MATEU ENDS THE SEASON ON A PODIUM IN MONZA

For the final meeting of the 2022 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza acted as the finale with the title on the line in the Pro and Pro/Am categories. The Italian track is known as the Temple of Speed, which embraces the old oval and offers some great straights and challenges with chicanes and pif-paf, tight and fast corners like the famous Parabolica.

The last race of the season is the one that ends this triple-header started in Belgium at Spa-Francorchamps, which is another challenge for the drivers, the mechanics, all the staff of a team, a real endurance test for this end compact schedule.

A great season for Mateu, 6 podiums in 7 races

Monza is the home of the Tifosi, and the public was once again out in force this weekend, with almost 337,000 spectators over the three days of racing. The final round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup took place in the context of the Italian Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Enjoyable weather awaited the drivers, with no rain disturbances which allowed the Porsches to race on a dry track, and a tarmac with high temperatures (40°C). Tyre wear is not a problem here, but rather the different braking points which offer very different properties.

If Monza is a speed track, the tights and fast corners must be taken with the best skill, to have a real pace and good speed for the long straights. Clément Mateu quickly found his marks by setting the best benchmark in free practice in the Pro/Am category.

The pole position slipped away from him by less than a tenth, 0"076 to be precise! To keep a chance of winning the crown, he needed a victory and his direct opponent in the championship not to finish in the points. 

A messy start race where several drivers will experience some off-track excursions and retirements that will cause the intervention of the safety car during 4 laps. The native of Montpellier will succeed in producing his effort until the last laps, managing to overtake his main rival before this one will generously push on him to take the first place. A new second place under the checkered flag, which means a sixth podium this season, incredible regularity and a second place in the drivers' classification.

"It was a weekend where we had performance, we were fast from practice, unfortunately I missed pole position by less than a tenth. We had the strongest race pace, but there were a few race circumstances that I didn't manage to make our goals come true. I passed Mason for the win, but he hit me in the end and I finished second. There will be no victory for us this year, I finished second in the championship, it's still solid though. I've been on the podium 6 times in 7 races. Overall I'm happy with my season and it's also thanks to the hard work of the whole team, that's the positive thing to keep in mind for 2022."

Clément Mateu, HEXIS manager and driver of the Porsche 911 GT3 CUP

Results race 1

1 - A. Mason (Pierre Martinet by Almeras)

2 - C. Mateu (CLRT) +0”158

3 - P. Sager (Dinamic Motorsport) +1”347

 

Standings drivers Pro/Am

1 - R. Lindland (Pierre Martinet by Almeras) 163 pts

2 - C. Mateu (CLRT) 145 pts

3 - P. Sager (Dinamic Motorsport) 133 pts