French triumph in Monza: Ghiretti takes victory in the 2024 finale.

In the lead-up to the season finale, there was much speculation about whether any race could match the drama of the 2023 series finale. When Porsche Junior Alessandro Ghiretti (FRA) crossed the finish line, it was clear: yes, it could! With temperatures soaring around 40°C, the action at Monza’s “Temple of Speed” was nothing short of blistering. Every session of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, held during the Formula 1 Gran Premio d’Italia, was top-class and a real treat for motorsport fans. The 32 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars delivered pure adrenaline, especially with two championship titles still up for grabs. The legendary circuit had undergone a few tweaks, with minor changes to some corners and fresh asphalt laid, impacting lap times. New gravel traps were also added to help drivers stay within the track limits. These changes presented an extra challenge for the teams, who had no reliable data going into the race weekend.

Final practice and qualifying – a taste of the showdown to come.

Friday evening’s practice began calmly under the setting sun, as drivers cautiously explored the new limits of the freshly resurfaced track. Harry King (GBR) and Robert de Haan (NLD) of BWT Lechner Racing led the pack for most of the session. Both were in 2nd place in the Overall and Rookie standings, respectively. With at least one title still within reach, the series’ most successful team had much at stake. Shortly before entering Parabolica corner, Roar Lindland (NOR) lost his front splitter, sending him straight into the gravel, thankfully halting before the barriers. It’s possible the splitter had loosened while jumping over Monza’s kerbs. This incident triggered the first red flag of the session. With 19:03 minutes left, the drivers returned to the track, which was becoming increasingly congested. For guest driver Giuseppe Guirreri (ITA), it was too congested: he braked too late before Variante del Rettifilo and collided heavily with his Italian teammate Simone Iaquinta. The session was then cut short just before the scheduled end, leaving the mechanics from guest team Prima Ghinzani Motorsport facing a long night. Ghiretti topped the session, followed by King and Huub van Eijndhoven (NLD).

Saturday’s qualifying took place late in the morning, under the watchful eyes of a lively crowd of Tifosi also enjoying the perfect weather. The drivers started boldly, but after just over eight minutes, a red flag brought them back to the pits. Italian drivers Aldo Festante and Francesco Braschi from Dinamic Motorsport had kicked up so much gravel after going off in Variante della Roggia that the sweeper had to be called in. Festante’s off-track excursion was due to a puncture, forcing him to limp back to the pits on three wheels. With 14:49 minutes remaining, the field returned to the track, and the action picked up again. Jaap van Lagen’s (NLD) first flying lap ended with a slight scrape against the Parabolica barriers. As often seen this season, things became frantic as the session neared its end, with all the drivers scrambling for a clear lap to set their best times. Rookie title contender Kas Haverkort (NLD) found his gap and took pole position ahead of his championship rival De Haan. However, a post-session inspection revealed a technical issue with his car, resulting in the stewards relegating him to the back of the grid. A miracle was needed if he was to claim the Rookie title. Similarly, the second-placed Harry King had his hopes dashed in the final minutes of qualifying: a yellow flag incident prevented the Brit from setting a top time. The culprit was Guirreri’s front tyre, where the carcass delaminated at top speed on the straight before Parabolica, completely destroying the front wing. Starting from P5, King couldn’t dethrone championship leader Larry ten Voorde (NLD), who was three places ahead on the grid. Meanwhile, De Haan set a new pole record for the Porsche Supercup at Monza with a time of 1:48.531 minutes.

Final race at its best, made in Monza.

Just after midday, the final race of the season got underway in front of packed grandstands and under scorching summer heat. It was hard for fans to keep their cool as the 32 drivers in their Porsche machines roared off the line. Ten Voorde got the best start, immediately passing De Haan, with his teammate Ghiretti following close behind. A cold shock for the Dutch rookie, who soon had his British teammate King breathing down his neck. The field jostled for position, with several cars making contact. The clash between rookies Ariel Levi (ISR) and Mathys Jaubert (FRA) was particularly fierce: Levi ended up in the gravel, while Jaubert had to pit for a new rear tyre, bringing out the Safety Car for the first time. Ten Voorde handled the restart with ease, pulling away in Parabolica. Behind him, Alexander Tauscher (DEU) spun in Variante del Rettifilo – originally starting from P4, he had hoped for much more. In lap 6, Ghiretti took the lead, his car simply performing better than Ten Voorde’s. However, his advantage was wiped out during the second Safety Car period when Aldo Festante got stuck in the gravel, requiring a crane to assist. By this time, Kas Haverkort had already moved up 14 places to 18th, making the Rookie title race exciting again.

After the restart, Haverkort received unexpected help: King squeezed past De Haan in a tense team battle in Rettifilo, forcing De Haan to drop three more places. He even briefly found himself behind Risto Vukov (MKD) in P8. The young Dutchman vented his frustration over the team radio, as his hopes of winning the Rookie title, which seemed almost certain at the start, began to slip away. Meanwhile, Haverkort, after his overtaking marathon, was already in the points and had started the race with a 6-point lead. However, like many other drivers, he made a mistake in Rettifilo, losing positions again. The drama intensified when Simone Iaquinta ran off into the gravel, prompting the third Safety Car deployment.

With so much time spent behind the Safety Car, the race would finish before the originally planned 15 laps. Under this pressure, Haverkort went back on the offensive after the restart. His final hopes of winning the title were literally shattered moments later: Rookie Victor Bernier (FRA) collided with him, coming out of the Roggia chicane’s emergency exit and hitting Haverkort’s side. In a drift, Haverkort also took Sebastian Freymuth (DEU) off the track. Both cars sustained significant damage, but thanks to the solid safety cell of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, both drivers emerged unscathed.

Larry ten Voorde claims third title – De Haan takes his first.

Meanwhile, at the front, Ghiretti raced to his first Porsche Supercup victory and was over the moon. On the podium, he sang the French national anthem loudly, also for his French team. The celebration was even bigger for Larry ten Voorde, who secured his third Overall Championship title, finishing second ahead of Harry King. Team Principal Côme Ledogar joined the Dutchman on the car roof, visibly relieved to have finally clinched both the championship and the team title in his fifth Supercup season.

Larry Ten Voorde’s post-race F1 interview was highly emotional as he announced, live on camera, that this was his last Supercup season. He plans to focus on training young drivers in his academy – a decision he hopefully might reconsider over the winter. In the Rookie standings, the Monza podium featured Robert de Haan in first place, much to the delight of the Tifosi, with Francesco Braschi in second and Lirim Zendeli (DEU) in third. De Haan also set a new race lap record at Monza with a time of 1:48.928 minutes. His Rookie Champion title ensured BWT Lechner Racing took home a title for the 13th consecutive year – what a streak for the top team. Additionally, the Dutch rookie won the Porsche Supercup’s Rookie Programme, earning a DMSB Permit Nordschleife (DPN), Class A.

Harry King secured the runner-up spot in the championship, with Marvin Klein (FRA) finishing third overall. Despite his disastrous finale, Kas Haverkort could at least celebrate the runner-up spot in the Rookie standings, ahead of Mathys Jaubert in third. In the team standings, Schumacher CLRT had already pushed BWT Lechner Racing to second place in Zandvoort, with UNISERVER by TEAM GP ELITE in third.

The "Mechanic of the Year" award, traditionally presented in the Porsche Hospitality Tent after the finale, was secured by Éric Piat from the French team Martinet / Forestier Racing. This marks the end of another exceptional Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season. It makes it easy for every motorsport fan to build up anticipation for the start of the 2025 edition. Be there again!

Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Overall Standings after Round 8 in Monza

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