BWT Lechner Racing driver Dylan Pereira got his 2022 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup campaign off to the perfect start in a rain-drenched opening race of the season at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola.
Five minutes before the start of the race the heavens opened, soaking the circuit and delaying the formation lap as the teams scrambled to swap tyres to the full wet compound.
With the rain still falling and no more time to delay the race, the field pulled away from the grid behind the safety car, with former Supercup race winner Bernd Mayländer leading the field in the Aston Martin Vantage, completing three laps of the race behind it before the conditions allowed for the field of 33 cars to get racing underway on lap 4.
As the field prepared to get the race underway, Pereira controlled the grid, bunching the competitors up before unleashing the power of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car and leading into the first corner.
Reigning champion Larry ten Voorde held on in second place as he come under pressure from the second BWT Lechner Racing car of Bastian Buus. Behind the leading trio Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich was settling in to fourth place while the battle for fifth raged on behind him. Marvin Klein lost out as he run wide, letting Dorian Boccolacci, Harry King, and Rudy van Buren through.
A rare mistake from ten Voorde saw him fly over the kerbs at Variante Alta, losing more time and closing Buus right on to the bumper of the GP Elite car.
Harry King made an impressive move on Heinrich in to the first of the two Rivazza corners, taking fourth place, joining the back of the train behind ten Voorde and Buus. The Brit would gain another place on lap 5 as Buus run wide at Acque Minerali, dropping down to fifth place.
Gianmarco Quaresmini would have a scare as he ran through the gravel trap, thankfully for the Italian he would manage to rejoin the track and continue, despite dropping to fourteenth place.
Leonardo Caglioni suffered the only non-finish of the race in an incident that is possibly one of the most bizarre causes of retirement. With the weather conditions already challenging, an errant umbrella had made its way on to the circuit. Unfortunately for the Ombra SRL driver it would become logged in the windscreen wiper of his car, blocking his view. As he struggled on, his race eventually came to an end when he skittled through the gravel trap and into the barriers, causing the safety car to come out as they cleared the stricken car away.
As the competitors prepared themselves for the restart, Laurin Heinrich had a scare as he almost tangled with Harry King, running on to the grass before he gathered himself behind the BWT Lechner Racing car.
The race got underway again on lap ten, with five laps remaining and the dark rain clouds started rolling in again, Periera controlled the field from the front again, ten Voorde in second and King in third, followed closely by Heinrich.
Fifth place was being fought over between Buus and Dorian Boccolacci, a small mistake from Boccolacci saw him run over the grass, losing out to Klein as he rejoined the circuit.
As the laps counted down, Klein set the fastest lap and was pushing hard in the battle for fourth place with Heinrich and Buus. Unfortunately for the Frenchman his luck would soon run out as on the final lap he went off track, dropping down to fifteenth place as the chequered flags came out and Periera took victory.
Buus tops rookie championship, Hanafin also impresses
Bastian Buus showed impressive pace in the first race of the season, showing that he can mix with the frontrunners. An overall fifth place would secure him first place in the Rookie championship. Taking second place on his debut was Porsche Carrera Cup GB race winner Lorcan Hanafin, who also showed great pace to take eighth place overall, just one place ahead of third placed rookie Loek Hartog.
Former champion Lindland tops Pro-Am field
2018 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Pro-Am champion Roar Lindland was back on pace for the opening race of the season. Starting from class pole position he initially lost out to Clement Mateu, who was looking like he had everything under control until he was passed by Lindland on Lap 11, and then again on the final lap by Aaron Mason. Following the race stewards gave Mason a three second penalty for causing a collision, dropping him to fourth place behind Philipp Sager.
Baptism of fire for MotoGP champion Lorenzo
Heading in to the weekend Jorge Lorenzo knew that it was going to be a tough task to get a good result against the experienced field, his aim for the weekend was to gain as much experience of the car before he embarks on a full season in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia series. With a target of a top-twenty finish, the Spaniard was up against it from the start, with a mixture of trying to learn the car and deal with the weather.
He would start the race from thirty-first place and finish in thirtieth, gaining one place as a result of Caglioni’s retirement. While on paper this may seem like a weekend to forget, the motorcycle racer turner sportscar racer had a solid debut as he battled with the experienced Pro-Am field
2022 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup – Imola – Race Results
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Time | Diff. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Dylan PEREIRA | BWT Lechner Racing | 30:09.383 | |
| 2 | 25 | Larry TEN VOORDE | Team GP Elite | 30:11.397 | +2.014 |
| 3 | 6 | Harry KING | BWT Lechner Racing | 30:12.378 | +2.995 |
| 4 | 3 | Laurin HEINRICH | SSR Huber Racing | 30:13.754 | +4.371 |
| 5 | 7 | Bastian BUUS (R) | BWT Lechner Racing | 30:14.042 | +4.659 |
| 6 | 19 | Dorian BOCCOLACCI | Martinet by Almeras | 30:16.998 | +7.615 |
| 7 | 2 | Rudy VAN BUREN | Huber Racing | 30:17.684 | +8.301 |
| 8 | 9 | Lorcan HANAFIN (R) | FACH AUTO TECH | 30:19.183 | +9.800 |
| 9 | 17 | Loek HARTOG (R) | Ombra SRL | 30:21.153 | +11.770 |
| 10 | 24 | Max VAN SPLUNTEREN | Team GP Elite | 30:21.743 | +12.360 |
| 11 | 10 | Jukka HONKAVUORI | FACH AUTO TECH | 30:22.550 | +13.167 |
| 12 | 4 | Michael AMMERMUELLER | SSR Huber Racing | 30:23.986 | +14.603 |
| 13 | 20 | Jaap VAN LAGEN * | Martinet by Almeras | 30:26.164 | +16.781 |
| 14 | 1 | Morris SCHURING (R) | Huber Racing | 30:26.506 | +17.123 |
| 15 | 12 | Marvin KLEIN | CLRT | 30:27.488 | +18.105 |
| 16 | 8 | Alexander FACH (R) | FACH AUTO TECH | 30:29.180 | + 19.797 |
| 17 | 13 | Evan SPENLE (R) | CLRT | 30:29.501 | +20.118 |
| 18 | 26 | Jesse VAN KUIJK | Team GP Elite | 30:29.891 | +20.508 |
| 19 | 28 | Lucas GROENEVELD | GP Elite | 30:30.168 | +20.785 |
| 20 | 31 | Hampus ERIKSSON | Fragus Motorsport | 30:32.551 | +23.168 |
| 21 | 27 | Daan VAN KUIJK | GP Elite | 30:32.819 | +23.436 |
| 22 | 30 | Pontus FREDRIKSSON | Fragus Motorsport | 30:33.658 | +24.275 |
| 23 | 18 | Gianmarco QUARESMINI | Ombra SRL | 30:34.472 | +25.089 |
| 24 | 16 | Simone IAQUINTA | Dinamic Motorsport SRL | 30:36.485 | +27.102 |
| 25 | 32 | Edvin HELLSTEN | Fragus Motorsport | 30:37.603 | +28.220 |
| 26 | 14 | Daniele CAZZANIGA | Dinamic Motorsport SRL | 30:38.922 | +29.539 |
| 27 | 21 | Roar LINDLAND (P) | Pierre Martinet by Almeras | 30:42.715 | +33.332 |
| 28 | 11 | Clement MATEU (P) | CLRT | 30:44.268 | +34.885 |
| 29 | 15 | Philipp SAGER (P) | Dinamic Motorsport SRL | 30:44.917 | +35.534 |
| 30 | 911 | Jorge LORENZO | Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG | 30:45.128 | +35.745 |
| 31 | 23 | Aaron MASON (P) * | Pierre Martinet by Almeras | 30:46.620 | +37.237 |
| 32 | 22 | Stephane DENOUAL (P) | Pierre Martinet by Almeras | 31:05.257 | +55.874 |
| DNF | 29 | Leonardo CAGLIONI | Ombra SRL | 13:42.797 | Accident |
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