GT3 Cup: Perfect weekend for Ernst Keller
PORSCHE SPORTS CUP SUISSE Ernst Keller won both races of the GT3 Cup Challenge at the fourth meeting of the Swiss Porsche club sportsmen in Dijon (F). He thus increased his lead in the championship over the defending champion Jean-Paul von Burg, who had an accident. In qualifying for the sprint race, Ernst Keller secured the title with an impressive best time of 1'19.44 on the former GP circuit [...]
In qualifying for the sprint race, Ernst Keller secured pole position with an impressive best time of 1'19.44 on the former GP circuit of Dijon-Prenois and then drove to a start-finish victory.
Josef Stengel, who started in second place, successfully defended his position to the finish, while Oliver Ditzler dropped from third to fifth behind Antoine Meier and Manuel Nicolaidis.
Keller turned the best starting position into a victory in the second race as well. This time, Manuel Nicolaidis advanced from fourth to second place, while Antoine Meier once again took third place on the podium.
Serious accident of the defending champion
Defending champion Jean-Paul von Burg, on the other hand, had ravenous bad luck. In the first race, the driver from Geneva caused an accident involving several vehicles.
This meant an early end for the multiple champion. He and others were therefore unable to start the second run.
With his two wins and the zero round of Jean-Paul von Burg, Ernst Keller extended his lead in the standings.
Ernst Keller: "After a super qualifying, I was able to complete two controlled and good race runs. In the second run I even had some reserves, as I was able to manage the race pace well. The car was also perfectly prepared and set up. This made it a perfect race weekend for me and my team."
Pole setter relapse
The two races of the Porsche Sports Cup showed that pole position does not automatically mean victory. This was dominated, as usual, by the drivers with their Cayman GT4 Clubsport.
While Stephano Monaco triumphed from third on the grid, pole setter Stephan Heim dropped back to fourth despite setting the fastest race lap. Leonard Rendulic and last year's winner Matteo Arrigosi finished second and third on the podium.
For the second sprint, Amadeo Pampanini took over Monaco's Cayman, which was on pole position, and Giacomo Riva took over Arrigosi's car. While Pampanini dropped to seventh place, Rendulic, who had started next to him, secured the win.
Stephan Heim crossed the finish line in second place but was demoted two places for crossing the white line. So Riva and Misbach moved up to 2nd and 3rd place.
Visit from Michael Glinski
In the Porsche Driver's Challenge, Roli Basler took first place on a 964 with 3929 penalty points. He showed the smallest deviations from his reference time in the regularity test over ten race laps. René Auinger on 991 GT3 RS and Tommy Eriksson on 997 GT3 RS followed in the places of honor.
As an interested observer, even the managing director of Porsche Schweiz AG stayed in Burgundy.
Michael Glinski: "The Porsche Sports Cup Suisse shows the great enthusiasm of our Swiss customers for motorsport. I am always fascinated by the versatility of our vehicles on the road and on the race track."
The next round will be held at Mugello from September 27 to 29. A sprint race and an endurance race will be held there.
