Competing for the Allyouneed by Project 1 team, Britain’s Sean Edwards heads into round five of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at the Hungaroring on Sunday from pole position in temperatures expected to reach almost 40 degrees Celsius. At the wheel of his new 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, which is based on the seventh generation of the 911, he was 0.103 seconds faster in qualifying than last year’s victor Christian Engelhart (FACH AUTO TECH) from Germany. This marks the third time that Sean Edwards, the winner of the season-opening races in Barcelona and Monaco, takes off into the race from the best grid position.
Securing the third fastest qualifying time, Supercup rookie Richie Stanaway from New Zealand secured a spot on the second grid row – the best qualifying result for the DAMS driver so far this season. After initially topping the time sheets for quite some time, Kuba Giermaziak (VERVA Racing Team) eventually finished up on fourth. In 2011, the Pole celebrated his first Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup victory in Budapest. Locking out the third grid row are the Attempto Racing teammates Nicki Thiim (Denmark), the Silverstone winner, and Kévin Estre (France). Porsche Junior Michael Christensen (Denmark), who recently clinched his first Supercup win on the Nürburgring, turned the eighth quickest time at his debut on the challenging Hungaroring circuit behind Germany’s Michael Ammermüller (Lechner Racing Team).
In the hotly-contested qualifying, at which like on the Nürburgring the first 15 pilots were within just one second, Porsche Junior Klaus Bachler could initially hold his own in the top group. The Austrian, who celebrates his 22nd birthday today, planted his FÖRCH Racing Porsche on second for a long time, but ultimately had to settle for tenth. Ahead of him, New Zealander Earl Bamber (FACH AUTO TECH) posted the ninth fastest time at his maiden qualifying session in the Supercup. The Frenchman Jean-Karl Vernay (MRS GT-Racing), who receives support from Porsche as the winner of the International Cup Scholarship for his Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup campaign this season, landed on 17th.
Richie Stanaway (3rd qualifier): “That was my best qualifying this season. I’m thrilled, even if I could have possibly done a little better in places. But now we’re focussing on the race. I’ll do everything I can to defend this position in the first laps and then surely anything is possible. Let’s see.”
The race on Sunday is shown live by TV stations Eurosport (11.45 hrs) and Sky (11.40 hrs). Eurosport broadcasts highlights on Sunday at 22.30 hrs in the programme “Motorsport Weekend Magazin”.
Grid line-up
1. Sean Edwards (GB), Team Allyouneed by Project 1, 1:48.356 minutes
2. Christian Engelhart (D), FACH AUTO TECH, + 0.103 seconds
3. Richie Stanaway (NZ), DAMS, + 0.165
4. Kuba Giermaziak (PL), VERVA Racing Team, + 0.288
5. Nicki Thiim (DK), Attempto Racing, + 0.310
6. Kévin Estre (F), Attempto Racing, + 0.502
8. Michael Christensen (DK), DAMS, + 0.673
10. Klaus Bachler (A), FÖRCH Racing, + 0.692
17. Jean-Karl Vernay (F), MRS GT-Racing, + 1.193
