Porsche Junior Ayhancan Güven has broken the dominance of the two Dutch racers Larry ten Voorde and Max van Splunteren in qualifying at Silverstone.
Güven set pole position for round five of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, the second race held on the storied British racetrack within eight days. Ten Voorde and rookie Van Splunteren, who last weekend achieved a double victory at the same motor racing venue, take up Sunday’s race from positions two and three respectively. Series leader Dylan Pereira (Luxembourg/BWT Lechner Racing) planted his 485-hp Porsche 911 GT3 Cup on the fourth grid spot.
“I have to thank my race engineer and my mechanics for this pole position,” underlined Güven, who had to settle for eighth place at last weekend’s Silverstone race.
“We’ve worked very hard over the last days to improve my car compared to last weekend.” For his part, Ten Voorde had a simple explanation for why he was not on pole this time: “I made too many mistakes on the decisive lap.” Roar Lindland (Norway/Pierre Martinet by Alméras) was once again the fastest in the Pro-Am category and will take up the race from P18.
The two Porsche Juniors, Güven and Jaxon Evans (New Zealand/BWT Lechner Racing), are assisted by a seasoned Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup specialist: the junior coach Sascha Maassen. The 50-year-old German achieved several class victories in the Porsche 911 RSR at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (France) and the 12 Hours of Sebring (USA). He has also contested the Supercup and won two races.
“It’s been my role since 2013 to mentor the Porsche Juniors,” explains Maassen. “Here at Silverstone, in fact at every race weekend, we begin by lapping the circuit on foot.” That exercise also gives the coach the chance to gauge his protégés state of mind. “Providing mental support is a very important part of my job.”
The task becomes tricky for Maassen when it comes to remaining neutral. “I can’t tell either of the Porsche juniors what I deduce from each other’s data recordings. That’s only being fair towards their teams,” he describes. “We can only discuss what I notice on the racetrack.”
At Silverstone, for instance, the last chicane before the right-hander leading onto the start-finish straight is critical. “Here, some competitors found a better line during Friday’s Free Practice. Of course, that was a point of discussion with Ayhancan and Jaxon,” reveals Maassen.
While Güven implemented this tip perfectly, Evans struggled. “It wasn’t a problem with the car; I simply made too many mistakes.” After claiming a strong third place last Sunday, the New Zealander this time qualified on eighth. “Scoring another podium spot will be very, very difficult.”
The fifth of eight 2020 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup races kicks off on Sunday (9 August) at 11:30 am local (12:30 CEST).
