racecam.de - The online magazin about the Porsche Supercup

With a lead of 5,4 seconds the Brit Richard Westbrook did not only clinch the win at Barcelona, he also took the lead in the driver standings with an advantage of two points on the Irishman Damien Faulkner. Started fourth, Westbrook had a good start and on the outside of the first corner could already improve to third place. During the following five laps a hard but fair race developed for the front positions. HISAQ-driver Westbrook fought down Menzel and took over second place. “One of the best races of my career”, the winner says. “If you have got such a good car, you wish that the race never comes to an end.”

When Poleman Patrick Huisman run into a small mistake in lap 6, it was again Westbrook who took the profit of it. The Brit passes on the inside, takes over the lead and in the course of the race build up a gap of more than five seconds on the rest of the field. Until the last lap, the reigning champion drives considerably faster than his followers. “A big compliment to my team. For a new Team this is quite a terrific success.”

Patrick Huisman finishes second, saving important championship points for himself and the team Konrad-Motorsport. “I am really happy, to have clinched the first podium for Konrad-Motorsport and myself”, Huisman says. “However, we still need further testing, to optimise the efficiency and the coordination within the team. After that, a victory in one of the next races should be possible. Now I am looking forward to Monaco, because I love this track.”

Christian Menzel had to fight hard over the complete race, to keep the contact to the front runners. “Excatly that is really worrying for me”, the German says. “We have to improve our car in concerns of the race distance. If I see how smoothly Richard Westbrook drives and how hard I have to work – which is not the best for the tyres – it becomes clear, why we are struggling to be within the front runners. Nevertheless, finally it was a great feeling to look down from the podium onto people, who applauded and rejoiced below."

Both, Huisman and Menzel, profited primarily from the fights around Damien Faulkner. The Irishman, after a mistake of his team mate Zampedri was able to take over fourth position. In the final lap he even closed up to Menzel, but finally finished on fourth rank, to collect another 14 championship points on his account.

Thrilling action could also be seen in the group of the followers. Guest starter Jeroen Bleekemolen fought about places five to eight with Alessandro Zampedri, Lance David Arnold and Nicolas Armindo, while behind them another group with Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, David Saelens and Martin Ragginger were fighting. The young Austrian finally managed to defend ninth position against the established drivers of the Supercup.

For Uwe Alzen, who was in the lead of the driver standings before the Barcelona race, a retirement finished a weekend full with bad luck. After a collision with Jiri Janak, the runner-up from last year came into the pit in lap 8 and had to finish the race. “A mega-bad weekend”, Alzen grumbles. "After the problems in the Qualifying I had to start from the back of the grid and soon closed up to Janak. I tried to pass him several times, then he run into trouble and touched me. As a result I ended up with a broken front suspension.”

In the driver standings of the championship Richard Westbrook now leads with 52 Points in front of Damien Faulkner (50 points) and Alessandro Zampedri (42 points). Uwe Alzen falls back to forth position. The next round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup will take place in fourteen days at the F1-GP of Monaco.