The Race
Typical Silverstone: Following a sunny morning, heavy rain set in shortly before the start of the Supercup race. Subsequently, a so-called rolling start behind the safety car was planned. However, after one lap behind the lead car, race director Peter Roberts decided to call the field back into the pit lane due to safety concerns. “Absolutely the right decision,” confirmed Larry ten Voorde, the fastest driver in qualifying. “I was struggling with aquaplaning even at the comparatively slow pace behind the safety car.”
Just a few minutes later, the sun reappeared and the 29 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars took to the wet track once more. After two more laps behind the safety car, race control finally released the rolling start.
Larry ten Voorde and Marvin Klein, second fastest in qualifying, were locked in a thrilling duel for the lead over the opening kilometres. Ten Voorde managed to defend the lead against his teammate and then controlled the race on the slowly drying track. Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti, Schumacher CLRT’s third driver, could not retain his third position from qualifying for long. Harry King and Robert de Haan, the two fastest drivers from the BWT Lechner Racing team, overtook him in quick succession. Rookie de Haan then made light work of his experienced teammate and set off in pursuit of the ten Voorde/Klein duo.
Shortly before the end of the race, the safety car was once again deployed when a competitor spun off into a gravel bed – and round four of the Supercup finished behind the safety car. The running order remained unchanged as a result.
“The duel with Marvin was thrilling and 100 per cent fair. We were side by side several times, but always gave each other space,” said ten Voorde, describing the decisive seconds of the race. “The conditions were still very tricky. I tried to overtake Larry – but it just didn’t work out. Even with second place, I managed to score a heap of points for the championship,” summarised Klein. The Frenchman reduced the gap to King, who is ahead of him in the overall standings, to eight points.
Behind the Briton, Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti crossed the finish line in fifth place. Sixth place went to South African Keagan Masters (Ombra). Together with Robert de Hann, Dutchman Kas Haverkort (Uniserver by Team GP Elite) and, for the first time, German Lirim Zendeli (Ombra) stepped onto the Rookie podium.
After four of eight races, ten Voorde (100 points) leads the overall standings, followed by King (74) and Klein (66). The Rookie leader at the halfway point of the season is Haverkort, sitting just one point ahead of de Haan. Schumacher CLRT leads the team standings.
“The fact that Larry ten Voorde was once again unbeatable in these tricky conditions proves that he’s in a class of his own behind the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Congratulations also to Schumacher CLRT on this dominant team performance. I’m curious to see whether other drivers will be able to join the three-way battle between Larry ten Voorde, Harry King and Marvin Klein in the latter half of the season. The Rookie classification is exciting too, three drivers – Kas Haverkort, Robert de Haan and Theo Oeverhaus – have pulled away slightly from the chasing pack,” commented Oliver Schwab, Project Manager Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
The Supercup teams now travel from Great Britain to Hungary. The Formula 1 circuit near Budapest will host the fifth race of the season from 19 to 21 July 2024.
Result round 4 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Silverstone (UK)
1. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Schumacher CLRT), 11 laps
2. Marvin Klein (F/Schumacher CLRT), +0.478 seconds
3. Robert de Haan (NL/BWT Lechner Racing), +0.826 seconds
4. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), +1.105 seconds
5. Porsche-Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (F/Schumacher CLRT), +1.644 seconds
6. Keagan Masters (I/Ombra), +2.066 seconds
Overall standings Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (after 4 of 8 races)
1. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Schumacher CLRT), 100 points
2. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), 74 points
3. Marvin Klein (F/Schumacher CLRT), 66 points
Full results and championship standings on the Porsche Motorsport Hub:
https://motorsports.porsche.com/international/en/category/mobil1supercup/
Qualifying
Like in the previous Supercup race at the Red Bull Ring, the Schumacher CLRT squad has locked out the front row of the grid at Silverstone. Championship leader Larry ten Voorde will tackle round four of the one-make cup in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from pole position. Marvin Klein set the second-fastest qualifying time on the Formula 1 circuit north of London. Thanks to Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti, another driver from the French squad secured the third grid spot. The race gets underway on Sunday at 11:55 hrs, directly before the British Grand Prix.
As rain rolled in at the start of qualifying for the fourth race of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season, some of the 29-strong field took to the track on slicks, others on rain tyres. However, when the sun came out again after just a few minutes, those who opted for slicks on the drying track had made the right choice.
After switching to their second set of tyres, the three Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars fielded by the Schumacher CLRT team went out on the racetrack in formation. While Dutchman Larry ten Voorde turned the fastest lap, his French teammates Marvin Klein and Alessandro Ghiretti secured the second and third grid spots. “I had to abort my first flying lap after I made a mistake, but the second attempt worked out,” stated ten Voorde. The 27-year-old has won all three Supercup races so far this season.
“We caught exactly the right time window. The tarmac was already dry and we had a clear lap,” grinned Klein. The 25-year-old lapped the almost six-kilometre-long storied circuit around a tenth of a second faster than Porsche Junior Ghiretti. “Due to a previous puncture, I was on three new tyres and one used tyre,” revealed Ghiretti. “So, I’m more than happy with second place on the grid.”
Competing for BWT Lechner Racing, Harry King from the UK qualified fourth on the grid ahead of Dutchman Robert de Haan (BWT Lechner Racing) and Ariel Levi (Uniserver by Team GP Elite) from Israel.
HIF Global is partner to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup
In 2024, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup will run exclusively on largely fully synthetic fuel for the first time. The raw fuel comes from the Haru Oni pilot plant in Chile, which is operated by HIF Global.
HIF Global is the world’s leading eFuels company, developing projects to convert hydrogen using low-cost renewable power into carbon neutral liquid eFuels. The name HIF represents the company’s mission: to provide Highly Innovative Fuels to make decarbonisation of the planet possible. HIF Global is already producing eFuels in its Haru Oni eFuels Facility in Magallanes in Chile and Porsche has received over 50,000 litres of HIF´s eFuels since then, including the fuel being used at the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
The fuel is made ready-for-racing through a process known as blending. The final product enables the 911 GT3 Cup cars, which have a power output of around 375 kW (510 PS), to run almost CO₂-neutral. A second-generation bio-based, semi-synthetic fuel mixture has already been used in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup for the last three years. Together with HIF Global, Porsche’s top one-make cup is taking the next step.
The HIF-Porsche partnership was born in 2019 when they started working together with other international companies on this first eFuels facility in the world: the HIF Haru Oni Demonstration Plant. The partnership has now been expanded and HIF is an official Partner of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup.
Result Qualifying, Round 4 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Silverstone (UK)
1. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Schumacher CLRT)
2. Marvin Klein (F/Schumacher CLRT)
3. Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (F/Schumacher CLRT)
4. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing)
5. Robert de Haan (NL/BWT Lechner Racing)
6. Ariel Levi (IL/Uniserver by Team GP Elite)
Complete qualifying results on the Porsche Motorsport Hub.
