03 Nov Podium success at the Supercup final in Texas
With the final in Austin (USA) an eventful season in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup has come to an end for Konrad Motorsport. On the Circuit of the Americas in Texas Klaus Bachler crowned his season with a podium finish. In his first year together with the team from Germany, the Austrian was involved in the fight for the title win until the last racing weekend. Finally he finished the season on a strong fourth rank in the driver standings.
At the start Bachler at first defended his sixth position against the opponents, then he started his attack. In the second lap the 23-year-old managed to overtake his compatriot Philipp Eng and took over fifth position. “I was pushing really hart, because I absolutely wanted to claim a podium today”, the Konrad driver looked back on his race. With a huge fighting spirit and a courageous drive the Porsche Junior in the further course of the race also found a way to pass Earl Bamber and Kuba Giermaziak – with that, the way to the podium was free. “I have to give a big compliment to my team. The crew gave me a perfect car.”
The second race, which took place on Sunday, became the hour of Christian Engelhart . Started from eighth spot in the grid, the German improved three positions already on the first metres. What followed then, was a thrilling fight for the top positions. “My car was the quickest in the field and I could really push hard for a while. Unfortunately Ben Barker behind me made a mistake on the brakes and hit me. I had to go through the run off zone and picked up some dirt on my tyres.” Due to the incident Engelhart lost a number of positions, but managed a chase up to fifth rank again. “Without the mishap a podium finish would have been possible today.”
Christopher Zöchling after a poor qualifying on Saturday had to start into both races from fifteens spot in the grid. However, the Austrian didn’t loose heart after the setback and thrilled the crowd with a sensational chase through the field in both races. After he claimed tenth rank in the race on Saturday, he was even better one day later. Thanks to a flawless race, Christopher Zöchling could improve altogether six positions and finally saw the chequered flag on ninth place.
A remarkable debut in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup was delivered by Jeff Harrison. On the Circuit of the Americas, the guest starter was at the wheel of a fourth Konrad Porsche. The Texan, who lives not far away from the race track, made reasonable progress over the complete weekend. In the first race Harrison improved from 24th position in the grid to 21st place, leaving a couple of opponents behind. Also on Sunday the likeable racer was able to convince. After 14 laps he came in on 18th position. “My debut in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup was real fun. A number of things were new to me, but Franz Konrad and his crew made the weekend as easy as possible for me. Altogether I am really satisfied”, the American was pleased.