Oranje dominates Silverstone.

Oranje was the measure of all things this past weekend. #25 Larry ten Voorde (NED/Team GP Elite) set the tone on the legendary Silverstone Circuit leaving opponents in the dust. The “Flying Dutchman” dominated the fourth round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup by every aspect. Taking the motto #HighSpeedTradition literally, ten Voorde took the victory with an astonishing lead of 11.741 seconds.

Rarely has there been a comparable gap in the history of the Porsche Supercup. The bottom line: during the course of 13 laps on the famous 5.891-kilometer circuit in Northamptonshire, ten Voorde was nearly one second faster per lap than the rest of the competition, despite everyone driving technically identical Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars. He had the best time during the Free Practice Session, pole position with a 0.305-second lead and a start-finish win with the fastest lap: a supreme Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup performance.

It wasn’t just a perfectly tuned car that handed ten Voorde a victory, but also the assistance of his teammate #24 Max van Splunteren (NED/Team GP Elite), who sensationally qualified for P2 on the grid. At race start, van Splunteren was able to defend his position, outmanoeuvring the field behind him. Throughout the race, he was then attacked by Porsche Junior #1 Jaxon Evans (NZL/BWT Lechner Racing). Making amends after the drive-through penalty in Budapest, the New Zealander struck fairly again and again.

No matter where Evans tried to manoeuvre, van Splunteren covered potential overtaking lines. At the braking points of Arena, Village, Brooklands and Stowe, he drove slightly in the middle of the track, leaving zero chances to Evans. The student from Amsterdam spewed out 13 laps of non-stop fire, holding steady without batting an eyelid. A stellar defensive performance not only against the Porsche Junior, but to the entire fleet of 485hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in tow.

Evans couldn’t take any unnecessary risks because behind him was #33 Florian Latorre (FRA/CLRT) just waiting for the New Zealander to misjudge an attack on van Splunteren. But remaining flawless, Evans didn’t give the Frenchman a single chance to overtake. Latorre positioned himself with a strong start: during the first half lap, he was able to overtake both Porsche Junior #22 Ayhancan Güven (TUR/Martinet by Alméras) and #5 Jaap van Lagen (NED/FACH AUTO TECH). Without any chance to pass Evans, he landed himself in fourth place.

For Güven, who won Silverstone last year, the initial phase of the race didn’t happen according to plan. While having had a decent start, #2 Dylan Pereira (LUX/BWT Lechner Racing) came in for the attack at the end of the first lap, sending him into a reverse spiral. Taking advantage of the situation, several opponents passed and the Porsche Junior was knocked into ninth position. From there Güven didn’t have much of a chance.

Once positions two to nine were sorted, there wasn’t much more to do. The narrow field in the group was extremely balanced and nobody made decisive mistakes. Behind ten Voorde, van Splunteren, Evans and Latorre, van Lagen clinched his first single-digit result of the season with fifth place. Championship leader Pereira ran damage control with sixth place, and Rookie #23 Marvin Klein (FRA/Martinet by Alméras) took seventh, despite the ongoing smoke signals coming from his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Behind Klein, who also secured second place in the Rookie Classification, there was a shift at the end of the race: Güven caught Rookie #3 Leon Köhler (GER/Lechner Racing Middle East), who was struggling with his tires during the final phase of the race. But during the overtaking manoeuvre Güven pushed Köhler a bit too hard causing the race stewards to cancel his place win after the race. Köhler also took the third spot on the podium in the Rookie Classification.

Completing the top 10 was #4 Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer (FRA/Lechner Racing Middle East), who was 21.330 seconds behind 1st place – a lifetime in the Supercup. He fought his way past #10 Marius Nakken (NOR/Dinamic Motorsport) in a hard manoeuvre during the early stages of the race. After contact with Simmenauer, Nakken got so far out that even #6 Jordan Love (AUS/FACH AUTO TECH) was able to slip through. Love and Nakken only finished 12th and 13th because guest driver #34 Berkay Besler (TUR/Lechner Racing Middle East) crossed the finish line in eleventh position. The final points were awarded to #26 Jesse van Kuijk (NED/Team GP Elite), #30 Lucas Groeneveld (NED/GP Elite) and #15 Jukka Honkavuori (FIN/MRS GT-Racing).

In the ProAm Classification, #20 Roar Lindland (NOR/Pierre Martinet by Alméras) took a third consecutive victory. He finished on 18th place overall and had a buffer of two cars between himself and his pursuers. At Silverstone, it was #21 Clément Mateu (FRA/Pierre Martinet by Alméras) who had to start from the very back of the grid because he did not reduce speed under yellow flags in the Qualifying Session. And #12 Philipp Sager (AUT/Dinamic Motorsport) who came back after his accident in Budapest two weeks ago with third place.

The competitors have just one week to come to terms and deal with what makes Team GP Elite seemingly unstoppable. Will the others figure out what their tricks are? We’ll wait to find out during the #TributeToSpeed race happening on the 70th anniversary of Formula 1 coming to you live on August 9th.