Reigning Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup champion Michael Ammermüller took his first victory of the 2019 season last weekend at the Circuit de Monaco, making it a clean sweep of the weekend as he dominated practice, qualifying and the race.
Having secured pole position on the Friday, Ammermüller was in prime position to take the victory around the narrow streets of Monte-Carlo to take the win in his BWT Lechner Racing car, giving the team their second win of the season after Julien Andlauer claimed victory at the opening round in Barcelona.
The German led the field away at the start, defending the top spot from Mikkel Pedersen, who over the course of the race would put pressure on Ammermüller.
Despite being the fastest driver on the circuit, the Dane was unable to find a way around the double champion. Even after a safety car period on lap twelve Ammermüller fought off the advances of Pedersen at the hairpin, leaving the Dinamic Motorsport to settle for second place.
“The race in Monte Carlo has always been the highlight of the season for me. That’s why I’m particularly thrilled with this win.” said a delighted Ammermüller.
“I was consistently fast over the whole distance, but starting from pole position on this narrow track was the key advantage of course,” added the German.
Despite missing out on the win, Pedersen was happy with his performance, “This is my favourite circuit on the Supercup calendar.” said the Dane.
“Right from the start I put pressure on Michael Ammermüller but he used his experience very cleverly to keep me at bay. I’m incredibly proud of second place. The moment on the podium felt fantastic.”
After missing the opening round, Larry ten Voorde returned to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup grid, picking up third place in the race.
“This was a great result for the entire team. I got away well at the start, but I simply didn’t find room to overtake. I tried again shortly before the flag but the risk was just too great,” said the MRS driver.
Florian Latorre secured fourth place ahead of a feisty Ayhancan Güven, the rookie driver pushing the Frenchman all of the way to the finish as he continues to impress in his in only his second Supercup race.
Jaap van Lagen finished in sixth place ahead of Porsche Junior Andlauer who had a frustrating time in qualifying after his fastest lap was disrupted by red flags.
“That was a tough race. My start was good, but it got extremely tight in the first corner and I couldn’t make up any positions. In the last laps I was on Jaap van Lagen’s bumper, but there was no gap to overtake,” said Andlauer.
2018 Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Tio Ellinas took eighth place ahead of Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans who managed to move up three places throughout the race to secure ninth place.
“I’m satisfied with the result from my first race in Monaco. I managed to make up one position in the first lap. After that I waited patiently and profited from the mistakes made by my rivals. The entire weekend was a great experience and huge fun,” said the New Zealander.
Al Faisal Al Zubair rounded out the top ten in a season that has shown great improvement from the Omani after following up his seventh place finish in Barcelona.
In the Pro-Am class Roar Lindland marched to another victory ahead of Philipp Sager and Nicolas Misslin.
With Ammermüller taking victory in Monaco and teammate Andlauer suffering a frustrating race, the German moves in to the lead of the championship with 36 points ahead of Güven on 30 points and Andlauer on 29.
Round three of the international one-make race series will be held on the Red Bull Ring in Austria from 28-30 June. This event in Styria is the home race for the Lechner Racing squad. The team comes from the Faistenau municipality. Philipp Sager also has Austrian roots. The driver from Dinamic Motorsport lives in Peggau to the north of Graz.
German YouTube star Felix von der Laden was a guest of Porsche throughout the weekend, producing a video of his behind the scenes experience for his 3 million fans. You can view the video (in German) below.
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