GROVE STARTS SUPERCUP SEASON WITH A FOURTH PLACE

PRESS RELEASE/Grove Racing – Photo: supplied

Stephen Grove kicked off his 2019 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup campaign with a fourth-place result in class in the opening round of the season at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain.

The all-Porsche series curtain raiser took place under sunny skies in the stunning Catalonia region, with a 14 lap race around the 4.6km, 16 turn Spanish venue.

A 1:51.631s lap time in qualifying was good enough to put Grove fifth in Pro-Am on the grid for Sunday’s Round 1 after improving on his Free Practice time by just under a second in Saturday’s qualifying.

As the five red lights went out, the field fanned out on the long run down to the first corner which saw Grove make up a position in the opening exchanges.

There was a brief Safety Car intervention before the race went back to green flag conditions for the sprint to the chequered flag.

Delivering consistent lap times until the finish, with his own fastest lap of the race coming on Lap 9, Grove was able to hold his nerve despite coming under intense pressure on the final lap from a Pro class competitor.

He held onto the position and crossed the line in a solid fourth place in Pro-Am, improving on his starting position.

Grove’s fourth in class was good enough for 23rd outright, a performance the Australian feels he can build on in the next few events.

Round 2 of Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup takes place at the Monaco Grand Prix, Monte Carlo from May 23-26, 2019.

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