Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup and Blancpain Endurance Series. 

Two Top-Results across two different championships

Engelhart takes fourth place in Monaco despite damaged Porsche

Great fight-back to the top by the Englishmen Dolby, Walkinshaw and Plowman in their home race

It was an exciting weekend for Molitor Racing Systems. Whilst

Christian Engelhart and Spike Goddard competed in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup in Monte Carlo, the Englishmen Craig Dolby, Sean Walkinshaw and Martin Plowman took part in their home race of the Blancpain Endurance Series in Silverstone. In both championships, the German team was able to secure two Top-5 finishes. 

Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Monte Carlo

The second round of the Porsche Supercup took place in the Monacan Principality. The race in Monte Carlo has been a great fixture on the racing calendar since 1993 and is one of the most popular races amongst the 24hrs Le Mans and the Indy500.

But the lovely Monaco presented itself from its wet side during the 45-minutes Free Practice on Thursday, making track conditions even trickier on the street course. The sun was out again for qualifying on Friday and the Ingolstadt-based Christian Engelhart qualified his Porsche in an extraordinary third place, whilst Spike Goddard set the 16th fastest time – only just two seconds off the pace for Pole Position. 

The 16-lap race along the 3,340 kilometre long track with all its bumpers and manholes, went underway on Sunday morning. Engelhart got off to a good start, but the English driver Ben Barker managed to get alongside the MRS-Pilot. Racing up towards the Casino, they were side-by-side and when Engelhart took too much of a risk, he hit the barriers with his rear wing. Despite a heavily damaged suspension and a broken wheel, Engelhart was able to continue with the race. 

Following the dramatic starting phase, the #14 Porsche of the 28-year-old seemed to stabilise and Engelhart was able to put in lap times same as the leaders – only to finally record the fastest lap time of the race. “I think, I had a pretty good start, I was very cautious and braked early into the first corner”, said Engelhart. “But then Ben charged next to me and I really did everything to keep my position. At the Casino, I was driving on the dirty tarmac and that is when I touched the barriers.  

“I really thought, the race would be over at that stage, because my car was bend, but it was still driveable and somehow I came home in fourth place. I am a little disappointed not to be on the podium especially here, but taking into consideration the circumstances of the race, I am very pleased with the result.”

His team-mate, the young Spike Goddard, demonstrated once more his up-and-coming achievements and delivered a great job in his #15 MRS-car in his first-ever Porsche race in Monaco. Following a 16th place in qualifying, the 22-year-old finished the race in a respectable 15th position. “I really enjoyed racing on the famous street track of Monaco on the Sunday of the Grand Prix”, said Spike. “I don´t think that I could possibly have that much fun on any other circuit this year and I am already looking forward to returning to Monaco next year.”

Blancpain Endurance Series Silverstone

Silverstone hosted the second round of the Blancpain Endurance Series and for qualifying, the typical English weather was once more the reason for a wet track, with lap times dropping by over ten seconds at times. Due to the changing conditions, it seemed difficult to find the right strategy. Unfortunately, the MRS-Team made a mistake and the #73 Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 set only the 22nd fastest time. 

The three-hour-race started on Sunday afternoon in dry conditions and the three pilots Craig Dolby, Sean Walkinshaw and Martin Plowman pushed hard from the beginning at their home race. The 27-year-old Dolby, who comes from Leicester near Silverstone, took behind the wheel from the start and managed to fight up into 16th place after only a few laps. The MRS-Team was even running in 8th place when Dolby handed over the Nissan to Walkinshaw. 

Following a quick pit-stop, Walkinshaw re-joined the race in 13th place. Walkinshaw impressed with his constant lap times and great overtaking moves and up to the final pit-stop, the team had climbed up into an incredible second position. Martin Plowman was the last driver to compete and things were heating up in the remaining 50 minutes. A great battle took place between the #73 Nissan and the #3 Audi R8 by Team Belgian Audi Club Team WRT. But the Nissan had to lose out on this occasion. 

It was still a great achievement bringing home a fifth place across the finishing line. “It was a very eventful weekend and we were disappointed after the qualifying”, said Dolby. “We had a good pace during the race and were able to run with the fastest cars in the field. We did everything right during our pit-stops. We are very happy with a fifth position at our home race and thanks for the good results recently in both Sprint and Endurance, we are now running in seventh place in the team standings.”