Hit after hit in Styria.

Nothing is “normal” this year. The pandemic already turned this season’s racing calendar upside down, but to make things even more interesting, the 25 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup participants needed to juggle the weather as well this past weekend. Due to heavy rainfall on Saturday, the Qualifying Session was rescheduled. Formula 1 also had to cancel a training session for the Pirelli Großer Preis der Steiermark. So, there was a double #SpielbergEcho on Sunday: the qualifying and race happening within just three hours, making for an intense Sunday morning.

Part One of the race day story was well played by Porsche Junior #22 Ayhancan Güven (TUR/Martinet by Alméras). He took the pole position with 1:30.754 minutes followed by Rookie #3 Leon Köhler (GER/Lechner Racing Middle East) who showed up for Race 2 in excellent spirits. And poised on grid position three was Pereira – an explosive mix in the top positions. During the Practice Session, the Luxembourger released the gauntlet on the Styrian Red Bull Ring with a best time and was anything but satisfied with third place.

Lights off and go: Lechner pilot Pereira immediately took a grab at #3 Leon Köhler (GER/Lechner Racing Middle East) while Güven defended his lead. The moment he overtook, he began his attacks on Güven. Counterstriking, the Porsche Junior finished the first lap in first place. But despite his aggressive fighting line, he lost his lead as early as Lap 2. Using all his racing know-how, Pereira prepared a clean attack heading towards the Remus hairpin. Pereira took the lead with a classic motorsport manoeuvre by leaning into the corner from the outside, then crossing the line and entering from the inside at the end of the turn.

This became victory’s decisive moment, as there was no chance to stop the BWT Lechner Racing car on this consolidated race day. Pereira had barely passed Güven when he dropped back at the top and flew home with an unchallenged win. Two races and two victories for the Austrian champions, BWT Lechner Racing – Felix Austria also making the second appearance of the week in Spielberg! “I thought to myself: it’s now or never. I wanted to get to the top as quickly as possible in order for me to plan the race,” Pereira remarked on the key scene of the race.

It was quickly apparent to Güven that a second-place finish would be the best he would get from this race, so he set his sights on the backfield. From there, #25 Larry ten Voorde (NED/Team GP Elite) was pushing ahead. He also used the starting phase to pass Köhler who was being earnestly reminded of his inexperience in the first turns. The Dutchman made several attempts in the succeeding laps to get within striking distance of Güven – an updated version of the Supercup Virtual Edition title fight was looming. But the Porsche Junior remained calm, made no mistakes and kept the 2016 Porsche Super Sports Cup Champion behind him.

At this point, ten Voorde also needed to reorient himself during the final laps of the race. Köhler was keen on winning back his first lap losses, so he had his grill right up into the rear of the Dutchman’s 485 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Ten Voorde put all his experience to work in order to keep the aggressive Super-Rookie behind him. Köhler was relentless, but ten Voorde managed to drive with enough caution and enough speed to prevent Köhler from stealing a second overall podium finish in his second race. At the finish line, Güven, ten Voorde and Köhler separated by just fractions over a second, and Köhler once again took victory in the Rookie Classification.

Porsche Junior and opening race winner #1 Jaxon Evans (NZL/BWT Lechner Racing) had a challenging time this past weekend. Directly following the qualifying, he complained about having a lack of confidence in his car and qualified for grid position 8. But at the start of the race he showed what the Porsche Junior Programme had taught him. In the first lap, he made up two positions and in the second lap, heading into Würth curve, he grazed Alméras driver Marvin Klein’s car to overtake.

From Evans’ point of view, it was clear, "I don't think Marvin Klein saw me coming. We both went into the turn at the same time. There was brief and unintentional contact. Luckily, we were both able to stay on the track and have a thrilling fight afterwards," he summed up the situation. The Race Director passed the case on to the Stewards, but upon investigation, there were no consequences for either driver.

Completing the top 10 was #33 Florian Latorre (FRA/CLRT), Rookie #4 Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (FRA/Lechner Racing Middle East), Rookie #24 Max van Splunteren (NED/Team GP Elite) and the fast Simracer #16 Laurin Heinrich (GER/MRS GT-Racing) – again, surprisingly the best driver of his team. Van Splunteren had qualified with a strong fourth place, but unfortunately did not have the best start: he only finished fourth in the Rookie Classification, right behind high-flyer Köhler, Klein and Simmenauer. Four Rookies made it into the top 10, who continue to shake up the more experienced Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup field.

Nothing accentuated the generational conflict better than the fight for overall 20th place. At the center of this was a battle for the ProAm Classification victory between #20 Roar Lindland (NOR/Pierre Martinet by Alméras), who happened to have celebrated his 43rd birthday the previous Wednesday, and #12 Philipp Sager (AUT/Dinamic Motorsport), already 50 years old. During the entire race, the two hung together as if welded together with hot glue. Circling around them was 19-year-old #11 Moritz Sager (AUT/Dinamic Motorsport) in 19th place and #14 Mateo Llarena (GTM/MRS GT-Racing), who holds the age record for the youngest driver in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Llarena spun-out in the last part of the race, learning the hard way. Moritz Sager would have had the opportunity to block Lindland, and thus helping his father out, but the "dinamic duo" refrained from playing games and focused on sportsmanship. Lindland took the ProAm victory with a 0.248-second lead to 20th place overall, thus denying the Sager clan a second “home team” win.

After a hectic Sunday, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup is already on the move. Next weekend the third race of the series, themed #BoilingPoint, will take place on the Hungaroring near the Hungarian capital Budapest. We’re interested to see who will inherit the win from last year’s victor, Michael Ammermüller on the second circuit of the 2020 season.