Lirim Zendeli wrapped up a challenging debut weekend in the 2024 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup with a seventeenth-place finish at Imola’s Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit in Italy.
In the opening round of the prestigious one-make championship that accompanies eight Formula 1 Grands Prix throughout Europe as support races until September, the MIM-contracted driver was able to keep out of trouble throughout 14 hectic laps, taking the chequered flag five places up from his starting-grid position.
In Saturday’s 30-minute qualifying, Lirim had tried to make the most of the limited time available to put his Ombra Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in P22 on the grid. And in Sunday’s race, which preceded the Formula 1 GP, it was always going to be tough for the Supercup rookie – one of ten drivers from Porsche Carrera Cup Italia – to make an impression against hardened Porsche ‘experts’ like Larry ten Voorde (Schumacher CLRT) and Harry King (BWT Lechner Racing), who finished ahead of the rest of the field.
As the 30-strong field powered into Villeneuve at the start of the 14-lap race, Lirim managed to not get involved in a three-car contact that first brought out the yellow flags and then the Safety-Car for three laps. On the restart he found himself in P19, which became P18 on lap 7 when he overtook Horst Felbermayr with a move at the Rivazza, a position which then became P17 when Alexander Tauscher retired on the following lap. Lirim eventually finished almost half-a-minute down on the winner ten Voorde, and just ahead of his Ombra Racing teammate Risto Vukov.
“All I can say is that starting so far at the back you don’t expect a lot to happen but just to learn,” declared Lirim after the race. “It was important to come out of the race without any damage, to learn how to keep driving around, how to overtake with this car in Supercup and just learn a bit more from the car itself. I can’t say I’m happy with the result on my debut, but it was all good experience and I’m looking forward to improving in next week’s race in Monaco.”
“It was not an easy debut for Lirim, in a context where he was undoubtedly the driver with the fewest kilometres ever in the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup,” added Davide Mazzoleni, the Ombra Racing Team Manager. “The track conditions encountered in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup events are so peculiar and unique that they cannot be replicated in any preparatory test, so it is normal that the first experience is not simple, even more so given the limited time available for practice over the weekend. Lirim confirmed his professional and methodical approach, and I am sure that he will be able to apply what he has learned from next weekend on the streets of Monte Carlo.”
Zendeli gets another chance to gain more Porsche Supercup experience in one week’s time at the second round in Monaco.
