Nicolas Armindo produced a star performance on his return to the Porsche Supercup, winning from lights-to-flag at Hockenheim last weekend.
The 28-year-old Frenchman, recruited by Al Faisal Lechner Racing to stand in for reigning champion Jeroen Bleekemolen who was on American Le Mans Series duty, was in fine form all weekend and avoided the first lap drama to escape to a 2.226 victory.
Title protagonists Rene Rast (Al Faisal Lechner Racing) and Nick Tandy (Konrad Motorsport) weren’t so fortune and were both ultimately accounted for in the turn 2 snafu at the start, meaning neither scored points and handing Stefan Rosina (Lechner Racing) and Norbert Siedler (Veltins MRS Racing) a route back into the championship race.
The incident occurred as Rast, Tandy and Christian Engelhart (Sanitec / Giltrap Racing) went for the same bit of tarmac as they jostled for second place behind Armindo. As Rast squeezed from his left and Engelhart from his right, Tandy was sandwiched between the two, the resulting contact breaking a steering rod which led to his race ending in the pits at the end of the lap.
Rast only lasted a little longer. After dropping down the field after the initial contact, the German was fighting his way back through the pack when his right rear tyre deflated through the parabolica, a result of the earlier contact, and he pulled over into retirement.
The first lap drama had left Armindo in a clear lead, while Engelhart had survived the contact with Tandy and Rast to run second, albeit with Jan Seyffarth (Veltins MRS Racing) right on his tail.
Seyffarth made his way past a few laps later, but although he put up a spirited chase of the leader, he was content to take second place and, with Armindo registered as a guest driver and therefore not eligible for points, a maximum score.
Engelhart held on for third, his first podium finish of the season, while Rosina’s fourth place finish catapulted him back into the title race with the Slovakian now just a point behind the second place Tandy and 17 adrift of Rast.
Jaap Van Lagen (Bleekemolen Harders Plaza), who the previous weekend was racing a 750bhp single seater Superleague Formula car, made a seamless switch back to his day job with fifth ahead of Siedler, Martin Ragginger (Schnabl Engineering Parker Racing) and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen (Bleekemolen Harders Plaza).
Porsche Supercup results – Round 7, Hockenheim
1 Nicolas Armindo, Al Faisal Lechner Racing, 14 laps 24:22.602
2 Jan Seyffarth, Veltins MRS Racing, +2.226
3 Christian Engelhart, Sanitec / Giltrap Racing, +2.944
4 Stefan Rosina, Lechner Racing, +5.416
5 Jaap van Lagen, Bleekemolen Harders Plaza, +6.104
6 Norbert Siedler, Veltins MRS Racing, +9.606
7 Martin Ragginger, Schnabl Engineering Parker Racing, +12.394
8 Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Bleekemolen Harders Plaza, +13.315
9 Matt Halliday, Sanitec / Giltrap Racing, +13.697
10 Patrick Huisman, Konrad Motorsport, +15.687
11 Alessandro Zampedri, Lechner Racing, +23.405
12 Sascha Maassen, Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, +23.644
13 Tim Bridgman, Schnabl Engineering Parker Racing, +28.633
14 William Langhorne, Sanitec / Giltrap Racing, +32.777
15 Kuba Giermaziak, Verva Racing, +36.646
16 Raffi Bader, Konrad Motorsport, +36.893
17 Thomas Messer, Schnabl Engineering Team Parker, +40.614
18 Robert van den Berg, Bleekemolen Harders Plaza, +47.575
19 Sean Edwards, Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, +1:30.867
20 Mathias Lauda, Porsche AG, +1:43.029
21 Khaled Al Qubaisi, Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, +1 lap
Not classified
Robert Lukas, Verva Racing, 10 laps
Jorg Hardt, Schnabl Engineering, 6 laps
Rene Rast, Al Faisal Lechner Racing, 4 laps
Nick Tandy, Konrad Motorsport, 1 lap
Championship Standings (after 7 rounds)
1 Rene Rast, 106pts
2 Nick Tandy, 90
3 Stefan Rosina, 89
4 Norbert Siedler, 80
5 Jeroen Bleekemolen, 74
6 Jaap van Lagen, 68
7 Patrick Huisman, 64
8 Jay Seyffarth, 63
9 Christian Engelhart, 44
10 Matt Halliday, 39
Next round: 1 August, Hungaroring
Watch Porsche Supercup highlights from Hockenheim on Saturday 31 July at 4pm (BST) on Motors TV.
Andy Wilkinson
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