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Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup - Monza 2016

Qualifying

Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup - Monza 2016
Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Round 8, Formula 1 race in Monza/Italy, Qualifying
Italian Matteo Cairoli fastest in qualifying

On the high-speed racetrack in Monza, the Italian Porsche Junior Matteo Cairoli (Fach Auto Tech) set pole position in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. On Saturday, the 20 year old was faster in his 460 hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup than the other 27 drivers. “To stand on pole at my home race is something very special. I’m hoping for a good start so that I can immediately put a bit of distance between me and the other competitors, and go on to win. During my warm-up lap for the qualifying I saw how many spectators are here. This will be a great race!” said Cairoli. Lining up behind the youngster on the second grid spot is Michael Ammermüller (D/Lechner MSG Racing Team), with Porsche Junior Sven Müller (D/Lechner MSG Racing Team) securing the third fastest time on the Italian racetrack not far from Milan.

With sunny blue skies and temperatures of 29-degrees Celsius, the pilots climbed out of their cockpits looking hot and sweaty after the midday qualifying on Saturday. The driver with the biggest grin was Cairoli who had clocked the two best times in the last five minutes of the session. In the end he outpaced his closest competitor by five-tenths of a second with a time of 1:51.315 minutes, and even his second fastest time would have been enough to plant him on pole. Ammermüller made a last ditch sprint to claim the second grid position with a time of 1:51:804 minutes. Müller posted virtually the same times on both his first and second set of tyres. “Slipstreaming is very important in Monza and unfortunately it wasn’t available to me at the end of the session, so I couldn’t do better than that today. The starting order is identical to last season’s. I won here in the last two years and I wouldn’t mind at all if it’s the same this year,” declared Müller with a grin.

Behind Müller, Porsche Junior Mathieu Jaminet (F/Martinet by Almeras) set the fourth quickest time on the 5.793 kilometre circuit with a time of 1:52.106 minutes: “That was a tough qualifying for me. It was hot in the car and my lap wasn’t really perfect. Still, the Monza track is good for overtaking. Perhaps I can manage to bring home a podium result. It’s really impressive to see so many fans here in Italy. When I arrived at the racetrack this morning an unbelievable number of people were already here. The grandstands will probably be full on Sunday.” The Italian Mattia Drudi (Dinamic Motorsport) takes up the race from fifth, with the seasoned Porsche specialist Christian Engelhart (D/MRS GT-Racing) standing next to him on sixth place.

In terms of the championship, the Monza round will be a head-to-head duel between Müller and Cairoli. Müller currently ranks first overall with 119 points, Cairoli has 113 points to his credit. Sitting third in the series is Porsche Junior Mathieu Jaminet (F/Martinet by Almeras) on 94 points. Round eight of the championship takes off on Sunday at 11.35 hrs. Television stations Eurosport and Sky Deutschland broadcast the race live.

Qualifying result Monza
1. Matteo Cairoli (I/Fach Auto Tech), 1:51.315 minutes
2. Michael Ammermüller (D/Lechner MSG Racing Team), 1:51.804 minutes
3. Sven Müller (D/Lechner MSG Racing Team), 1:51.837 minutes
4. Mathieu Jaminet (F/Martinet by Almeras), 1:52.106 minutes
5. Mattia Drudi (I/Dinamic Motorsport), 1:52.132 minutes