Defending Porsche Supercup champion Rene Rast has finally put his title defence in gear, scoring victory in the F1 support series' Monaco event, with Nick Tandy assuming the points lead by taking his third runner-up finish in as many races.
Starting from pole, Rast pulled away from Tandy and built a lead in excess of four seconds to take his first win of the campaign for the Veltins Lechner team. He jumps to third in the standings, 11 points shy of leader Tandy.
The Brit meanwhile was satisfied with runner-up spot, and conceded afterwards that he'd happily continue taking second places if it results in him landing the title. The Konrad Motorsport man's consistency is impressive, and with the slender two point difference between a first and second place finish in the series it could well put him in the title mix come the season’s end.
The podium was completed by Barcelona winner Sean Edwards, who now sits behind Tandy in a British one-two atop the standings. The Monaco resident is two points in arrears of his countryman.
Two-time series champion Jeroen Bleekemolen took fourth at the flag ahead of Kuba Giermaziak. The Pole had started third in the principality but dropped to his eventual finishing position after a slow getaway. Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Norbert Siedler and Alessandro Zamperdi completed the top eight, with Kiwi racer Matt Halliday the highest finishing guest driver. The former Champ Car competitor was tenth at the flag.
The series skips Formula One's visit to Canada, resuming in four weeks time as part of the German Grand Prix support package at the Nurburgring.
Porsche Supercup entry list – Round 4, Monaco
1 Rene Rast, Veltins Lechner Racing, 16 laps, 26:05.841
2 Nick Tandy, Konrad Motorsport, +4.392
3 Sean Edwards, Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, +9.273
4 Jeroen Bleekemolen, Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, +13.516
5 Kuba Giermaziak, VERVA Racing, +24.582
6 Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Team Bleekemolen, +24.885
7 Norbert Siedler, Veltins Lechner Racing, +25.527
8 Alessandro Zampedri, Team Bleekemolen, +28.645
9 Robert Lukas, Attempto Racing, +29.697
10 Matt Halliday, MRS Team PZ Aschaffenburg, +30.279
11 Patrick Huisman, Team Bleekemolen, +30.666
12 Christian Engelhart, Konrad Motorsport, +31.459
13 Christian Passuti, Antonelli Motorsport, +33.281
14 Andreas Mayerl, Konrad Motorsport Austria, +52.235
15 Mathias Lauda, Konrad Motorsport Austria, +53.858
16 William Langhorne, SANITEC Aquiles MRS Team, +54.648
17 Angelo Proietti, Antonelli Motorsport, +59.902
18 Nicolas Filiberti, SANITEC Aquiles MRS Team, +1:01.502
19 Henry Hassid, PRO GT, +1:18.057
20 Roland Berville, PRO GT, +1:21.908
Not classified
Isaac Tutumlu Lopez, MRS Team PZ Aschaffenburg, +5 laps
Stefan Rosina, VERVA Racing, 3 laps
Kevin Estre, Attempto Racing, 1 laps
Khalid Al Qubaisi, Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit, 0 laps
Championship Standings (after 4 rounds)
1 Nick Tandy, 54pts
2 Sean Edwards, 52
3 Rene Rast, 43
4 Kuba Giermaziak, 37
5 Jeroen Bleekemolen, 36
6 Christian Engelhart, 34
7 Norbert Siedler, 33
8 Kevin Estre, 22
9 Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, 19
10 Patrick Huisman, 19
Next round: 25 June, Nurburgring Nordschleife
Watch Porsche Supercup highlights from Monaco on Saturday 4 June at 6:55pm (BST) on Motors TV.
James Weeks
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