Porsche Junior Thomas Preining recorded his first victory since the third round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup with a faultless performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix, leading from pole position to the chequered flag.
In the 32 degree Celsius heat, Preining led the field away from the start, defending in to the first corner to hang on to first place, before the action could get going a safety car was called out to clear the debris from the damaged car of Phillip Sager, closing the field up after Preining’s lightning start.
Credit: Porsche
On the restart Preining held his nerve and from that point never looked back as he controlled the race from the front.
“Pole position was particularly important on Hungaroring because it’s difficult to overtake here. My start was great and I didn’t make any mistakes during the race,” said Preining.
Julien Andlauer headed up the charge behind Preining, putting the young Austrian under pressure in the closing stages. The Lechner Racing driver managed to hold off the Frenchman, leaving him to settle for second place in the race, 11.7 seconds ahead of Jaap van Lagen.
“This is a great result, and unfortunately I couldn’t do better. The heat was particularly challenging because you couldn’t really risk too much with the tyres,” said Andlauer after the race.
van Lagen took the final podium sport as he moved up from fifth on the grid, making up two places in the charge in to the first corner.
“It feels great to stand on the podium again. I was fast over the entire weekend and I’m thrilled that we were rewarded for this in the race,” said van Lagen.
Zaid Ashkanani recorded his best result of the season with fourth place, the 41-year-old Kuwaiti defended the advances of Nick Yelloly as the Brit and title rival Michael Ammermüller were locked in an intense battle.
Credit: Porsche
Despite the spectacular dual, Yelloly managed to make the most of the race to hold off the German to claim fifth position.
Larry ten Voorde was the best of the rookies as he claimed seventh place behind Christopher Zöchling; Dylan Pereira and Florian Latorre rounded out the top ten.
In the Pro-Am class Roar Lindland claimed his fifth victory of the season.
Ammermüller leaves Hungary in the lead of the championship with 91 points ahead of Yelloly who is now only three points behind the German, Andlauer occupies third place with 65 points with four races of the 2018 season left to run.
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup – Hungarian Grand Prix Result
1. Thomas Preining (A/BWT Lechner Racing)
2. Julien Andlauer (F/martinet by ALMERAS)
3. Jaap van Lagen (NL/Fach Auto Tech)
4. Zaid Ashkanani (KWT/MRS GT-Racing)
5. Nick Yelloly (GB/Fach Auto Tech)
6. Michael Ammermüller (D/BWT Lechner Racing)
7. Christopher Zöchling (A/MRS GT-Racing)
8. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team Project 1)
9. Dylan Pereira (L/Momo Megatron Lechner Racing)
10. Florian Latorre (F/martinet by ALMERAS)
Points standings after 6 of 10 races:
1. Michael Ammermüller (D/BWT Lechner Racing), 91 points
2. Nick Yelloly (GB/Fach Auto Tech), 88 points
3. Julien Andlauer (F/martinet by ALMERAS), 65 points
