Racing at its wettest: Ten Voorde wins the rain battle at Silverstone.

Even before the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race weekend at Silverstone began, it was clear: Championship leader Larry ten Voorde (NLD) had the chance to make history again. The Dutchman had already matched Michael Ammermüller's record of three consecutive wins in the first three races of a season in Spielberg. A fourth victory would see him equal the winning streaks of Supercup legends Frank Stippler (2003) and René Rast (2009 and 2011). However, he would be the first driver in Supercup history to achieve this in the first four races. This would also put him within reach of the eternal Wolf Henzler, who has held the record with five consecutive wins since his Supercup season in 2004. Thus, there was a lot at stake for Ten Voorde. Equally, Harry King (GBR) aimed to break Ten Voorde's dominance at the halfway point of the season. This was no easy feat, considering Silverstone has not traditionally been a stronghold for British Supercup drivers. Only Kelvin Burt, Sean Edwards, and Nick Tandy have managed to reach the top of the podium in the 29 years of Supercup@Silverstone.

Changing conditions in practice and qualifying.

All 29 registered starters hit the track for Friday's Practice Session, including eight Britons – mostly from the British guest teams JTR and Century Motorsport. Proton Huber Competition and Martinet / Forestier Racing also fielded British drivers, Joshua Stanton and Michael Crees, respectively. As if orchestrated to be quintessentially English, a downpour soaked the fans and the track just as the session began. Chasing top times was out of the question. Instead, slicks were saved, and rain tyres got a workout. Robert de Haan (NLD) excelled under these conditions, setting the fastest time in practice. The German drivers faced an additional challenge: during the Practice Session, their national team was playing in the Euro quarter-finals – following the match updates was only possible via team radio.

Saturday afternoon's Qualifying Session was hectic. The unpredictable weather played a significant role, making tyre choice crucial: navigating wet asphalt safely on rain tyres or risking the gravel on slicks? It's important to note that a lap at Silverstone takes nearly 5.9 kilometres or over 2 minutes. Therefore, 30 minutes of qualifying leaves relatively little time for timed laps and tyre gambles. In the end, the track dried up, and the CLRT drivers executed a brilliant strategy: in a train of three cars, they benefited from alternating lead roles and slipstreaming. As a result, the team secured the top three grid positions in the order of Ten Voorde, Klein, and Ghiretti – perfect conditions for the next race win.

Larry keeps his cool, Harry has to back off.

Starting behind the Safety Car, a red flag, and a rain delay – the race's beginning at Silverstone was rocky. Fortunately, the extremely wet track dried up a bit, and the race resumed from the pits behind the Safety Car for the remaining 12 laps. From lap 3, the field was free to race. However, after just seven laps, the Safety Car had to come out again, and no more fast laps were recorded. This left little time to challenge Larry ten Voorde at the front, and he secured P1 from start to finish. With his fourth consecutive win, he has firmly joined the elite club of Porsche Supercup drivers. Schumacher CLRT solidified its dominance this season.

In the seven full-speed racing laps, the Porsche drivers still provided the audience with thrilling action despite the predictable outcome. Behind the three CLRT Porsches, the two BWT Lechner Racing drivers, King and de Haan, immediately went on the offensive. They quickly overtook Alessandro Ghiretti, but Marvin Klein (FRA) and Ten Voorde had already pulled away slightly. The major upset – for the British motorsport fans braving the rain – was the internal team duel for P3 between the pink BWT Porsches: de Haan’s car was simply faster, and he overtook King. Once again, no Englishman made it to the Silverstone podium.

Keagan Masters (ZAF) also displayed fantastic racing skills, claiming to be a fan of rain races. He smoothly positioned himself to overtake Kas Haverkort (NLD) on the wet track. In lap 7, after a braking error by the Dutch rookie in the Vale corner, Masters seized the opportunity and passed him. The manoeuvre could be seen directly from the on-board camera in Masters’ cockpit. Typical of the rain-soaked race were spins and off-track excursions into gravel traps. Huub van Eijndhoven (NLD) got his car stuck in lap 9, triggering the race's final Safety Car phase.

Porsche Supercup Rookies also fast in the rain.

After race 4 at Silverstone, Ten Voorde leads the Overall Classification with an almost unassailable 26-point edge, setting the benchmark. His closest rival, Harry King, now has to focus on defending his second place in the standings against Klein. Keagan Masters still has the Top 3 in sight, with rookie Robert de Haan close behind. Speaking of rookies: de Haan was the second up-and-coming talent in a row to finish on the Overall AND Rookie Podium at Silverstone – Ghiretti had also achieved the feat in 2023. Kas Haverkort secured the second Rookie Podium spot, maintaining his lead in the Rookie Classification. Lirim Zendeli took the third spot on the Rookie Podium, marking his first time ever on a Porsche Supercup podium. Seven of the 12 rookies finished in the top 15 in the rain at Silverstone – a solid performance for the newcomers.

Cheerio England, goodbye umbrellas – bring on the sunscreen: For the upcoming race in the "blazing furnace of Hungaroring," we expect significantly less water on the track but a maximum stress test for the tyres and engine cooling of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Race 5 in Hungary will be as fiery as hot paprika – you definitely don’t want to miss it!

Overall standings of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup after Round 4 in Silverstone.

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