Dylan Pereira has secured pole position for the first round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season. At the wheel of the ca. 375 kW (515 PS) Cup-911, the Luxembourger from the BWT Lechner Racing team turned the fastest qualifying lap on the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in northern Italy’s Imola. Pereira shares the first grid row with the defending champion Larry ten Voorde (Team GP Elite), who was 0.249-seconds off the pole-setter. Pereira’s BWT Lechner Racing teammate and fastest rookie Bastian Buus from Denmark as well as the Porsche Junior Laurin Heinrich (SSR Huber Racing) from Germany tackle the season-opening race on Sunday from positions three and four. The race gets underway at 12.05 pm just before the Formula One Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
« To be on the safe side, I didn’t push too hard on my first set of tyres and only posted the third fastest time, » explained Pereira. « I took more of a risk on my second attempt, got my tyres up to the ideal temperature and took every kerb perfectly. » Larry ten Voorde was also satisfied with his second grid spot. « My second flying lap wasn’t as fast as I’d hoped but I’m starting from the first grid row, and from there, anything is possible in the race, » said the Dutchman confidently.
The 33-strong field of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars took up the hunt for top times in sunny weather. As a guest driver in the No. 911 VIP car, five-time motorcycle world champion Jorge Lorenzo contests his second car race. « As a Supercup newcomer, having only 30 minutes out on the track, which was also interrupted at one point, is very short. I didn’t get a clear run, » reported the Spaniard, who drives with an Italian racing license and whose Cup-911 thus flies the country’s tricolour flag.
In 1993, the Porsche Supercup celebrated its world debut on the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit. Since then, very little has changed on the storied racetrack in the hills of Emilia-Romagna. The 4.909-kilometre strip of asphalt features 17 turns with rollercoaster passages that are somewhat unusual for modern Formula One tracks. After the pandemic-related spectator restrictions, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup now competes in front of packed grandstands for the first time in two years. « It’s fantastic to see so many spectators. The lawn grandstands on the hills add to the great atmosphere of this tradition-steeped racetrack, » grins pole-setter Dylan Pereira. « The Autodromo is pretty ‘old school’ in other respects, too: if you fly off the track, you end up in a gravel bed rather than on an asphalt area. The track is comparatively fast and the extreme kerb-hopping gives fans a great show. »
Ex-Supercup champion Jörg Bergmeister is the ‘Driver Steward’
In 2001, Germany’s Jörg Bergmeister took home the Porsche Supercup crown. On his way to the title, today’s Porsche brand ambassador won seven races, including the season opener in Imola. This weekend, Bergmeister returns to Emilia-Romagna – in a one-off role as ‘Driver Steward’ for the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. In this position, he mediates between the drivers and the race director should there be any controversial disputes on the racetrack.
« I have good memories of Imola: This racetrack is very demanding but great fun. During the 2001 qualifying, I managed to get a perfect run and was significantly faster than everyone else. Winning the race was a perfect start to the season, » recalls the German, who in the course of his career has notched up victories in racing versions of the Porsche 911 at the 24-hour races in Le Mans (France), Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) and Daytona (USA). Bergmeister is familiar with the latest Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from his job as a development driver. « The current Cup-911 is much more of a race car than the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup from 2001, » he enthuses. Technologies that are totally familiar today like shift paddles on the steering wheel were unknown in the Supercup 21 years ago: « Back then, we had an H-pattern gear shifter like in the production 911. »
Result Qualifying, Race 1, Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Imola (I)
1. Dylan Pereira (Luxembourg/BWT Lechner Racing), 1.42.741 minutes
2. Larry ten Voorde (Netherlands/Team GP Elite), + 0.249 seconds
3. Bastian Buus (Denmark/BWT Lechner Racing), + 0.305 seconds
4. Laurin Heinrich (Germany/SSR Huber Racing), + 0.456 seconds
5. Marvin Klein (France/CLRT), + 0.460 seconds
6. Dorian Boccolacci (France/Martinet by Alméras), + 0.461 seconds