Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans starts the season with a perfect lights-to-flag win

Round 1

“A perfect start to the season. The first outing for my new team and the first victory – it can go on like this,” grinned Evans, who finished less than a second ahead of his teammate Dylan Pereira. “I changed a couple of details on the suspension setup between the qualifying and the race and that worked really well,” said the Luxembourger, who started from fourth on the grid and promptly made up two places in the first lap.

With Leon Köhler taking the flag in third place, the squad of the legendary Austrian team principal Walter Lechner celebrated a triple success at its home race on the 4.318-kilometre Red Bull Ring in Styria: The 20-year-old from Bavaria was also the fastest of the nine rookies. “I really didn’t expect this,” said Köhler, somewhat surprised by his own performance. “I was easily able to match the pace of my two teammates. Let’s see if I can do even better in the next race.”

Behind the leading Lechner trio, heated battles for positions developed. While pursuing the frontrunners, Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (TR/Martinet by Alméras) allegedly overdid it, according to the steward of the meeting. Because he repeatedly veered from the officially marked track, he was handed a five-second penalty. After crossing the finish line in fourth place, he was subsequently relegated to eighth. As a result, Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite) moved up the ranks, just five-tenths of a second ahead of Florian Latorre (F/CLRT) and rookie Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (F/Lechner Racing Middle East).

Finishing seventh, Marvin Klein (F/Martinet by Alméras) also underlined the talent of the young guns. Rounding off the top ten behind Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven were Marius Nakken (N/Dinamic Motorsport) and Laurin Heinrich (D/MRS GT-Racing). Mateo Llarena (GT), who at the age of 16 years, four months and ten days is the youngest competitor by now to contest a Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race, secured position 19.

In the ProAm category, the Austrian Philipp Sager (Dinamic Motorsport) celebrated a home victory. Roar Lindland (N/Pierre Martinet by Alméras), who was forced to call on his mechanics after the formation lap to fix a technical problem and thus had to take up the race from the pit lane, came second. The third podium spot in the ProAm class was occupied by Stéphane Denoual (F/Pierre Martinet by Alméras).

Result race 1 of 8, Spielberg/Austria

1. Jaxon Evans (NZ/BWT Lechner Racing), 26.14.443 minutes
2. Dylan Pereira (L/BWT Lechner Racing), + 0.728 seconds
3. Leon Köhler (D/Lechner Racing Middle East), + 1.721 seconds
4. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), + 6.609 seconds
5. Florian Latorre (F/CLRT), + 7.129 seconds
6. Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (F/Lechner Racing Middle East), + 7.316 seconds

The qualifying

For a long time it looked as if pole position was out of reach for Jaxon Evans (BWT Lechner Racing) at round one of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at the Red Bull Ring. With only two minutes left on the clock, the Porsche Junior from New Zealand planted his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup at the top of the timesheets ahead of the 25-strong field. “At first I didn’t quite get the brake balance right,” explained Evans (BWT Lechner Racing). “But once I switched tyres everything went smoothly. P1 – I’ve achieved my first goal for the opening round.”

Like the Porsche Junior, Florian Latorre (CLRT) also only found his stride towards the end of the qualifying session. Just a little more than a tenth of a second behind, the Frenchman secured the spot next to Evans on the front grid row.”I didn’t expect this,” he admitted. Third in qualifying went to the German Leon Köhler (Lechner Racing Middle East) as the fastest of the nine rookies. “It couldn’t have gone better,” said the 20-year-old from Bavaria. The best-placed driver in the Pro-Am classification was the Norwegian Roar Lindland (Pierre Martinet by Alméras).

While it is common to see the fastest 16 drivers qualify within a second in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, a different type of record was set at 2020 season-opener. Mateo Llarena (MRS GT-Racing) dropped the age marker for the youngest driver to ever take part in an official event of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup to exactly 16 years, four months and nine days. Scoring 21st in qualifying, the young driver from Guatemala, who is supported by Porsche as part of the rookie programme, was not entirely satisfied with his result. “I still lack experience with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. I think I could do a little better in the race,” said Llarena, who is also the first driver from South America to contest an entire season of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.

Llaren’s racing career spans twelve years. Supported by his father Rinaldo, he was already driving karts at the age of four. Mateo achieved successes in South America and Europe, which earned him the “FIA America Award”. After a foray into Formula 4 and a one-make cup, Llarena turned his full attention to GT racing in 2019. In the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, he competes in the No. 14 car fielded by the German team MRS GT-Racing.

Due to the global travel restrictions, Llarena will spend the entire ten weeks of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup racing season in Europe. Fortunately, home schooling is also possible from Guatemala across the Atlantic. “I’m still on school holidays at the moment. When lessons start up again, I’ll do them online.”

The preview

This weekend, drivers contesting the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup will tackle a real-life race for the first time since October 2019.

Most of the drivers have spent the last months competing in virtual racing cars. At the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, the 28^th season of the international one-make cup gets underway as a support race to the Austrian Grand Prix (3 – 5 July 2020). The 2020 calendar is made up of eight races, all run alongside the FIA Formula One World Championship. Drivers from twelve countries, including Australia, Guatemala and the USA, will take the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. To prepare for the upcoming Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season, two official test days were held at the Red Bull Ring.

“Judging by the two test days in Austria, the fight for the 2020 title will be between a handful of young guns who are known for their spectacular driving style. This means that the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup once again lives up to its key role as the springboard for talented young racing drivers who are eager to become works drivers. Although the competitors will find it strange to race in front of empty grandstands, the line-up this year promises some gripping race action,” said Oliver Schwab, Project Manager Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, referring to the spectator-free races for the time being.

Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans (BWT Lechner Racing) set the fastest time at the Spielberg tests. “It felt amazing to finally sit in a real racing car,” says the New Zealander. “I’m perfectly prepared for the start of the season.” The second Porsche Junior, Ayhancan Güven (Martinet by Alméras) from Turkey, still has a score to settle at the Red Bull Ring. “The last time I drove here I got entangled in an accident in the second corner – and that was the end of my race.” Güven is one of the few drivers to claim a victory during the postponement of real races due to the pandemic. Driving for the Porsche Esports Team, he won the GTE class of the virtual “24 Hours of Le Mans” in the digital reproduction of the Porsche 911 RSR.

The picturesque panorama of the Styrian Alps makes the 4.318-kilometre-long Red Bull Ring unique on the racing calendar. With the combination of high-speed passages and tight corners, the racetrack is famed for its many overtaking manoeuvres. Last year, Julien Andlauer (F) won the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race on the Styrian circuit.

Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2020 calendar

Info

The next round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is scheduled for next weekend, as support to the Styrian Grand Prix again held at the Red Bull Ring (10 to 12 July 2020). The race will get underway on Sunday at 12.30 p.m. TV channel Eurosport as well as the streaming service F1 TV, will broadcast the race live.

Further information can be found on the Porsche Motorsports Hub.