Nurburgring report and final standings

Porsche Pirelli SuperCup 1998, Ninth Round at the Luxembourg Grand Prix -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Oliver Mathai Vice Champion - Patrick Huisman Takes Sixth Victory

Nurburgring. Patrick Huisman (NL, Walker Monroe-Manthey Racing) notched up his sixth victory of the season at a dramatic ninth and final round of this year's Porsche Pirelli SuperCup on the Nurburgring. The 32-year- old racing professional started from pole, lost the lead to Dirk Muller and team mate Oliver Mathai, but regained first place in the twelfth lap which he never relinquished. Seven poles an six wins this season earned the flying Dutchman a well-deserved chmpionship title.

The vice chmpionship fight between five Porsche specialists was decided in dramatic Porsche Pirelli SuperCup style. Huisman's team mate and vice champion favourite, Oliver Mathai, seemmed to put his chance in jeopardy when he spun out in a corner while holding second place. Said the 30- year-old German: "I took the corner too quickly, went into the dust at the track side and spun. Luckily I could continue, and was just able to take runner-up title to points ahead of Altfrid Heger." Huisman and Mathai repeated last year's result, giving their Walker Monroe-Manthey Racing team another well-deserved one-two victory.

Second place went to inaugural Porsche Pirelli SuperCup champion of 1993 Altfrid Heger, driving for Porsche Center Koblenz/Team Zakspeed. Heger drove with his usual grit and ranks third in the final standings. Heger commented: "Today it was all or nothing! I gave everything I had. This race was important for me. Germany's Ralf Kelleners (Porsche Centre Rhein Oberberg) remained a constant threat throughout the 14 lap sprint race on Nurburgring's 4.556 km circuit. Starting from ninth on the grid, the national Carrera Cup champion of 1996 finished a commendable third. Trailing Kelleners in fourth was 1998 Le Mans winner Stephane Ortelli from France. The two PC Rhein Oberberg pilots finish their season in fourth and fifth overall.

Belgrade's Andrej Kulundzic returns to his homeland as a contented man. The Zepter Racing pilot collected points from every round this season, and after taking a fine fifth here today, ranks seventh overall at season's end. Making his international motorsport debut this year, Briton Johnny Mowlem brought his AFN-Oberbayern Motorsport Porsche across the finish line sixth. Honours for the fastest Italians of the 1998 season went to Ebimotors-Porsche Italia pilots Maurizio Monforte and Matteo Galimberti. Although the two experienced a difficult race at at the Nurburgring they wrap up the series holding places nine and ten.

Race results (top 10):

Pos     Driver/Nat              Team                            Time
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 1      Patrick Huisman/NL    Walker Monroe-Manthey Racing 25:26.085
 2      Altfrid Heger/D         PZK Zakspeed                 + 0.782
 3      Ralf Kelleners/D        PZ Rhein Oberberg              3.100
 4      Stephane Ortelli/F      PZ Rhein Oberberg              3.604
 5      Andrej Kulundzic/YU     Zepter Racing                  5.016
 6      Johnny Mowlem/GB        AFN-Oberbayern Motorsport      6.682
 7      Dominique Dupuy/F       MMI Motorsport                 7.038
 8      Horst Farnbacher/D      Zepter Racing                 16.821
 9      Oliver Mathai/D         Walker Monroe-Manthey Racing  17.207
10      Jacques Laffite/F       Kadach Tuning                 17.308

FL: Dominique Dupuy 1:47.444 (=152.652 kph)

Final standings (top ten)

Pos     Driver       Points
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 1      Huisman         168 =Champion=
 2      Mathai          104
 3      Heger           102
 4      Kelleners        96
 5      Ortelli          95
 6      v.Gartzen        83
 7      Kulundzic        74
 8      Schmickler       65
 9      Monforte         60
10      Galimberti       55