– Qualifying record: Englishman from the BWT Lechner Racing team turns the fastest lap ever for a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup on the Hungaroring
– Tiny gap: Dorian Boccolacci on P2 and Porsche Junior Bastian Buus on P3 are less than two-tenths of a second behind the polesitter
– ‘Super difficult’: Ex-Formula 1 driver Timo Glock qualifies on P24 at the wheel of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup VIP car
Harry King tackles round four of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at the Hungaroring from pole position. Driving for the BWT Lechner Racing squad, the Englishman lapped the Grand Prix circuit just outside Budapest in a record-setting qualifying time of 1:45.933 minutes. King shares the front row of the grid with Frenchman Dorian Boccolacci from CLRT. Porsche Junior and championship leader Bastian Buus from Denmark lines up directly behind his teammate King in third place. Ex-Formula 1 driver Timo Glock planted the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup VIP race car on the 24th grid spot. The 16-lap race with the 375 kW (510 PS) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars will get underway on Sunday (midday CEST) immediately before the Hungarian Grand Prix
« Starting from pole position for the first time is exactly the right motivation after my retirement at the previous race in Silverstone, » said a delighted Harry King. « I was fast in qualifying on the first set of tyres and the fastest on the second – this as well as the third place achieved by my teammate Bastian Buus shows that we’ve found a perfect setup for our cars. »
Porsche Junior Buus, who travelled to the Budapest race as the leader of the overall standings in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, took a similar view. « Pole position was possible for me too, but unfortunately I didn’t bring it together. But I can still win from the third grid spot. It’s super important that I’m in front of Larry ten Voorde, » said the 20-year-old Dane, with his eye on the second-placed driver from the Netherlands. Competing for the GP Elite team, the winner of the 2021 Supercup round at the Hungaroring only achieved the sixth fastest time in qualifying.
Dorian Boccolacci separates King and Buus on the grid. The Frenchman also posted a lap time well below the previous qualifying best time. « To be honest, I’m not happy with my best lap, » said the fourth-placed driver in the overall standings. « But my start usually is really good. I reckon I can still win from position two. » The fact that Boccolacci’s CLRT squad were as spot on with the setup of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup for the Hungaroring as BWT Lechner Racing’s car is underlined by fourth place for his teammate Benjamin Paque. The Belgian even set the fastest time in practice on Friday.
Guest driver Timo Glock: « Champions League of the one-make cups »
Former Formula 1 and DTM driver Timo Glock claimed the 24th grid spot. At the wheel of the 5,000th Cup 911 ever built, the 41-year-old German was around 1.6 seconds off pole-setter King. « Not even two seconds slower than the fastest time, and you’re that far back – that shows how fierce the competition is in the Supercup. It’s not called the Supercup for nothing, I’m competing in the Champions League of one-make cups here. What surprised me was that the track conditions in qualifying were completely different from those in practice. »
« I suddenly got a lot of oversteer. I suspect it’s because the rubber laid down on the track today was different than yesterday. I lack experience with this. As expected, the whole thing is super difficult for me, » commented Glock, who now works as a Formula 1 commentator for TV station Sky Sport. Nevertheless, he didn’t let his ‘not optimal’ qualifying result spoil his high spirits: « For the race I have to see if I can find a set of front tyres that I haven’t flat-spotted yet. »
Qualifying result, round 4 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Budapest (Hungary) : 1. Harry King (UK/BWT Lechner Racing), 1:45.933 minutes ; 2. Dorian Boccolacci (F/CLRT), 1:45.992 minutes ; 3. Porsche-Junior Bastian Buus (DK/BWT Lechner Racing), 1:46.122 minutes ; 4. Benjamin Paque (B/CLRT), 1:46.173 minutes ; 5. Harri Jones (AUS/BWT Lechner Racing), 1:46.227 minutes ; 6. Larry ten Voorde (NL/Team GP Elite), 1.46.242 minutes…
Holger Eckhardt,