Mathieu Jaminet claimed the opening Porsche Mobil1 Supercup race at the Circuit of the Americas, as Matteo Cairoli’s championship chances were virtually wiped out by a mechanical failure.
Martinet by Almeras contender Jaminet had qualified on pole, but FACH Auto Tech man Cairoli pulled off a daring move at the opening corner to steal the lead.
Jaminet appeared to have a subtle pace advantage in the early stages but his Italian rival held firm, knowing how crucial victory would be. Championship leader coming into the day was Sven Müller, but having qualified his Lechner Racing operated Type 991 GT3 Cup in sixth, life was looking difficult for the German.
A charge in the early portion of the race took him up to third position. However, with Cairoli out front it looked as though the title momentum was swinging away from Müller, who had claimed the Carrera Cup Deutschland title a week earlier at Hockenheim.
Then disaster struck as Cairoli dramatically slowed with an electrical plug issue. As he crawled back to the pits, Jaminet sprinted off to claim victory. The real winner from the day was Müller though, who now very much has both hands on the crown.
Robert Lukas started in fourth and with Cairoli’s demise rounded out the podium in his FÖRCH Racing by Lukas Motorsport prepared car. Three different teams on the rostrum and an impressive six different operations in the top ten. The additional three came in the form of MRS-GT Racing and Christian Engelhart (fifth), FACH Auto Tech and Philipp Frommenwiler (eighth) and two MOMO-Megatron Team PARTRAX cars.
The leading MOMO entry was Paul Rees, who started a season’s best eighth and finished in seventh. Rees has taken his time to transition from the highly competitive Carrera Cup GB to the rarefied heights of the Supercup, and should take great heart from a result that validates the view that patience pays of. All in all it was a tremendous day for MOMO, with Dylan Pereira rounding out the top ten and Pepe Massot continuing his impressive learning curve with twelfth in the twenty-seven car field.
So a crown claimed and a chance lost. Lechner Racing claimed the teams championship on Saturday afternoon, as Matteo Cairoli almost certainly lost his shot at the drivers title. It isn’t over until it is over, however Sven Müller came to Austin as the series leader and looks almost certain to leave it as the new king of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup.