First pink overall podium and rookie victory for Robert de Haan at Silverstone
Youngster Robert de Haan secured his first podium finish for BWT Lechner Racing at the fourth round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2024 at Silverstone. The 18-year old from the Netherlands crossed the finish line in P3 just ahead of his teammate Harry King in P4 and also won the rookie classification. Theo Oeverhaus managed to make up quite a few positions and finished in P12.
As expected, the unpredictable British weather played a role during the race at the famous Silverstone circuit with its great history. Heavy rain already before the start meant a lot of standing water on the track, so after one lap behind the Safety-Car the race had to be red-flagged. After a 10-minute delay, a second attempt to get the race under way was taken with conditions improving and even the sun coming out. After two more laps behind the Safety Car, the green flag was given on a still very wet track providing tricky conditions for all drivers.
Soon local hero King, who had been fourth in qualifying, was able to make up one position with de Haan, fifth at the start, also following trough. Two laps later, the Dutchman managed to put pressure on his BWT Lechner teammate and finally managed to claim the final podium position with a clean and safe overtaking manouvre. In the midfield Theo Oeverhaus after an unlucky qualifying was able to do damage control, making up quite a few positions and came up from P18 to P12 without making a mistake under the difficult conditions on a finally slightly drying track.
Towards the end of the race the Safety Car had to come out again as a car had gone off and was stuck in the gravel. Due to time running out, the race was finished one lap earlier than planned without being resumed after the Safety Car finally had come back in.
Robert Lechner, BWT Lechner Racing Team Principal and CEO: “Silverstone is in the books, and so is the first half of the championship. But that also means that the second one is coming, requiring full concentration and the best possible team effort. Congratulations to Robert de Haan for his first Porsche Supercup overall podium in pink for BWT Lechner Racing and also for the win in the rookie classification.”
Michael Schöch, BWT Lechner Racing Team Manager: “The race in Silverstone is always a big highlight – but the weather was quite a challenge, as were the logistics, with a double-header and now having to take everything down in the rain. So it´s good that we have one week to fully focus on the cars and prepare everything for the second half of July, beginning with Hungaroring, a track that we like a lot, and the classical race at the historical Spa-Francorchamps circuit, a special event of the season.
Harry King: “Somehow we were not competitive enough to really fight for the top this weekend. We now have to work hard to analyze all the data and gain more performance again for the upcoming weekends.”
Robert de Haan: “Of course I am very happy with the result. To be on the podium and also on top in the rookie class is great. But we will also focus at the overall top step of the podium in the future and do everything to be able to go for it.”
Theo Oeverhaus: “In such a short race, more than P12 was not possible anymore. Next time I have to do a good qualifying again to be able to fight for top positions in the race.”