Round 6 at the Austrian Grand Prix

Third Victory of the Season for Ralf Kelleners - Last Lap Drama for Third

Germany's Ralf Kelleners added the sixth round of the Porsche Pirelli SuperCup to his list of victories after a green light to chequered flag win on Austria's 4.319 km grand prix circuit. "That was not easy. I had a problem with the brake balance. The rear wheels tended to lock up under braking. Now I'm well ahead of the others in the points, but I won't think about the championship title too much. I've already lost a Le Mans win just before the finish."

Despite struggling with a slight neck injury, reigning champion Patrick Huisman (NL) drove with his usual flair to climb the podium second. Huisman, who secured pole position here in '97 and '98, now ranks second overall. Behind Huisman, reigning vice champion Oliver Mathai (D), fought hard to defend his winning streak on the A-1 Ring, after taking victory here the past two years. The 31-year-old started from second to finish third. "I missed a gear in the last lap and Huisman shot past. I'm delighted with my podium finish - my first this season - it's high time!"

Managasque Stephane Ortelli looked set to climb the podium third, however in his haste to see the chequered flag, the '98 Le Mans winner braked too late in a corner and slid into the gravel, losing two places to Germans Frank Schmickler (4th) and Sascha Maassen (5th).

Former BTCC champion, Tim Harvey made an excellent start, catapulting his Parabolica-McCulloch 911 GT3 from tenth to snatch and hold seventh place, despite fierce competition from Porsche stalwarts Roland Asch (D,8th) and Altfrid Heger (D,9th). Team mate Johnny Mowlem finished the 16 lap sprint in place ten, after starting from 14th on the grid.

Results (top 10)

Pos     Driver/Nat              Team                            Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 1      Ralf Kelleners/D     Porsche Centre Rhein-Oberberg 26:21.541
 2      Patrick Huisman/D    Eschmann-Manthey-Racing         + 1.957
 3      Oliver Mathai/D      Kadach Tuning                     5.244
 4      Frank Schmickler/D   Porsche Centre Rhein-Oberberg     8.826
 5      Sascha Maassen/D     Carex-Amag                        9.109
 6      Stephane Ortelli/F   Eschmann-Manthey-Racing           9.454
 7      Tim Harvey/GB        Parabolica-McCulloch             10.133
 8      Roland Asch/D        Porsche Centre Munich            10.200
 9      Altfrid Heger/D      Porsche Centre Munich            11.147
10      Johnny Mowlem/GB     Parabolica-McCulloch             13.099

Standings:

Pos     Driver       Points
---------------------------
 1      Kelleners        97
 2      Huisman          75
 3      Mathai           68
 4      Maylander        64
        Ortelli          64
 6      Maassen          63
 7      Schmickler       54
 8      Couceiro         47
        Heger            47
10      Mowlem           42