Jaap van Lagen took a debut Monaco win as he returned in dramatic fashion to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup for Fach Auto Tech.
On a circuit notoriously difficult to overtake on, the twenty five car strong field dazzled, with displays of great race-craft rarely found in even the highest levels of motor sport competition.
That is not to say there was a great deal of passing, there wasn’t. That is not to say either that there wasn’t incident because there most definitely was. At mid-distance three cars running towards the rear of the field spun individually at Sainte Dévote, partially blocking the road and leaving no choice but for officials to deploy a safety car.
This was just another obstacle that van Lagen overcame, inspite of the immense pressure being heaped upon him by Team Project 1 driver Philipp Eng. These were the two drivers who occupied the first two spaces on the starting grid and separated by little more than a centimetre at flag fall.
Van Lagen was delighted, commenting, “I’ve won a lot of races over the years and I’ve finished on the podium twice here already, but never as the winner. This Monaco victory means a great deal to me. It’s something very special.”
The third step on said rostrum was occupied by MOMO-Megatron Team PARTRAX driver Ben Barker, the British pilot deserving of an overtake of the season award for the outside pass he pulled on MRS GT-Racing man Christian Engelhart at the very first corner of the race. Engelhart thumped the barriers trying to run side by side with Barker up to Casino Square but managed to nurse his car home to fourth position.
The top six order was completed by Michael Ammermüller (Lechner Racing Middle East) and Alex Riberas (The Heart of Racing by Lechner). It is the Barcelona victor Ammermüller who continues to lead the standings but by only two points from the man in third in the standings, Engelhart. Eng is tied for the points lead but loses out due to his lack of victories thus far in 2015.
That may change though, as the Supercup now enjoys a month’s break before returning to action at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. Last year the circuit produced some of the most spectacular Supercup action in memory. With the title battle so delicately poised, it is eyes on Austria.
