburg, + 3.908
8. Alessandro Zampedri (IT), Lechner Racing Bahrain, + 7.520
9. René Rast (D), VELTINS MRS Racing, + 10.219
10. Danny Watts (GB), SAS Lechner Racing, + 12.076