PMSC | Round 4 Austria Recap

Continuing our coverage of Porsche one-make series, we look to the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup (PMSC) this week. Round 4 of the PMSC at the Red Bull Ring delivered a drama-filled race weekend. The race was capped by a sensational drive from Marvin Klein, who took his first win of the season ahead of teammate Robert de Haan in a shortened 17-minute sprint.

[adrotate banner=”11″]

_{Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.}

Tight Margins in Qualifying

Saturday’s qualifying session was a showcase of precision. Rookie Flynt Schuring fired the opening salvo with a 1:31.822. We then saw a flurry of lap times with Kas Haverkort, Jaap van Lagen, and Schuring trading P1. Ultimately, it was Robert de Haan who topped the session with a 1:31.027. A time he set despite running wide in Sector 3. De Haan led a BWT Lechner Racing front row lockout with teammate Klein just 0.043s behind.

The top six were separated by only a tenth of a second, underscoring just how competitive the field is this year. Alexander Tauscher suffered a frustrating session: briefly climbing to P6 before a track limits violation erased his lap and sent him tumbling to P30. He recovered with a late lap to qualify 21st. Meanwhile, championship leader Theo Oeverhaus could only manage P12 in a rare off-day for the Proton Huber driver.

Robert de Haan, BWT Lechner Racing, takes pole position (Photo by Porsche AG Media)

Early Chaos on Race Day

Sunday’s PMSC Round 4 race was cut to just 17 minutes due to what commentators vaguely described as “an issue during the build-up on the circuit.” This was later attributed to a recovery vehicle damaging a sponsor board that crossed the track. Regardless, the shortened format didn’t stop the elbows-out action from the green flag.

Klein wasted no time. Starting from P2, he snatched the lead from de Haan at Turn 4 on Lap 1. Behind them, Alessandro Ghiretti and Ariel Levi both got aggressive, leapfrogging de Haan momentarily before he reasserted himself and reclaimed second.

Further chaos struck on Lap 2 when Oeverhaus spun at Turn 3 and retired immediately. It was a massive blow to his championship campaign. Ultimately dropping him to third place in the standings after the Round 4 results were finalized.

While Klein and de Haan pulled clear of the chaos, the rest of the field battled relentlessly. Ghiretti and Levi went wheel-to-wheel for much of the race, with Ghiretti finally getting the move done with three minutes remaining to snatch P3. Meanwhile, Schuring found himself bottled up behind Mathys Jaubert for most of the second half, unable to overtake despite multiple attempts.

Jaubert leads Schuring and Burton into Turn 1 (Photo by Porsche AG Media)

Final Laps Deliver Drama

The closing laps gave us one of the wildest moments of the season. Jaap van Lagen helped teammate Gustav Burton with a NASCAR-style bump-draft into Turn 4, getting both ahead of Schuring on the penultimate lap. But on the final lap, van Lagen pushed Burton into a spin at Turn 3. Schuring sailed back into sixth, van Lagen held on to seventh, and Burton plummeted to 18th. Van Lagen was given a 5-second penalty, dropping him to P15 in the final classifications.

Klein led de Haan and Ghiretti across the line for the podium positions. Levi, Jaubert, and Schuring closely followed the leaders. There was a post-race investigation into the Lap 1, Turn 1 chaos. Levi was given a 5-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He was demoted to P6.

Klein takes the win (Photo by Porsche AG Media)

The Title Fight Shuffles Again

Klein’s win at Spielberg rockets him up the standings to fourth place overall with 42 points. A remarkable turnaround after two non-scoring rounds to start the year. His BWT Lechner Racing teammate, de Haan, now leads the championship with 52.5 points thanks to consistent top finishes.

Ghiretti’s third-place finish puts him just behind de Haan at 50.5 points, setting up an interesting second half of the season. Oeverhaus slips to third following his DNF.

Schuring leads the Rookie standings with 39.5 points and sits fifth overall. He is just ahead of Levi and Huub van Eijndhoven, who are both within striking distance.

The title fight is wide open. With just 14.5 points separating the top seven drivers, the PMSC remains one of the most hotly contested support series on the F1 calendar.

Robert de Haan leads the field into Turn 1 (Photo by Porsche AG Media)

The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup continues with Round 5, taking place in Belgium’s historic Spa-Francorchamps alongside F1 again. The action starts with practice on July 25th.

Feature Image Credit: Porsche AG Media