Dylan Pereira extends championship lead with a second win of the season

The race

“Ayhancan Güven put pressure on me during the first lap after the start and straight after the safety car phase, but I managed to fend him off. Afterwards, I focused on not making any mistakes,” Pereira commented after the race.

The Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (Martinet by Alméras) was the only driver who managed to match Pereira’s pace. “I fared better than last year here, but I didn’t have any real chance against Dylan,” the Turk admitted. “If I want to beat him in the future, I’m going to have to do better. That’s my aim for the next race at Silverstone.” Nevertheless, Güven has advanced to second in the rankings, with Pereira extending his lead.

While Pereira and Güven pulled clear of the field lap by lap, two gripping duels unfolded behind them. The first was a battle for third place over the entire race distance between Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite) and Marvin Klein (F/Martinet by Alméras). “I fought hard, but it was tough keeping Marvin behind me,” reported Ten Voorde. “Our duel was fierce but fair,” added Klein, who finished fourth as the best of eight rookies. Leon Köhler (D/Lechner Racing Middle East), however, was struck by bad luck. After setting third in qualifying, the 20-year-old from Germany was unable to start the race due to a technical problem.

In the second duel, Porsche Junior Jaxon Evans (BWT Lechner Racing) and Jaap van Lagen (NL/FACH AUTO TECH) sparred for fifth place. Several times, the two Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racing cars made contact in the braking zone for Curve 1 until a puncture threw van Lagen out of contention. The steward of the meeting put the blame on Evans and handed the New Zealander a drive-through penalty. As a result, rookie Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (F/Lechner Racing Middle East) inherited fifth place ahead of Florian Latorre (F/CLRT) and Marius Nakken (N/Dinamic Motorsport). Among the rookies, Jordan Love (AUS/FACH AUTO TECH) claimed his first podium result. The Australian concluded the race eighth overall ahead of Max van Splunteren (NL/Team GP Elite) and Daan van Kuijk (NL/GP Elite).

Roar Lindland (N/Pierre Martinet by Alméras) won the ProAm class, beating his French teammates Stéphane Denoual and Clément Mateu. An accident involving Philipp Sager (A/Dinamic Motorsport), the most recent winner of the ProAm category, caused a safety car phase: He crashed backwards into the pit wall. “It’s okay, I’m just a bit shaken up. But I’m really upset about losing points,” he said afterwards.

After three races within three weeks, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup now takes a break before round four takes off as support to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone from 30 July to 2 August.

Results

Result round 3 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Budapest (H), 15 laps
1. Dylan Pereira (L/BWT Lechner Racing), 28:24.825 minutes
2. Ayhancan Güven (TR/Martinet by Alméras), + 1.915 seconds
3. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), + 7.704 seconds
4. Marvin Klein (F/Martinet by Alméras), + 8.082 seconds
5. Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (F/Lechner Racing Middle East), + 12.308 seconds
6. Florian Latorre (F/CLRT), + 13.293 seconds

Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2020, Standings after 3 of 8 races
1. Dylan Pereira (L/BWT Lechner Racing), 70 points
2. Ayhancan Güven (TR/Martinet by Alméras), 48 points
3. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), 48 points
4. Jaxon Evans (NZ/BWT Lechner Racing), 37 points
5. Florian Latorre (F/CLRT), 33 points
6. Marvin Klein (F/Martinet by Alméras), 33 points

The qualifying

Third race, third polesitter – Dylan Pereira secured the best grid spot for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup round at the Hungaroring. For the first time this season, the Luxembourger starts from first place. In cool and dry weather conditions, he was almost three-tenths of a second faster in the qualifying session than Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (TR/Martinet by Alméras). By contrast, the next three-tenths of a second were shared by four drivers. “I got a perfect free run,” said Pereira (BWT Lechner Racing), explaining his unusually large advantage by Supercup standards.

Güven, the polesitter of the previous race at Austria’s Red Bull Ring, was content with position two. “Starting from the first row of the grid is very important at the Hungaroring. I’ve achieved that goal. If it rains on Sunday, the cards will be reshuffled anyway.” The two rookies Marvin Klein (F/Martinet by Alméras) and Leon Köhler (D/Lechner Racing Middle East), as well as Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), qualified behind Güven. The sixth grid position is occupied by Jaxon Evans (NZ/BWT Lechner Racing). The second Porsche Junior scored pole position at the season opener on the Red Bull Ring. The fastest driver in the ProAm classification was Roar Lindland (N/Pierre Martinet by Alméras) on 13th.

Dylan Pereira dominated the qualifying right from the outset. Already at his first attempt at pole position, the current series leader was significantly faster than his rivals. “I still had reserves and knew that I had room for improvement,” he reported. As usual, Pereira returned to the pits about halfway through the 30-minute session to get a fresh set of slicks and have the suspension tweaked. “I wanted the rear axle to be less twitchy so that the tyres didn’t overheat and could function perfectly over two laps.” His plan worked, and the No. 2 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup lapped the 4.381-kilometre racetrack faster than all others twice.

“The second attempt is normally faster than the first because a lot of rubber is left on the track, which gives the asphalt better grip,” explains Pereira. Although Formula 1 and other racing series have been practicing on the Grand Prix circuit just outside Budapest since Friday, only the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup uses Michelin tyres. “That might sound strange, but the tyre rubber from other racing series doesn’t give us much of an advantage,” reveals Dylan Pereira. He has one wish for Sunday’s race, which starts at 12:30 p.m. local time: “I didn’t do as well in the rainy practice on Friday, so I’m hoping for dry weather.”

The preview

Three rounds within three weeks – the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup races now come thick and fast. After the two events at Austria’s Red Bull Ring, the 25 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup will compete as part of the Hungarian Grand Prix this coming weekend (17 to 19 July).

“Overtaking on the Hungaroring is difficult – for us and also the Formula-1-drivers. For this reason, a decent grid position is critical,” says series leader Dylan Pereira (L/BWT Lechner Racing). “Still, for us drivers, the Grand Prix circuit in Hungary is more challenging than the Red Bull Ring. I think there’ll be a balance of power reshuffle in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup,” adds Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven (TR/Martinet by Alméras).