Autosportfoto

René Rast gives his team boss pole position as a birthday present

At the return of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup to the Valencia Street Circuit, René Rast (Germany) takes up Sunday's race from pole position. At the wheel of Lechner Racing's 450 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup which is based on the street-legal lightweight 911 GT3 RS sports car, the title defender nailed the fastest time shortly before the end of the qualifying session. Securing the best time on the street circuit around the America's Cup harbour was a perfect birthday present for his team boss Walter Lechner Jnr.

Driving his team's newly prepared 911, René Rast, winner of this race in 2009 and 2010, was an unbelievable 0.592 seconds quicker than the second-placed Monaco winner from Great Britain Sean Edwards (Konrad Motorsport). In the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup, which gains it appeal not least due its extremely tight competition and tough fights for positions, this gap is huge. Competing for VELTINS Lechner Racing, Norbert Siedler from Austria occupied third place another two-tenths of a second behind. The winner from Bahrain shares the second grid row with Frenchman Kévin Estre (Hermes Attempto Racing), who clinched second at Monaco.

Germany's Christian Engelhart, the pole-sitter from Barcelona, planted his Konrad Motorsport 911 on fifth place. The sixth spot went to Poland's Kuba Giermaziak (VERVA Racing Team), who is still trying to find his old form this season after winning twice last year. As the best Supercup newcomer, Germany's Michael Ammermüller (VELTINS Lechner Racing), leader of the rookie classification, achieved the seventh quickest time. Lining up alongside him on the fourth grid row is Robert Lukas (FÖRCH Racing) from Poland in eighth. Behind him on the ninth and tenth position, the oldest and youngest Supercup pilots stand side by side: Alessandro Zampedri (Team Bleekemolen) is 42, Poland's Patryk Szczerbinski (VERVA Racing Team) is just 18 years old.

René Rast (pole-sitter): "That's my first pole this year, so I'm feeling very, very happy. My team put a perfect car on the track for me today, thanks for that. I like this circuit. We were very quick here in 2009 and 2010. Now I hope I can use this pole tomorrow to bring home a win."

Sean Edwards (second qualifier): "Today was much better than yesterday. After free practice we changed a lot on the car and that paid off. I only managed one fast lap but luckily that was good enough for a spot on the first grid row. Now we are feeling very optimistic for the race."

Norbert Siedler (third qualifier): "The third spot is really good, but I'm not particularly happy with the qualifying. The first lap was okay, but I made a braking mistake and it possibly cost me a better time."

Qualifying result
1. René Rast (D), Lechner Racing Team, 2:08.298 minutes
2. Sean Edwards (GB), Konrad Motorsport, + 0.592 seconds
3. Norbert Siedler (A), VELTINS Lechner Racing, + 0.773
4. Kévin Estre (F), Hermes Attempto Racing, + 0.951
5. Christian Engelhart (D), Konrad Motorsport, + 0.984
6. Kuba Giermaziak (PL), VERVA Racing Team, + 1.156

The race on Sunday will be broadcast live by TV stations Eurosport (11.45 hrs) and Sky Sport 1 (11.40 hrs). Moreover, Eurosport also airs highlights on Sunday at 20.30 hours in its "Motorsport Weekend Magazin".