The Martinet by Almeras driver has been a nearly man in 2016. The three-way scrap for the title has seen the Frenchman play a pivotal role as fortunes fluctuated between his more experienced rivals, as opposed to being an out and out contender himself. Müller had stolen the momentum heading to Hockenheim, claiming victory at Silverstone and at the Hungaroring
Said momentum had been with Matteo Cairoli, but post-Austria exclusion the Italian and Fach Auto Tech had been somewhat out of the picture. That changed last time out in Germany, as an assured performance netted him his first success since round two in Monaco.
Cairoli then claimed a confident pole-position at Spa but was demoted to fourth on the grid-sheets. This seemed to be the latest incident threatening to derail the Italian’s season and gifted Müller a likely victory.
On a messy first lap, Patrick Eisemann exited the race after a first corner tangle which also involved Philipp Frommenwiler – later to retire. Müller dealt ably with the re-start but Jaminet was on a mission and confidently usurped his rival after a subtle error saw Müller drift wide and open the door.
Christian Engelhart acted as the block between Cairoli, the podium and more importantly his championship rivals. The MRS-GT Racing driver has been hard to pinpoint but a podium is more indicative of his pace than the occasional performance wallowing in the mid-pack.
Issues hampered MOMO-Megatron Team PARTRAX driver Paul Rees who finished the race three laps down, but it was the performance of former Ginetta and Porsche Carrera Cup GB ace Pepe Massot that caught attention. Massot has seen his racing activities hampered by injury recently, so to step into the Supercup in 2016 and claim an impressive eleventh in a twenty-nine car field is more than noteworthy. Ryan Cullen deserves credit for a fourteenth position result, in a season where his pace has remained consistently impressive in his Lechner machine.
So to Monza. With Müller holding a slender six-point advantage over Cairoli, Jaminet’s victory may be less relevant for his own championship hopes (sitting twenty-five points off the summit) than for the first-named who could have done with extending his gap yet further with his main rival in semi-strife. From Italy the series will wait until November to travel to the Circuit of the Americas for the now traditional double-header finale. A Porsche Junior will claim the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup title in 2016. The question is which? Answers will emerge, first from Italy on the 4th of September…
