It was a very hot and spectacular home race for BWT Lechner Racing at Spielberg/Austria. In the third round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2024 for the third time in a row Harry King claimed second place for the team after a very strong fight. Under a sunny sky and with very hot 30 degrees air and 50 degrees track temperature, the conditions meant a special challenge for everybody. The two BWT Lechner Racing rookies Theo Oeverhaus and Robert de Haan finished in P7 and P10, both having been unlucky with track limits.
It was an eventful first lap for King: From P4 on the grid he already had attacked for second position, but then dropped back to P6 in the following corners where some cars made slight contact. This cost him the chance to fight for victory, but with a great recovery race, he made his way back to P2 and defended this position strongly until the chequered flag.
Theo Oeverhaus had a strong race as well, finishing fourth on track from P6 at the start and first in the rookie classification. Unfortunately a 5-second penalty for track limits dropped him back to P7 overall, but he still came second in the rookie order.
Robert de Haan had already been caught out by track limits in qualifying, when he had his three fastest laps deleted, so he had to get into the race from P19. There he immediately managed to gain a lot of ground and made up already four positions on lap 1, then overtook quite a few other cars and finally ended up in P10 overall and P4 in the rookie order after also receiving a track limit penalty.
BWT Lechner Racing Team Principal and CEO Robert Lechner: “It was a very intense race weekend at our home track. First of all big congrats to Harry for a very strong race, one of the best he ever did for us. Regarding Theo and Robert, I just want to say that it was very unfortunate that they both received 5-second penalties for track limits – a never-ending topic at the Red Bull Ring, even with the new gravel beds in the last two corners. In Theo´s case it even cost him the win in the rookie championship. In general Spielberg was a good introduction to the upcoming very busy month of July with races in Silverstone, Budapest and Spa-Francorchamps.”
Harry King: “We had a very good car and I think it would have been possible to get a win here. But the circumstances during the first lap took away the chance of succeeding that. But the pace was there and coming back from P6 to P2 was a great achievement. Now I am already looking forward to my home race at Silverstone coming up next weekend.”
Robert de Haan: “Overall it was an okay weekend, at least I scored some points again. I lost my splinter quite early in the race, which meant I didn´t have the speed anymore to further attack. Up to Silverstone now where we will go for a podium!”
Theo Oeverhaus: “It was a very good race for me, unfortunately, we got the 5-second-penalty. For me that was not fair, but there is nothing I can do about it.”