- Double victory for Harry King after two spectacular sprints
- Jan Lauryssen takes it all in Pro-Am, while Stijn Lowette and Sébastien Lajoux share the win in AM
The Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux 2022 was at the second round of the season at Circuit Zolder as part of the Zolder Superprix. As in Spa-Francorchamps at the start of the competition, young Briton Harry King (Parker Revs Motorsport) has left no crumbs for the competition, taking pole position twice and winning two races on Saturday and Sunday. Behind him the battle was huge with very small differences.
King already set the tone during qualifying. He took pole position with a bonus of 0''230 over Ghislain Cordeel (Team GP Elite) and Harry King fired a first warning to the competition. Behind him it was incredibly close, because no less than ten drivers lapped within the same second. That promised for two very spectacular matches in the context of the Zolder Superprix.
Saturday after the lights went out, King took command and didn't make the slightest mistake. Behind him it was drumming, with Glenn Van Parijs taking over second from Ghislain Cordeel on the sixteenth lap.
After a contact between Dylan Derdaele (Belgium Racing) and Sebastian Freymuth (PG Motorsport) where the Limburger ended up in the sandbox of the chicane. The Safety Car made its appearance and the differences between them melted like snow in the sun. King remained in control of the situation after the reboot and took an undeniable victory.
"That neutralization was not exactly what I was waiting for," the young Briton told the podium. “However, I stayed calm, I took a good restart and finally won by five seconds. It's clear that the experience I have in a Porsche has benefited me."
Behind Harry King, Maxime Soulet (August Porsche Racing) drove spectacularly into second before being given a five-second penalty for not respecting the track limits. Glenn Van Parijs and Ghislain Cordeel were able to take the first podium of the weekend. “I knew that Maxime had been penalized, so I could focus on Ghislain,” said Glenn Van Parijs. "Compared to Spa, the difference with King was already smaller, which means we are on the right track." Soulet dropped to eighth place and so after the podium we saw Xavier Maassen (#TeamPGZ by RedAnt Racing), Rik Koen (PG Motorsport) and Sam Dejonghe (#TeamPGZ by RedAnt Racing) admit that he is still missing some kilometers in the car .
In the Pro-Am category, Jan Lauryssen (Q1 Trackracing) rode to a clear victory ahead of Didier Glorieux (Speedlover) and Ziad Geris (Team GP Elite). Stijn Lowette (NGT Racing) missed his start in AM, which left Sébastien Lajoux (DUWO Racing) in the lead for quite some time, but just after the restart Lowette took the lead, ahead of Lajoux and Nicolas Vandierendonck (Q1 Trackracing ).
King and Lauryssen again
The start on Sunday was at 11.45 am and immediately followed a collision between Ziad Geris and the winner of the AM category on Saturday, Stijn Lowette! The impact was considerable, so the race was immediately over for both men and the race was neutralized.
After four laps, racing was allowed again, with King staying ahead of Maassen, Soulet, Freymuth, Van Parijs, Derdaele and Cordeel. The Brit tried to make a gap, but Maassen held on and it was behind him that there was heavy fighting for every meter with Soulet, Van Parijs, Derdaele, Freymuth, Koen and Cordeel! Sebastian Freymuth and Rik Koen lost time after a contact, but the differences remained small and the order did not change.
Harry King thus won for the fourth time in as many races, ahead of Xavier Maassen and Maxime Soulet, who was clearly delighted with his podium. "I haven't changed my driving style compared to yesterday, but I didn't get a penalty this time," said the August Porsche driver with a laugh. "I told Harry King after the finish that I'm closer anyway, but he's twenty years younger, don't forget that." Glenn Van Parijs was fourth, ahead of Dylan Derdaele, who gave his weekend some color with a top 5, Rik Koen and Ghislain Cordeel.
Jan Lauryssen (Q1 Trackracing) was once again unassailable in Pro-Am and his win was also good for an eighth place overall. “A good weekend, without a doubt”, said the double winner of Zolder. “In the general classification I wanted to finish a little higher, but I am satisfied with the overall result. We'll see the rest next time."
Didier Glorieux and Tom Boonen finished second and third in the Pro-Am category.
After Stijn Lowette's crash at the start, Frenchman Sébastien Lajoux (DUWO Racing) was in the lead and overtook Jaume Font and Sven Van Laere. "Just like yesterday, I had a good start," said Lajoux.